Jay Johnson sets expectations for LSU in 2025 MLB Draft

It was a magical season for head coach Jay Johnson and the LSU Tigers, winning the College World Series for a second national championship in three seasons. Now, Johnson is hoping that some of his players are going to be able to take the next step in their journeys by being selected in the MLB Draft.

The MLB Draft is difficult to navigate for college coaches, particularly at top college programs like LSU. MLB teams select both high school and college athletes, so your current roster and recruiting class can both take a hit. That’s a challenge that Johnson shared on Mik’d Up w/ Mikie Mahtook and Jared Mitchell that he knows he needs to embrace.

“It’s obviously a really fluid situation,” Jay Johnson said. “You can’t win a national championship unless you’re moving guys on to pro baseball. For the third year in a row, we’ll be moving a lot on. Two years ago, breaking an SEC record for number of players drafted. Last year, we broke an SEC record for number of pitchers drafted, and I think we actually have a chance to challenge that this year with the pitching staff.”

LSU has had some of the biggest young names go from college to professional baseball since Jay Johnson took over. The most notable of those players is, of course, Paul Skenes, but it isn’t limited to the two-time All-Star pitcher. Johnson has had his major league roster heavily drafted before. So, while not every player drafted signs with their team, Johnson is at least prepared to handle it.

“So, yeah, it’s a good time for a lot of our players. We had our meetings the day after the celebration and feel pretty calibrated on where everybody’s at,” Johnson said. “And, obviously, there’s some things you don’t know until they happen in real time. Just a lot of good communication.”

High school recruits are also often heavily selected in the MLB Draft. For LSU, whose recruiting class is currently 16 players strong, per Perfect Game. Any one of them could be selected, and depending on the slot value of where they’re selected it could make more sense to begin their professional journey than going to school.

“As far as the recruits, probably as talented a high school class as I’ve ever had. So, might get bloodied a little bit there to be perfectly honest with you. I don’t know what pro baseball did, but there just seems to be a whole heck of a lot more money in the draft this year than there’s ever been, and that’s not necessarily a great sign for college programs that recruit elite talent. So, we’ve been working. It’s a good group of guys, good families,” Johnson said.

“And if you turned on the TV this year and saw this freshman class show up at LSU and do what they did, it’s a good motivator to get guys here. We just try to educate them and let them know that the closest place you can go to get to the big leagues the Box for the next two or three years. Hopefully, some of them decide to do that and pair up with this group of really good returning players that we’re gonna have.”

Among the LSU stars Jay Johnson may be at risk of losing to the MLB Draft are pitchers Kade Anderson, Anthony Eyanson, and Chase Shores. Position players, like Jared Jones, Ethan Frey, and Daniel Dickinson can expect to get selected as well.

The MLB Draft is set to begin on July 13th and will run through July 14th. This year, it’s set to take place in Atlanta, alongside All-Star Weekend. July 13th will include rounds 1-3, compensatory rounds, competitive balance rounds, and prospect promotion incentive selections. From there, the remainder of the draft will take place the next day.