As the No. 1 right-handed pitching prospect in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft last July, Catholic High of Baton Rouge’s William Schmidt conceivably could have made a $9.25 million signing bonus over the summer.
That’s what Tennessee right-hander Chase Burns received from the Cincinnati Reds as the No. 2 pick of that draft and first right-handed pitcher. That broke the signing bonus record of $9.2 million set by LSU right-hander Paul Skenes, who got that from the Pittsburgh Pirates as the first pick of the 2023 MLB Draft.
But Schmidt took his name out on the eve of the draft on Sunday, July 13, and let the word out the next day.
“He sent me a picture like three hours before the draft started,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said Tuesday at the New Orleans Quarterback Club Baseball Bash at The Cannery reception hall.
“He’s holding a big stuffed animal tiger,” Johnson said.
Schmidt, who is 6-foot-4 and 188 pounds now, was a toddler in the picture.
“And I said, ‘Hey, big guy, I’m just making sure this is an LSU Tiger, and not a Detroit Tiger,'” Johnson said.
LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson talks with new UNO coach Dax Norris at New Orleans QB Club’s Baseball Bash on Tuesday at The Cannery. pic.twitter.com/9bIvoChjQx
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) January 28, 2025
Schmidt is one of the highest ranked pitching prospects ever signed out of high school by LSU. MLB.com and Perfect Game each had him as the No. 1 right-handed pitcher. Perfect Game had him as the No. 5 overall prospect in the draft, while MLB.com had him at No. 16.
“He’s got a chance to be really special,” Johnson said. “And the stuff is easy to see, the competitive nature, the poise on the mound. It’s all there.”
Schmidt had a phenomenal senior season at Catholic in 2024, going 9-0 with 0.44 ERA and 102 strikeouts in 63 and two-thirds innings as the Bears won the state championship.
NCAA REGIONAL LOSS LAST YEAR STILL WEIGHS HEAVY ON LSU BASEBALL
“We were very fortunate to get him away from the draft,” Johnson said. “Without any disrespect to anybody that’s ever pitched in the state of Louisiana before, his high school season last year has to be one of the top five-performance seasons in the history of this state. He was probably a surefire first round draft pick, and he decided to bypass professional baseball. He actually pulled his name out of the draft about three hours before it started because he wanted to come to LSU.”
You might say, Johnson had the home field advantage.
“We’re talking about a kid that lives like about a quarter of a mile from Alex Box Stadium, and he grew up wearing purple and gold pajamas,” Johnson said.
Schmidt got off to a good start over the weekend during intrasquad scrimmages, but he is not expected at the moment to make the weekend starting rotation. Returning sophomore left-hander Kade Anderson, redshirt sophomore Chase Shores, junior transfer Anthony Eyanson of UC-San Diego, junior transfer left-hander Conner Ware of Pearl River Community College and returning junior Gavin Guidry are ahead of Schmidt and fellow freshman top signee Casan Evans of St. Pius High in Houston.
Johnson liked what he saw over the weekend.
“The pitching staff definitely had the upper hand on the offense this weekend,” he said. “I think all of us coaches would tell you that’s how you want to walk out of your intrasquad games. Because if you’re beating the heck out of your own pitching, the season’s probably not going to go very good.”
LSU opens the 2025 season on Friday, Feb. 14, against Purdue-Fort Wayne at Alex Box Stadium.
Johnson pinch-hit for Hall of Fame former LSU baseball coach Skip Bertman as the keynote speaker. Bertman, 86, had flu-like symptoms Tuesday morning and had to miss the event.
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