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LSU adds transfer left-handed pitcher from SEC rival

On3 imageby:Matthew Brune•06/27/25•

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Kade Anderson LSU
Kade Anderson LSU

LSU has picked up a commitment from 6-foot-4 left-handed pitcher Ryler Smart from Tennessee on Thursday night, first reported by LSU Tigers on SI.

After the earlier addition of Danny Lachenmayer from North Dakota State, even more left-handed pitching to LSU’s staff for 2026. Ryler makes the move across SEC to join the national champs and a program that continues to pump out high-level pitchers under Jay Johnson.

Smart didn’t see any action for the Volunteers this season. He played high school baseball at Pearland (TX), where he was the No. 183 overall player and No. 25 LHP in the 2024 recruiting cycle, according to Perfect Game.

Johnson and pitching coach Nate Yeskie were able to turn LSU’s staff into the best collection of arms in the country and it lifted the Tigers to the title. The likes of Kade Anderson, Anthony Eyanson, Chase Shores, and others will be remembered forever in Baton Rouge. Now, they’re trying to do it again as Yeksie has solidified himself as the best pitching coach in college baseball according to Johnson.

“He’s amazing,” Johnson said of Yeskie. “Second year in Arizona, we made it to Omaha. Second year here at LSU, we win the national championship. So I mentioned why pitchers should want to come here. Oregon State, Arizona, Texas A&M, LSU. So all you other college baseball historians, find me another pitching coach that’s gone to Omaha with four different programs. Now double national championship with Oregon State and LSU and Big Leaguers and All-Americans and all of that. Nate is the best pitching coach in college baseball. And we’ve led the country in strikeouts two years in a row. I mean, I think it really speaks for itself. And I’m proud of him. He’s a friend, and he’s loyal, hard-working, and he’s really good at what he does. And if you’re a pitcher out there, high school or portal, you should want to come pitch here, largely because of Nate Yeskie and then Jamie Tutko, who’s our director of pitching development and analytics and has helped take this thing to a new level as well. So we’ve got it all. We’ve got it all. And I’m really proud of that side of the ball. We had to elevate the talent in the LSU Baseball program on the mound when I got here, and we have, and we’ve executed on developing them as good as I ever could have dreamed of or imagined.”

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