By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson mentioned needing to recruit better for next season while getting swept at Ole Miss last weekend.
On Friday after a series opening, 10-4 loss to No. 7 Texas A&M at home that dropped the former No. 1 Tigers to 23-16 and 6-10 in the Southeastern Conference, Johnson took that a step deeper. Having a roster littered with disappointments from the NCAA Transfer Portal like the one he has now will be a thing of the past.
LSU-Texas A&M baseball at the Box moved up from 7 pm to 4:30 pm because of bad weather in forecast:https://t.co/12cQSSlGeK
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) April 18, 2026
Johnson was asked about his team’s continuing failures at two-out hitting with runners in scoring position, which reared its ugly head on Friday.
Texas A&M just too much for LSU in 10-4 win.https://t.co/WzHeUVR34u
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) April 18, 2026
And he gave a long, detailed answer.
“Yeah, I think it’s a deep-rooted thing,” he said. “We’re off, and it will never happen again. We need to be able to stay on the ball better. And hit the ball back through the middle of the field and the other way and hit the ball lower with shorter swings.”
Johnson feels that he has too many players only thinking home runs.
“It’s not the era that these players that we are coaching right now have grown up in,” he said. “A lot of them talk about exit velo (velocity) and distance and home runs. And those are great. And we have plenty of home runs. We actually do (64 on the season for top five in the SEC). If you attached professional at-bats, which is what we’re known for, we’re staples of and why we have two national championships with the power on this team, it would be plenty.”
Then Johnson brought up his overall roster, which features four highly ranked upper classmen from the transfer portal who have disappointed at the plate and athletically, including two of them struggling defensively.
LSU Baseball Schedule Change: Tigers play University of RPI next 5 weekends:https://t.co/dBz5I7qhTr
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) April 16, 2026
-Senior first baseman/designated hitter Zach Yorke of Grand Canyon (.250, 6 home runs, 19 RBIs, 5 errors, 32 starts) has lost his job to freshman Mason Braun.
-Junior infielder Trent Caraway of Oregon State (.250, 2 home runs, 15 RBIs, 1 error, 24 starts) was replaced at third base several weeks ago by sophomore John Pearson. He is currently injured and questionable for this weekend.
-Senior infielder Brayden Simpson of High Point (.265, 1 home run, 8 RBIs, 15 starts) has also been out of the lineup for the most part for several weeks.
-Senior infielder Seth Dardar of Kansas State (.266, 5 home runs, 25 RBIs, 4 errors, 28 starts). He is also currently injured and questionable for this weekend.
“I made some mistakes in constructing the team in trying to replace two guys that were irreplaceable,” Johnson said in reference to first baseman Jared Jones (.323, 22 home runs, 76 RBIs) and designated hitter Ethan Frey (.331, 13 home runs, 50 RBIs), who played their entire college careers at LSU.
“We should’ve looked to replacing them through guys that were already in the program,” Johnson said, likely referencing Ashton Larson (.256, 2 home runs, 12 RBIs, 5 starts), who transferred to Texas after his sophomore season last year. And replacing them with players who were athletic and could play defense and be more complete players.”
Johnson went for home run and RBI numbers in the portal.
“OK, we won’t make that mistake again,” he said. “The power moving forward will come from players that start their careers here and develop it like Jake has this year.”
Junior right fielder Jake Brown in his third LSU season leads the team with 16 home runs and 49 RBIs while hitting .318.
“But I can’t do anything about that now,” Johnson said.
The Tigers host No. 7 Texas A&M (29-7, 10-5 SEC) in the second game of the series at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The game was moved up from 7 p.m. because of bad weather in the forecast.
“But what I can do is try to get them to understand to hit the ball hard and low and the other way. When did we do it tonight? One time.”
That was returning sophomore Cade Arrambide, whose two-out RBI single cut the Aggies’ lead to 4-2 in the fifth.
“That’s my responsibility, and that will get fixed,” Johnson said.
While LSU made no errors Friday, Johnson said Simpson should have been given an error at second base in the first inning when he misplayed a grounder. That didn’t lead to any runs, but it extended starter Casan Evans several valuable pitches that may have hurt him later. LSU leads the SEC in errors with 50, and it’s not even close.
“That’s on us to fix the defense, and I don’t know that that’s a 2026 fix right now,” he said. “That might be a 2027 fix.”
Johnson met longer than usual after the game Friday with his team in the outfield, which delayed his appearance on the LSU Radio Network’s postgame show and his press conference.
“We have a process of winning here that we have not been connected to as a team,” he said of one of his topics in the meeting. “And it bothers me. So, I’m just going to coach as hard as I can on baseball-specific stuff. Like, they know how I think and feel about attitude, competitiveness and those types of things. We’ve had way too many conversations about those things.”
Then Johnson hinted at roster changes going into 2027. He’ll be watching as LSU tries to rise out of its mid-60s RPI and reach the NCAA postseason.
“If I’m going to have players who continue on here, we have to make some value out of this part of the season,” he said. “And I know that they care a lot. We need to learn to play better. And that’s my responsibility. And so we’re just going all in on that. And if we’re going to struggle and fail, we’re going to create some value out of that. That’s not where we want to be. It’s not were we expect to be, but that’s where we are right now.”
Johnson dismissed significant comparisons between this team and his 2024 team that started the SEC season 3-12 before rallying for a 13-17 finish to reach an NCAA Regional.
“Different animal,” he said. “Not the same circumstances. What will be the same is how Jay Johnson shows up. And how Jay Johnson prepares his team. And even though it may not move the needle, I’m going to coach it like the flood’s coming through town, if we don’t win. And it’s going to wreck everything and wreck everybody.”
And his players better have a similar approach.
“Hopefully, everyone in the program will approach it the same way and give everything they have,” he said. “And by no means, am I saying not everybody’s trying or giving their best effort. We need to coach the players to where they have a better understanding of what their best effort is.”
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