Former LSU Tigers Baseball Star Prospect Back In Transfer Portal

The LSU Tigers `are one of the top destinations for elite talent in college baseball, but sometimes those players get to Baton Rouge and decide it's not right so they hit the transfer portal.

The Tigers were just given the chance to bring them back to LSU, but should he even consider it? The starting offense is mostly complete, and the pitching staff has a lot of starter candidates, but they still have some room for talent.

One of the Tigers' big-time failed projects just hit the transfer portal against, exiting the Oklahoma Sooners after winning a national championship.

Johnson has not had the fairytale college career that he had hoped for. He was the No. 42 player on MLB's big board for the 2023 draft, but decided to head to college instead. That's becoming more common for top players thanks to NIL, but it's still a risk.

He was expected to come in and dominate fairly quickly. He was a massive-framed lefty with a devastating sinking fastball. His freshman campaign with the Tigers did not exactly work out. He had a 12.00 ERA. The 21-year-old has a 5.49 career ERA after two seasons with the Sooners.

Johnson's command was his weakest trait, and that has been shown throughout his college steal. He has walked 84 batter in 83.2 innings of work. Everything was better this season, but he still did walk a ton of batters.

If LSU can continue to build off the progress he made in Oklahoma, he could still be a big-time talent. That's a big if, though. The Tigers saw firsthand last year just how hurtful having inconsistent talent on the mound can be.

The bad news is that LSU really just doesn't need him. They have four or five pitchers who could already start on weekends. They should just save money and try to develop within the house. If Johnson were willing to come out of bullpen, though, he does have the stuff to be potentially be an interesting closer.

Verdict: If He Will Come Out Of Bullpen (Likely Not)