By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
As today’s high noon Major League Baseball Draft approached over the last few days, LSU coach Jay Johnson’s head was spinning numbers regarding his 22-man high school signing class for 2027.
Which of those will be drafted low enough to not get a high enough monetary offer for Johnson to have a chance to keep? Or of the ones drafted high, which ones will he have a chance to keep, in case the MLB team’s offer doesn’t blow the player away.
“Ooh, I should be able to answer that better,” Johnson told Tiger Rag when asked how many members of his class he thinks he will keep out of pro baseball via Saturday’s MLB Draft (12 p.m., NBC, Peacock, MLB Network) that continues Sunday.
The first 10 selections of the draft will be on NBC and Peacock today. Picks 11 through 40 will be televised by MLB Network and streamed on MLB.com, which will continue to stream picks 41 through 135 to complete the fourth round on Saturday. The fifth through the 20th and final round will be streamed on MLB.com beginning at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.
“It’s all I’ve been looking at for the past week – spreadsheets, whiteboards, notebooks,” said Johnson, who will be monitoring virtually all picks Saturday and Sunday.
LSU HIGH RANKED SIGNEE PITCHER LUCAS NAWROCKI TAKES NAME OUT OF DRAFT
Johnson as of Friday will not be sweating over one major addition to his 2027 high school class. That is No. 50 draft prospect Lucas Nawrocki (5-10, 197 pounds), a left-handed pitcher from Aledo High in Aledo, Texas, who took his name out of the draft on Friday and is coming to LSU. Nawrocki could have an immediate impact as a starter or reliever for LSU next season, which has holes in its returning pitching staff.
He also doesn’t have to worry about left-handed hitting outfielder Nathaneal Davis, the No. 34 MLB Draft prospect by Perfect Game from Bishop Moore High in Orlando, Florida. He also recently took his name out of the draft and is LSU bound. Davis will contend with William Patrick, a freshman last season, for center field in 2027.
“Yeah, we’ve got two burners there for sure,” Johnson said. “William is one of the fastest players I’ve ever coached, and Nathaneal is a great runner, great speed, great athlete.”
Portal addition Jason Wachs of Tulane could also be the center fielder, which is where he is playing this summer in the Cape Cod League. He played right field primarily for the Green Wave.
And Johnson knows he will keep left-handed pitcher Braxton Beaty (6-0, 178), the No. 122 prospect by Perfect Game from Angleton High in Angleton, Texas, who took his name out of the draft in June.
Of LSU’s 22-man class of 2027 that Perfect Game ranks No. 2 in the nation behind Vanderbilt, 11 are in Perfect Game’s top 100 of draft prospects. If Johnson can keep a handful or half of the following 11, he would be in excellent shape entering 2027 as he has the No. 10-ranked portal class by D1 Baseball with eight additions.
11 LSU SIGNEES IN PERFECT GAME TOP 100 ENTERING MLB DRAFT THIS WEEKEND
– No. 12 Logan Schmidt (6-4, 215), left-handed pitcher, Ganesha High, Aliso Viejo, California.
– No. 27 Jensen Hirschkorn (6-7, 205), right-handed pitcher, Kingsburg High, Kingsburg, California.
– No. 28 Malachi Washington (6-1, 195), outfielder, bats right, Parkview High, Stone Mountain, Georgia.
– No. 34 Nathaneal Davis (6-0, 180), outfielder, bats left, Bishop Moore High, Orlando, Florida.*
– No. 39 Anthony Murphy (6-0, 190), outfielder, bats right, Corona High, Corona California.
– No. 45 Dominic Santarelli (6-2, 230), outfielder, bats left, St. Joseph High, Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.
– No. 50 Lucas Nawrocki (5-11, 197), left-handed pitcher, Aledo High, Aledo, Texas.*
– No. 82 Will Adams (6-2, 210), first base, bats left, Hoover High, Hoover, Alabama.
– No. 83 Cooper Sides (6-6, 225), right-handed pitcher, Orange Lutheran High, Orange, California.
– No. 89 Dylan Blomker (6-4, 212), right-handed pitcher, La Cueva High, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
– No. 97 Parker Loew (6-0, 180), shortstop, bats right, Trinidad Christian High, Jacksonville, Florida.
*have taken name out of draft
Other ranked draft prospects by Perfect Game in LSU’s 2027 class that Johnson hopes to keep are No. 162 Kolby Stringer (6-3, 225), a right-handed pitcher from West Marion High in Foxworth, Mississippi; No. 173 Coleton Brady (6-5, 215), a right-handed pitcher from TNXL Academy in North Collins, New Jersey; No. 313 Bradyn Cupit (6-1, 205), a left-handed pitcher from West Monroe High in West Monroe and No. 385 Braydon Wisener (6-2, 195), a right-handed pitcher from Hargrave High in Huffman, Texas.
“I think 13 of them could get drafted,” Johnson said before Nawrocki took his name out. “Now, I don’t think that all 13 will be drafted in a spot where they will want to sign. But it could be anywhere from like six to 13 of them that we could lose. If we get out of there with only six drafted, I would say that’s probably a win – a big win.”
Of the 13 draft prospects listed above (excluding the two who have already taken their name out of the draft*), eight are pitchers. That may increase Johnson’s take-home odds.
“Sometimes you have a better chance with the pitchers than you do the position players, because those premium hitters – they stand out like a sore thumb,” Johnson said. “And the MLB teams really want to pay them. But sometimes, they’re leery about paying high school right-handed pitchers. And we have a good crop of those guys. So, hopefully, we can get ’em through the draft and get some depth and really good balance on the team and the pitching staff.”
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