Michael Bacigalupi
By Hunt Palmer
Chase Shores arrived in Baton Rouge as a mega-talent. He’ll be one when he leaves.
The path between those two has featured plenty of storylines. Ultimately, it all worked out.
Shores was my pick to be the ace of the staff as of last summer. That was ambitious on my part because of the injury rehabilitation process. He was healthy last summer, but he wasn’t ready to pitch.
That showed in the fall where many of his outings were bumpy against the Tiger hitters. January produced more of the same.
Jay Johnson wanted Shores to get innings, so he put him at the back of the weekend rotation. He made nine starts and got hit around for the first five SEC weekends save a frigid afternoon in Oklahoma.
At that point he moved to the bullpen, made the switch to the stretch full-time and started to get better results.
His velocity ticked up from 98 to 100, and he became a force out of the bullpen.
What Shores did in Hoover and Omaha likely sealed his fate. Scouts swarm the SEC Tournament, and Omaha is the biggest stage of the sport. The 6-foot-8 Texan was brilliant in both settings.
An organization is going to pounce on him.
That said, the draft can be fickle, and Shores does have a year of leverage to use. If, and that’s a monstrous if, Shores were to return to college, start a full season and pitch to his potential, he’d sign for significantly more next year.
He’ll still sign for a big number this year.
IF HE STAYS
He’s instantly the most talented arm of the 2026 staff, and he’s a weekend starter.
My opinion is that it would work this time. He would pitch in the upper 90s and have a lot of success getting through lineups multiple times. The Shores we saw in May and June is the guy he’ll be moving forward, and that guy is plenty good enough to start.
IF HE GOES
LSU will be looking for a stopper to handle the highest leverage bullpen innings. Shores will be gone, and Casan Evans and Zac Cowan are likely starters.
Johnson preaches that one of his best arms will come out of the bullpen. Those three proved that in 2025. To me, the likely candidate for that role next year is Mavrick Rizy.
Jaden Noot is another interesting option, and we’ll see what comes from the draft next week.
Literally and figuratively, Shores leaves large shoes to fill.
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