Jay Johnson had an offensive plan in place, and he acquired the types of pieces he was looking for.
The transfer additions to the 2027 lineup were polished, veteran hitters with a nice blend of power as well as right and left-handed hitters.
With the returning talent, not much else needs to be done with the bats.
Pitching is still a priority.
Southern Cal transfer Diego Velazquez brings young arm talent into the fold. Johnson told Tiger Rag Radio on Tuesday that he envisions the hard-throwing right hander to be a long relief piece and potentially a closer for the 2027 team. Starting could be an option in the future like Casan Evans‘s trajectory in the program.
Still, more help is needed out of the bullpen. Ideally, there is a left-handed addition on the way. Danny Lachenmayer, Ethan Plog and Cooper Williams have experience, but none of the three displayed enough consistency in 2026.
More important than left-handed pitching is quality pitching. LSU is still pursuing that no matter the handedness.
One name to pay close attention to is Louisiana Tech transfer Thomas Allen. Like Velazquez, Allen just completed his freshman season. He was a Freshman All-CUSA hurler with a 3.54 ERA in 19 appearances. Opponents hit him at a .192 batting average, and he had a strikeout to walk ratio of 49-to-15 in 48.1 innings.
Allen is expected to visit LSU, but Texas, Arkansas, Ole Miss and Mississippi State are players for the Benton, LA., product.
I’ll keep an eye/ear out for more names, but Allen is one to watch this week as he decides between a handful of SEC options.
