LSU Baseball Suffers First Transfer Portal Loss of Offseason

Sophomore pitcher Mavrick Rizy will be hitting the transfer portal after his second season with LSU, The Advocate confirmed Tuesday.

Rizy made an instagram post with a collection of photos from his two years at LSU and the caption, "Forever LSU ❤️ thank you." Many teammates shared comments along the lines of 'go be great' and 'good luck', signifying that his time as a Tiger has come to an end.

The 6'9 fireballer from Fiskdale, Mass. is going to be a hot commodity if he can show that he's gotten his control down and can find the strike zone, which was his main struggle in 2026.

Rizy's time at LSU

LSU Tigers head coach Jay Johnson walks the field before a game against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions at Alex Box Stadium. | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Rizy made three postseason appearances to help bring LSU it's eighth naitonal championship in 2025, though he never pitched in the College World Series in Omaha.

In 2025, he threw 24.2 innings with a 4.74 ERA. He walked 19 and struck out 29 in a promising freshman campaign. He threw 58.5% of his pitches for strikes in 2025.

Rizy was a favorite to pick up high leverage innings in 2026, but struggled a lot with control as a sophomore.

His stats were relatively similar down the line, throwing 3.1 fewer innings and walking the same amount and striking out one fewer. Rizy posted a 4.22 ERA in 2026, an improvement from the previous year. He threw 55% of his pitches for strikes.

Rizy's main issues were ones that plagued the whole staff as well, though.

While he only threw two wild pitches as a freshman, he threw eight in 2026. Rizy hit seven batter this year compared to four the previous year.He also became a victim to extra base hits. He gave up just two doubles in 2025 but allowed seven doubles along with two home runs in 2026.

What Rizy's departure means for LSU

LSU pitching coach Nate Yeskie walks off the mound in a 2026 game | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

It was already pretty evident that much of the pitching staff was going to be retooled after a historically poor 2026. Rizy's departure though means the Tigers will probably have to bring in another portal arm compared to what would have been needed before.

Gavin Guidry, Deven Sheerin and Santiago Garcia are likely gone to the draft, making the relief pool wide open for anyone good enough to pitch in the purple and gold. Since LSU missed the NCAA tournament, head coach Jay Johnson has plenty of time to attack the transfer portal.

Underclassmen from 2026 will have to make a big step up as well. Freshmen Reagan Ricken, Marcos Paz, Jonah Aase and Zion Theophilus are all going to be important to retain and developed over the summer to pick up production.

Sophomores Ethan Plog, Danny Lachenmayer and Cooper Williams will also be called on to make big leaps in their games if they stay at LSU. Lachenmayer has committed to being with the Tigers next year, but the future of the other two is still uncertain.

There will be an increased focus for the whole staff on control this offseason, something that would have been a paramount of Rizy's game to fix this summer and fall.

Now, Johnson, pitching coach Nate Yeskie and director of player development for pitching Jamie Tutko can hone in their focus a little more on everyone returning while many calls get made to guys in the portal.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google