Jay Johnson’s reportedly already added a big bat out of the transfer portal
The 2025 LSU baseball team’s in the midst of an NCAA Regional, but that’s not stopping Jay Johnson from keeping an eye towards shaping his 2026 roster.
High Point infielder Brayden Simpson has seemingly committed to LSU baseball. While no major outlet has reported it, Simpson lists LSU Baseball on his own Twitter bio so that seems legit enough.
If Simpson is indeed Baton Rouge bound, he’ll be bringing quite a big bat with him. This season was a career-year for him as he hit .389 with 22 homers, drove in 77 RBI and had 24 doubles en route to a First-Team All-Big South selection. He’s also got pretty good speed as he stole 14 bases this season.
There’s always a chance these smaller school players making the jump to the SEC end up struggling, but look at the success LSU’s had with Anthony Eyanson (UC-San Diego), Daniel Dickinson (Utah Valley), and Luis Hernandez (Indiana State) this season, and Paul Skenes in 2023. If Jay Johnson thinks Simpson can play, I’m going to believe him.
Simpson’s played all over the infield over the course of his college career. In 2023 he played 30 games at second base, last year he played 62 games at first, and this season he played 58 games at third. While Simpson has a powerful bat, he’s also pretty solid defensively, with a career fielding percentage of .972.
Next season is, obviously, a long ways away, but I would imagine Simpson mans third base in 2026, while Ethan Frey plays first base. Steven Milam will stay obviously at shortstop and Tanner Reaves is probably the Opening Day starter at second.
The transfer portal for baseball doesn’t open until Monday, but as a graduate transfer, Simpson was able to enter his name into the portal three days ago. Hopefully his lone season in Baton Rouge will be rewarded with a trip to Omaha at the very minimum.