Despite staying active on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal, the biggest name LSU baseball can have on the team next season is already in Baton Rouge.
Jared Jones, a draft-eligible sophomore, led the team in homers last season with 28 after hitting 14 as a freshman during 2023. Jones could enter the draft and head to professional baseball, but head coach Jay Johnson is attempting to keep him at LSU for another season.
Jones recently attended the MLB Draft Combine and took batting practice at Chase Field in Arizona. He repeatedly crushed the ball and had the highest exit velocity of any hitter in attendance. His hardest hit ball had an exit velocity of 113 MPH.
MLB analysts Lance Brozdowski and Jim Callis broke down his performance in the video below.
Jared Jones of @LSUbaseball is turning heads early on in the @MLBDraft Combine! 💥@LanceBroz | @jimcallisMLB pic.twitter.com/Q5Ucs2CUhT
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) June 18, 2024
Jones was ranked as the No. 196 draft prospect by Perfect Gamer before the combine, but he might’ve moved himself up some draft boards after flashing his power.
Johnson has made it clear that he’d love to have him and fellow sophomore Griffin Herring back for next season.
“They were incredibly positive and that’s why they all have an open door here,” Johnson said. “It’s not rocket science. Draft-eligible sophomores, Herring and Jones, I’m not sure how they’re viewed. I don’t spend a lot of time looking at that stuff. I know their value to LSU baseball and their value to me, and the value they could create for themselves next year is really high. They have a platform here to do that. In both of their cases, if they were to return for a third year, they could leave as two of the best players to play here.”
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