LSU Baseball Position Preview: Left Field

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 the roster for this 2025 LSU baseball team with left field.

WHO’S GONE: Mac Bingham (Graduation), Zeb Ruddell (Transfer: Louisiana Tech)

WHO’S BACK: Josh Pearson, Mic Paul

WHO’S NEW: Derek Curiel (Freshman)

LSU’s outfield is deep and unsettled. That’s not to say it’s a concern, but as of today it’s difficult to pencil in an outfield starter for tall three game of the first weekend. There’s a blend of young talent and high-floor veterans that should yield solid outfield play for LSU, but just how that comes together remains to be seen.

It’s likely that some of these outfield names move from position to position. The names mentioned in left field may move to right and vice versa. We’ll keep the previews to one position at a time with the understanding that the players mentioned may make those moves.

Pearson has been a key piece to three different LSU teams without ever ascending to a true star. He’s not Dylan Crews or Tommy White. But he’s a good college baseball hitter.

Pearson has played in 166 games over three seasons and clubbed 20 homers. He’s been an All-Regional selection in two of his three seasons and hit three home runs in Omaha in 2023.

His batting average hasn’t been flashy the last two years, and that’s part of the reason he’s still in college as a fourth-year player. Pearson is unlikely to hit .340 with 17 home runs, but he’s a steady left-handed presence who won’t pout if he’s on the bench for a week or two.

Derek Curiel may be a star. Curiel garnered early attention from professional baseball in his high school career. As a freshman and sophomore he was a tall, lanky hitter with good speed. He just didn’t fill out over the next two years to become a power hitter, so he didn’t soar up draft boards. That inspired him to pull out of the draft and come to college.

Curiel knocked the ball all over the park in the fall, hitting a reported .388 against a really quality LSU staff. He features a quick, flat left-handed stroke that produces a ton of line drives and gappers. The hope is that 15 home runs show up at some point in his LSU career, but he’s ready to hit .315 right now. He’s also athletic enough to play anywhere in the outfield. It just appears he’s slated for a corner spot right now.

Mic Paul could have transferred out and started somewhere at a lower level. He’s decided to stick at LSU. Paul has swung a pretty good bat during the three falls he’s been on campus, but he’s never cracked the rotation.

HUNT’S TAKE: I think Curiel is the left fielder as Opening Day approaches. I think he’s going to get two hits in the first game and never come out of the lineup for three years. D1 Baseball tabbed him the preseason SEC Freshman of the Year. I’m not sure he’ll win that award, because I don’t think he’s going to hit very many home runs. But he’s going to hit. Maybe it’s in center field. Maybe it’s in right field. He’s played all three spots in scrimmages.

Curiel runs well, but he’s not an elite speed guy. Chris Stanfield runs a little bit better. And I think Stanfield has an edge in center right now.

Pearson is an option in left field, but he has played more right field in preseason scrimmages. When they put Pearson in the lineup, he’ll be a .260 hitter with some power and speed.

LSU has no shortage of left-handed bats in the outfield. Curiel, Pearson, Paul, Jake Brown, Dalton Beck and Ashton Larson all hit left-handed. Often times the left-handed bat gets an advantage in a platoon situation because more pitchers are right handed. That won’t be the case here. Those guys will have to earn their playing time. I think Curiel and Pearson will.

NEXT UP: Center Field