By Hunt Palmer
Baseball season is rapidly approaching. Jay Johnson’s 2025 team is ranked in the top five no matter where you look. The incoming portal class was ranked No. 1 by multiple outlets, and the freshman class earned that honor as well.
The force that was a 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation is gone, and so is the thunderous bat of Tommy White. But some familiar faces return as well, and, as usual, the anticipation around the program is ratcheted up this time of year.
Let’s continue a look around this 2025 LSU baseball team with first base.
WHO’S GONE: NONE
WHO’S BACK: Jared Jones
WHO’S NEW: Ryan Costello (Freshman), Eddie Yamin IV (Transfer: Dayton), Dalton Beck (Transfer: Incarnate Word), Luis Hernandez (Transfer: Indiana State)
Jones’s decision to come back changes this LSU roster. He’s 18 homers shy of third all-time on the LSU home run list and is coming off a season where he hit 28.
Over two seasons at LSU, he’s a .303 hitter with a .443 on base average and a .703 slugging percentage. Last year, his OPS was a staggering 1.201. That’s higher than Tommy White’s in 2023 (1.157) when the future College Baseball Hall of Famer hit .374 with 24 home runs and 105 RBI.
Jones is a power hitter, and he’s going to remain a power hitter. That means he’s going to strike out some. He made strides there last year. He struck out 38 times in 104 SEC plate appearances in 2023; in 2024 the strikeouts only rose to 42 in 133 plate appearances. That’s a 37 percent strikeout rate to a 32 percent strike out rate. If he can get that into the 20s, that will be major three-year progress.
He did a much better job of laying off the breaking pitches away. That allowed him to walk 59 times. He’s going to need more of that patience this year because without White’s presence he becomes the clear focal point of opposing pitching staffs.
Jac Caglianone, Charlie Condon, Braden Montgomery, Christian Moore and White are gone, and that makes Jones one of the three or four most feared bats in the league. He joins a group with Jace LaViolette, Gavin Grahovac and Ethan Petry among others who will challenge for the league’s home run title.
Jones is an average defender at first base, but he’s a big, average defender which beats the alternative. Last year he showed some decent hands and footwork at times. He won’t be a liability.
Costello has really impressed the coaching staff since arriving in the summer. He’s got a big 6-foot-3 frame and room to add plenty to his listed weight of 205 lbs. He hit 14 home runs as a high school senior and profiles as a powerful left-handed bat at first base. He’ll have to wait his time behind an All-American, but don’t be surprised to see him get some garbage time at bats early in the season to see if he doesn’t warrant a look at designated hitter.
Hernandez is more of a catcher at this point. The same can be said for Yamin. Beck was pitching on Sunday despite the fact that he hit .377 with 18 home runs at Incarnate Word last year.
Jones isn’t going anywhere defensively, so this position is blocked for those guys in 2025.
HUNT’S TAKE: I’m curious to see how Jones responds to what will be a perceived lack of protection early. Right now, who are you definitely challenging Jones to stay away from? Not Josh Pearson or Steven Milam. Not Derek Curiel or Michael Braswell. At this point it’s not Danny Dickinson, either. Jones is clearly the alpha in this lineup, and that means a ton of breaking balls and fastballs away. Ther good news is that Jones willingly drives fastball to right field and has enough power to lift those into the seats.
Still, a diet of less-than-desirable pitches can wear on you mentally, but if he takes his walks and other players start to do some damage, he can feast.
I fully expect Jones to hit his 20 home runs and play a solid first base. He’s a star in the SEC. This will be a mental challenge for him above anything else.
NEXT UP: Second Base
