By Hunt Palmer
Gavin Guidry showed up a shortstop.
Three years later he’s the elder statesman on a pitching staff as he recovers from a back issue that cost him the entirety of the 2025 season.
The problems started just as the season began. Guidry woke up one morning not feeling great, and the discomfort persisted until something had to be done to alleviate it. That derailed what was supposed to be a huge third season in the program for the Lake Charles native.
After two years in the bullpen, Guidry had been stretched out preseason to potentially start games for LSU. He had had added a couple of mph to his fastball and worked on a changeup to give hitters a different look.
The out pitch is and will be the big hammer of a breaking ball. That’s Guidry’s signature. So too are his competitive demeanor and bulldog attitude. That combination allowed him to make the transformation from light-hitting shortstop to high-leverage freshman reliever over the course of three months in 2023.
Guidry received a redshirt in 2025 since he never threw a pitch. That means his leverage is still intact should he return to LSU. Every indication is that Guidry will return. He said as much in Omaha as he watched from the dugout just two short years since he fired the clinching pitch of the 2023 College World Series.
A reliever with a low 90s fastball coming off of a freak back injury isn’t exactly a hot commodity come draft time. But Guidry does have options.
IF HE STAYS
Like last fall, Guidry will be able to compete for a spot in the weekend rotation.
Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson will move on. Casan Evans is probably the only odds-on starter as the roster begins to take shape. Zac Cowan’s future is up in the air. William Schmidt and Cooper Williams have strides to make. Same goes for Jaden Noot, and all of LSU’s transfer adds to this point have been bullpen arms.
Someone is going to have to make the jump from starter to reliever. Guidry was in that process when he got hurt.
For Guidry to make that move, he’s going to have to rediscover those two-to-three mph on his fastball that saw him working 92-94 in the fall. He’s also going to have to master the changeup. Fastball-curveball is not enough to get five or six innings into games, especially when the fastball isn’t really a plus pitch.
The flip side of all this is, if Guidry doesn’t become a starter, he can be trusted in big spots out of the bullpen. His temperament is bold and confident. He’s experienced in the biggest of spots. LSU was in no jeopardy of losing the 2023 national final when Guidry came on, but getting the final outs of a national championship is still a great experience.
He’s struck out 78 hitters in 53 career innings and has six saves to his name. In 2024, his ERA was just 2.59. He’s a proven bullpen bullet.
IF HE GOES
I’d be stunned.
Guidry has suggested he plans to return, and I expect that. If he goes, he’ll do so with a pair of national title rings and the memory of getting the final out in Omaha in 2023.
LSU returns some arms with big game experience. And they’ve added through the portal. The projected relief staff is a little bit left-handed outside of Mavrick Rizy and Jaden Noot.
If Guidry weren’t an option, someone from the young, less-experienced ranks would have to rise up.
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