Three Former LSU Stars Are MLB Prospects to Watch in 2024
Heading into the 2024 MLB season, there are 9 former LSU players on 40-man rosters across the league. Players like Alex Bregman and Aaron Nola lead the way with their star power and MLB pedigree. But there are more former LSU players lurking the shadows of minor league baseball. Including three of the most intriguing prospects in all of baseball.
Last year's MLB Draft saw two LSU Tigers go with the first two overall picks in the draft. As pitcher Paul Skenes was taken #1 overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates and outfielder Dylan Crews was taken second by the Washington Nationals. Right away, this put both of these two Tigers into a bright spotlight.
Crews will be a prospect to watch in 2024 because of the way he responded to professional hitting right away last year. As soon as he faced professional pitching (using a wood bat unlike in college), Crews ripped off a .292 average, 9 doubles, and 29 RBIs in just 35 games. Match that with the fact that the Nationals are not currently a great franchise, and you have a lot of reasons to be excited about Crews speeding his way through the Minor Leagues.
The other half of the 2023 MLD Draft duo, Paul Skenes, also got to take on some professional level baseball after he was drafted. Though he only saw time in 5 games, he flashed the talent that made him the top pick. While he did get hit around a bit over 6.2 innings, giving up 5 hits and 4 earned runs, he tallied 10 strikeouts. He only faced 28 total batters, and struck out 10. If Skenes looks good to start the season, he might find his way to the Pirates pretty quickly.
The last former LSU Tiger to watch is Jacob Berry.
Berry wasn't taken in the first two picks of the draft, but he was still first round talent. He was taken #6 overall by the Miami Marlins in the 2022 MLB Draft. Since then, he's been consistently ranked as one of the Marlins best prospects. But with some of the issues facing the Marlins' major league roster, Berry might have to go from "top prospect" to "everyday player" in 2024.