By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
LSU redshirt junior pitcher Gavin Guidry went into the 2025 baseball season with high hopes. At the time, he was the Tigers’ best returning reliever as a junior after going 2-0 with four saves and a 2.59 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 24 and a third innings.
But after suffering a back injury just before the season, he sat out the rest of the season and had surgery in April. The recovery was difficult.
Have The Adventures of Kiffin’s Travels – Monte and Lane – convinced Lane to pack and go again? To LSU?https://t.co/Q1RMlsmkR0
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) November 25, 2025
“He lost a lot of weight, didn’t move really well,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said at a press conference this week. “There was a point where I was like, ‘Man, I hope he’s going to be alright.’ Then the doctor says, ‘Hey, you’re going to think he’s not going to make it back, but then it’s going to click. And he’s going to feel better and be able to get going.’ And I got to that point where I’m like, ‘I don’t know if this is going to work.’ And then he made a breakthrough.”
Guidry, who was 3-0 with a 3.77 ERA and three saves amid 42 strikeouts in 28 and a third innings as freshman in 2023 from Barbe High in Lake Charles, wasn’t used to sitting out. Guidry was relegated to disc jockey duty as he chose the locker room music for the team in Omaha, where it won the College World Series.
“I thought he did a terrific job staying engaged with the team,” Johnson said.
#LSU pitcher Gavin Guidry emotional after watching his team make Omaha after a tough year battling injuries. pic.twitter.com/M7ou9m4EGc
— Andre Champagne (@andrechampagnee) June 9, 2025
During the summer, the Tigers’ medical staff was patient.
“We were a little bit careful from the rebuild from the surgery, because he hadn’t thrown a competitive pitch since the first weekend of February,” Johnson said. “So, there was the part of getting the arm rebooted. Then you take him up through the live at-bats before real competition.”
Guidry pitched for the first time since the surgery in an intrasquad scrimmage on November 7, working 1 and two thirds innings and striking out five of five.
“I first off was really happy for him,” Johnson said. “He had three outings and checked out really good. How he responded from sitting down and getting up again, there was no problem. And then the next day, any soreness was normal pitching soreness, and that got better each week. So, it’s actually good now. He can go into that reload phase, if you will.”
The process will speed up when practice begins in January for the Feb. 13 season opener in Alex Box Stadium against Milwaukee.
“We’re not going to stop what he’s doing,” Johnson said. “I feel like he’ll be ready to go, and that’s a good thing for our pitching staff.”
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