GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
The perfect summer is expected to continue for LSU pitcher Kade Anderson on Sunday shortly after 6 p.m.
The Washington Nationals are expected to take the sophomore left-hander with the first pick of the Major League Baseball Draft that will be televised live on ESPN and the MLB Network, beginning at 6. If the Nationals do not take Anderson and opt for high school star shortstop Ethan Holliday of Stillwater, Oklahoma, Anderson would likely go to either the Los Angeles Angels or Seattle Mariners with the second or third pick, respectively.
The growing Legend of Kade Anderson and Legacy of LSU. Column;https://t.co/1TvjqeExwn
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) June 15, 2025
At this time last summer, Anderson was coming off a so-so freshman year at LSU, though he soon became a contender for the weekend rotation in the 2025 season for the Tigers.
Contender? He was named the ace and pitched like one for virtually the entire season, finishing 12-1 with a 3.18 ERA and leading the nation in strikeouts with 180. He won two games in the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, including a 1-0 victory in the championship series opener, and was named the CWS MVP.
“He’s the best pitcher in the country,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said in Omaha for the fifth or sixth time since mid-season.
“His next pitch should be somewhere in the Washington Nationals organization,” Johnson said after the 1-0 win over Coastal Carolina. “He’s the best player in the country. It’s not close. There’s nobody closer to the Major Leagues than him right now.”
Anderson will likely land a signing bonus near $10 million if he becomes LSU’s second overall No. 1 pick in three years as Paul Skenes went first in 2023 to Pittsburgh after the Tigers won the national title that year, and he was MVP of the CWS with two stellar performances as well. Skenes was just named the National League starting pitcher for the All-Star game for the second straight season.
Anderson is probably approaching his Sunday night as he did all his starts this season.
“I look at every lineup the exact same,” he said in Omaha. “Whether that’s the first team we played, or the last team we played. Realistically, you don’t look at a batter, you look at how you’re going to pitch each guy.”
Like Skenes before him, look for Anderson to be pitching against Major League batters in about a year, or less.
LSU Baseball’s future is so bright … it’s got to wear shades. https://t.co/C4NUIM45zG
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) June 23, 2025
“At LSU, we’re at the forefront of developing pitching in college baseball,” Johnson said. “If you look over the last three years in terms of draft picks, statistics, national championships, you can’t argue that. There’s no better place for a pitcher in the entire country to come right now and develop to be a major league than LSU.”
LSU redshirt sophomore right-hander Chase Shores, who recorded the last out of the College World Series and got the save in a 5-3 win over Coastal Carolina with some 102 mph fastballs, is the No. 77 prospect for the draft by MLB.com, which would mean the third round. But he could go higher.
Shores could also return to LSU for more of the development Johnson spoke about. LSU pitching coach Nate Yeskie is the state of the art. He developed Anderson and could make Shores better. A spot in LSU’s weekend rotation next season for Shores could mean a jump to the first round. He could sign for a $1.5 million or so in the second or third round this summer, or for several more million next year, coming off an Anderson-type season next season.
Other LSU players expected to be drafted in the first three rounds Sunday with their MLB.com rankings are junior pitcher Anthony Eyanson at No. 40, junior second baseman Daniel Dickinson at No. 80, junior first baseman Jared Jones at No. 101 and junior outfielder Ethan Frey at No. 119.
Of those, Frey is the only one expected to return to LSU as – like Shores – he could greatly enhance his draft position from 2025 to ’26 with another season with the Tigers. This is because he could showcase his outfield talent as he mainly was LSU’s designated hitter last season.
Other LSU juniors expected to be drafted in rounds 4 through 20 on Monday (MLB.com live stream, 10:30 a.m.) are pitchers Zac Cowan, Jacob Mayers, Conner Ware and Gavin Guidry, and outfielder Chris Stanfield. Depending on where they are picked and their offers, some of those could remain at LSU. Senior catcher Luis Hernandez is also expected to be drafted.
LSU MADE MLB DRAFT HISTORY IN 2023
Johnson was not just recruiting in his comments about LSU as the premier launching pad to MLB. In 2023, the Tigers tied the Southeastern Conference record with 13 players drafted and became the first college in history to produce the first two picks of a draft with Skenes and outfielder Dylan Crews going to Washington. LSU is also tied for the SEC record for most pitchers taken in a draft with eight in 2024.
Six LSU high school commitments for its class of 2026 are in MLB.com’s top 100 for the draft – No. 37 infielder/outfielder Quentin Young of Camarillo, California, No. 56 outfielder Dean Moss of Atherton, California, No. 57 infielder/outfielder Jaden Fauske of Willowbrook, Illinois, No. 64 infielder Brady Ebel of Rancho Cucamonga, California, No. 67 left-handed pitcher Briggs McKenzie of Wendell, North Carolina, and No. 99 pitcher River Hamilton of Woodvillage, Oregon.
Johnson will have a chance to keep a few of those, particularly if they watched the College World Series in two of the last three years.
Be the first to comment