Report: LSU Baseball Hiring Jason Kelly as Pitching Coach

The first domino on Jay Johnson's assistant staff has fallen as the Tigers are set to hire Arizona State's Jason Kelly as pitching coach according to multiple reports. Kelly spent three seasons with the Sun Devils as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator before accepting the LSU job.

The news, first reported by D1 Baseball's Kendall Rogers, is the first of three assistant staff members Johnson will hire, the other two being an assistant hitting coach and recruiting coordinator. Kelly comes to Baton Rouge boasting an exemplary record, as prior to his time with Arizona State, he was named National Assistant Coach of the Year while with Washington in 2018.

He helped coach 15 pitchers who were eventual selections in the MLB Draft during his seven-year career at Washington and a few more in his three-year stint with the Sun Devils. Kelly, who was in charge of replacing an entire starting pitching rotation in 2021, will face a similar challenge in regards to the LSU job in 2022.

The Tigers are prepared to lose the starting rotation of Landon Marceaux, Jaden Hill, AJ Labas and Ma'Khail Hilliard, as well as closer Devin Fontenot to the professional ball. There are a handful of freshmen pitchers including Garrett Edwards, Ty Floyd, Will Hellmers and Javen Coleman who all showed promise but also need an offseason of development.

LSU will also bring in a recruiting class with many pitchers to be excited about and now that Kelly has reportedly been hired, he could help out with recruiting the transfer portal as well. The pitching situation is the one that needs tending to after the loss of so many prolific arms and Kelly will be tasked with putting the pieces together.