LSU Baseball Coach Jay Johnson Has What He Calls “Balanced-Attack Players” Via Portal On Tiger Rag Radio

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson sounded very satisfied with his new crop of eight portal players for the 2027 season while on Tiger Rag Radio Tuesday night.

LSU TRANSFER PORTAL PLAYERS (with 2027 class):

-Sophomore Landon Hood, right-handed pitcher, Gonzaga

-Junior Dawson Park, shortstop/third base, Texas State

-Junior Bino Watters, outfielder, Notre Dame

-Senior Cade Kurland, second baseman, Florida

-Junior Jason Wachs, outfielder, Tulane

-Sophomore Diego Velazquez, right-handed pitcher, USC

-Junior Kaden Smith, right-handed pitcher, South Florida

-Sophomore Angel Laya, outfielder, Oregon

“I’m excited about what we were able to do – getting some really talented players,” he said. “But they can contribute on both sides of the ball. They’re what I’d call balanced-attack players. Thought that was something we really needed to improve and elevate.”

Listen to Johnson’s complete appearance on Tiger Rag Radio by clicking the red box below.

Part of the reason LSU fell from national champions in 2025 to out of NCAA postseason in 2026 with a 30-28 record and 9-21 mark in the Southeastern Conference was disappointing seasons from most of the Tigers’ portal additions last season – several of whom were one-dimensional and from off the radar programs.

LSU Baseball: Jay Johnson Opens Fourth Of July Weekend With A Bang – No. 15 Portal Player Angel Laya Of Oregon

This year, Johnson has four of the top 15 ranked overall portal players by ESPN in No. 5 left fielder Bino Watters of Notre Dame, No. 8 pitcher Landon Hood from Gonzaga, No. 10 shortstop/third baseman Dawson Park from Texas State and No. 15 right fielder Angel Laya of Oregon.

Bueno for LSU Baseball …https://t.co/lNdxOsIOF8

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) June 10, 2026

Other transfers include No. 58-ranked right fielder Jason Wachs of Tulane, second baseman Cade Kurland of Florida, pitcher Diego Velazquez of USC and pitcher Kaden Smith of South Florida.

“You look at those outfielders,” Johnson continued. “Angel Laya, Jason Wachs, Bino Watters – good defensive players, good athletes, have good speed. So that will hep on defense, and obviously they’re really hight end hitters. Cade from Florida has probably played more games at second base over the last four years than any player in the country. And he’s done it at the SEC level. So excited about Cade, and then Dawson Park is a really good shortstop.”

Returning senior Steven Milam will remain at shortstop with Park likely moving to third base.

“He is versatile and can play a lot of defensive positions,” Johnson said of Park. “So, I’m excited about the players we have added on the position side. Hopefully, they complement the returnees and this good class of freshmen that we hopefully get through the draft.”

The Major League Baseball Draft is Saturday and Sunday.

“On the pitching side, the development of the returners and their improveent is important,” Johnson said. “We like the three we added from the portal. We have a ton of talent from the high school ranks.”