By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
When one of best new hitters on the LSU baseball team and a senior who has won the starting job at first base compliments a freshman who plays his position and could one day take it, it means something.
“Mason Braun, he hits more than anyone I’ve ever met,” LSU transfer first baseman Zach Yorke said in a recent podcast interview with a former precocious freshman at LSU in his own right in 2009 – Mikie Mahtook, center fielder on the ’09 LSU national champions.
“He lives in the cages,” Yorke said. “He’s strong. He hits the ball hard. He puts up really good at-bats. He has elite plate discipline.”
And so is Yorke, according to LSU coach Jay Johnson. Yorke hit 24 home runs with 96 RBIs over his last two seasons at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.
But Yorke is keeping his eye on Braun as is Johnson as the No. 1 defending national champion Tigers prepare to open the 2026 season on Friday against Milwaukee (2 p.m., SEC Network+) at Alex Box Stadium.
Braun (6-foot-0, 213 pounds), a left-handed hitter, is the No. 20 college freshman in the nation by Perfect Game coming out of Penn High in Granger, Indiana, and the No. 1 prep first baseman in the country. He hit a 430-foot home run at the Major League Baseball Combine in 2025. Braun is expected to be one of quite a few of LSU’s designated hitters in addition to playing first base and left or right field in spots.
Asked on Tiger Rag Radio Tuesday night what hitter has jumped out at him the most over the last month of practice, Johnson did not hesitate.
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“Easy. No brainer. Mason Braun,” he said. “Like, he led the team in hitting over the three weeks of scrimmages – 11 of them. Really capable player, capable hitter. It was a good evaluation by us.”
Braun had previously committed to Virginia Tech before Johnson and staff came calling.
“When we saw him, I felt like this guy is going to be a great college hitter,” Johnson said. “He had pro ability in terms of how the ball comes off his bat and power. And he’s a good defensive player as well. He really profiled as that really good player in college. We’re very fortunate. He jumps off the page for sure. He was good at this – just the ability to slow it down. That’s where he’s really advanced between the fall and the spring.”
Johnson has a host of other hitters to get in games at DH, the corner outfields and at first base for Yorke here and there.
“We have a lot of interchangeable parts,” Johnson said. “Figuring out that combination is going to take a little time and will be important for us. Mason will back up at first base and play at DH early in the season. But I do think he’s capable of playing first base and a corner outfield.”
And Johnson does not view Braun as a typical freshman.
“I would actually say, he’s more in control of himself,” he said. “That allows him to control his performance at a higher level than some players who have played a lot of college baseball. That’s a good quality.”
Yorke doesn’t see how he can be kept off the field much.
“We’ll see what the lineup is,” Yorke said. “Everyone is going to get their opportunity, but that kid is going to be really good.”
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