Paxton Kling came to LSU with sky-high expectations, but the former No. 6 overall prospect out of high school never hit his stride and is now entering the transfer portal.
Kling hit .566 his senior season of high school before coming to Baton Rouge, but he never hit over .289 for the Tigers. He hit .289 as a freshman and just .222 last season.
After having four homers during his first season, he had just one last season. He started 39 of LSU’s 66 games last season and batted leadoff 18 times, but by the end of the season he was mostly called on to be a defensive change in the outfield.
He was rated as the No. 51 overall MLB prospect headed into the 2022 MLB Draft. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
Sam Dutton has also thrown his name in the portal.
Dutton started fifteen games for LSU over the last three seasons and posted a 6.02 ERA. He started four games last season, including the season finale against North Carolina. He gave up three hits and didn’t record an out before being pulled.
He started 11 games for LSU his freshman season and posted a 5.12 ERA in 38.2 innings pitched. He worked as the Tigers’ game three starter in the last few SEC regular-season series in 2022.
He was named a First-Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball his senior year of high school ball before coming to LSU. He posted a 9-0 record with a 0.40 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 53 innings while also batting .515 his senior season.
The Tigers have now had five players enter the portal this offseason. Cam Johnson, Nic Bronzini, Micah Bucknam, Aiden Moffett and now Dutton makes it five pitchers in the portal. Kling, Derrick Mitchell, Zeb Ruddell and Austen Roellig are the four other players to enter the portal.
Last season, LSU added seven players in the transfer portal. The Tigers currently have five incoming JUCO transfers and one transfer from South Florida.
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