Entering the offseason, two-thirds of LSU’s outfield was returning, and Ethan Frey and Chris Stanfield had the opportunity to do so.
Meanwhile, the infield was losing Jared Jones, Daniel Dickinson and Michael Braswell while freshmen Mikey Ryan and David Hogg were transferring out. Beyond Steven Milam and perhaps John Pearson, LSU’s infield depth was non-existent.
The portal focus had to be on the dirt, and it was.
Jay Johnson’s staff nabbed four infielders in this portal class, and all four should vie for starting roles when you include DH.
Brayden Simpson, INF, High Point – Simpson played three years at High Point, and he erupted as a junior, hitting .389 with 22 home runs and 24 doubles. He posted four multi-home run games and a ridiculous OPS of 1.251.
HOME RUN KINGS 💣👑@HPUBaseball, 2nd in the nation in homers entering Friday, breaks the Big South record for single-season home runs (124) with Brayden Simpson’s solo blast in the 3rd inning!#BigSouthBase pic.twitter.com/e8D0SRlAta
— Big South Conference (@BigSouthSports) May 16, 2025
He went hitless in nine games on the year and collected multiple hits in 25. His power is unquestionable. At High Point, he hit a 474-foot blast to the pull side (left field) against Gardner-Webb. I also saw a dead center home run against Winthrop and an opposite field shot against Charleston Southern. The question becomes handling SEC pitching.
It appears #LSU has landed their first transfer portal commitment from High Point INF Brayden Simpson🔥
He hit .389 with 22 HR, 77 RBIs, 24 doubles, and 14 stolen bases this season
Here he is hitting one a casual 474 feet to left field.pic.twitter.com/ut9PRG6HOI
— Mik’d Up (@Mikdup_8) May 31, 2025
Simpson is a good athlete at 6-foot-1 and 190 lbs. He played both corner infield spots for High Point in 2025. He made 12 errors and fielded .951 which isn’t great. It’s also not unheard for a college third baseman to kick the ball around a little bit. I think Simpson will compete with Trent Caraway at third base.
Seth Dardar, INF, Kansas State – Dardar just wanted to play for LSU. He’s a Northshore native who spent two years at Columbia and last season at Kansas State. He hit .326 with an OPS of 1.065 for the Wildcats. He’s a left-handed infield bat which we know Johnson prioritizes. Johnson also has a tendency to grab players he’s competed against. Dardar went 2-for-5 against LSU in Frisco including a homer off Kade Anderson.
Whew, heck of a swing by Seth Dardar who does a nice job of staying in against this left-on-left breaking ball and crushes a game-tying HR way out to RF. pic.twitter.com/mjvyIiK2v2
— Peter Flaherty III (@PeterGFlaherty) February 28, 2025
Dardar is a really good college hitter. He hit .313 with eight homers in Big 12 play this season. He is a little bit of a free swinger who doesn’t walk very often, but he hits the ball hard a lot. Defensively, Dardar has played first, second and third. I think he gets a look at both spots on the right side of the infield in the fall.
Zach Yorke, 1b/DH, Grand Canyon – Yorke is another guy coming off a season with an OPS over 1.000. He posted a 1.079 for the Lopes this season. That was comprised of 13 homers, 10 doubles and 35 walks against just 28 strikeouts.
𝐇𝐎𝐖 ‘𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑. 💣 💣
Two tonight, 12 on the season, 31 in the career of @zach_yorke! pic.twitter.com/hn6h6WxXXs
— Grand Canyon Baseball (@GCU_Baseball) May 7, 2025
Yorke homered off Vanderbilt in the season opener. He hit 32 of those at Grand Canyon, most since the program turned Division 1. Yorke has a short swing and finds the barrel a ton. He’s also massively strong. He may play first base., but at 6-foot-2 and 295 lbs., he may DH. Either way, he’s coming to LSU to hit from the left side with power.
1B Zach Yorke, Grand Canyon
Yorke is a difficult eval as a 1B-only prospect who may ultimately get forced to DH before his big league debut. Won’t matter. He bangs.Coming off a .285/.390/.478 sophomore year after slashing .368/.471/.549 as a freshman. His 13.7% K-rate last year… pic.twitter.com/s54QMugBKt
— Joe Doyle (@JoeDoyleMiLB) December 30, 2024
Trent Caraway, INF, Oregon State – Caraway is the highest upside player in the portal class. He’s frame and talent suggest he could be a 20 homer guy. However, he’s coming off of a poor year. Entering the NCAA Tournament, he was hitting .255 with six home runs. He’d made a bunch of errors at third base and was striking out a ton. Then he caught fire.
Trent Caraway 2025 College Baseball Highlights! | Oregon State Beavers | @TrentCaraway pic.twitter.com/GfDWn8maYH
— Baseball is Everything (@ReportOnSports) June 20, 2025
Caraway hit five home runs in the Corvallis Regional, one in every game, and he added another against Florida State in the Super Regional. He got a hit in all three games in Omaha, but he was just 3-for-14. Still, this is the former California Gatorade Player of the Year who was a Cape Cod League All-Star after his freshman season. He’s a big, big talent. If Johnson and LSU can unlock it, Caraway could be an all-American. He could also lose his job to Simpson and spend a lot of time on the bench due to strikeouts and errors. But it’s absolutely worth the take.
