The Returners: LSU Baseball Bringing Back Veteran Experience
Jay Johnson and his National Champion LSU Tigers are in the midst of a major offseason as they rebuild their roster for the 2024 season.
After seeing 13 players hear their names called in the 2023 MLB Draft, it’s a summer of retooling for Johnson’s staff.
Despite losing their key contributors, there remain several pieces to the National Championship roster running it back in Baton Rouge and Coach Johnson couldn’t be more excited about what’s brewing.
"I think looking at the past few College World Series champions, and just looking at this tournament, there's two things -- I said this the other day -- you can't be here anymore without future Major League players on your roster. It's not happening," Johnson said. "Then you have to have old players that really know what they're doing.
“I'm excited about the young players that got exposed to this. And hey, man, Jared Jones, he's a big reason we're here. That's a borderline Freshman All-American. Paxton Kling, he's a superstar in the making. Thatcher Hurd, every guy that pitched tonight might be back next year. The Wake game, all those guys might be back next year. We've got some work to do. Hopefully the time lost on the road, I mean that's about as good an endorsement as you can come up with of what took place here the last two weeks."
LSU saw both Javen Coleman and Christian Little hear their names called in June, and after having the chance to go pro, both pitchers will return to Baton Rouge.
Along with the duo, the Tigers will see Hayden Travinski come back to play in Alex Box Stadium next spring.
It gives the Tigers three veterans who have contributed under the brightest of lights as they take on a leadership role and polish their games ahead of the 2024 season.
A dive into the trio that elected to return to Baton Rouge and their importance to this roster moving forward:
Hayden Travinski
Travinski became a major domino to fall LSU’s way once he went undrafted and announced his return to Baton Rouge. A locker room favorite, Travinski can immediately fill a designated hitter role for the Tigers or get behind the plate once again at catcher.
Travinski played in 41 games this season, hitting .356 with 10 homers and 30 RBIs in just 104 at-bats.
After freshman Brady Neal went down with injury, Travinski and Alex Milazzo shared catching duties for the National Champion LSU Tigers. Looking ahead, Milazzo will be recovering from a fractured shin he suffered during the College World Series Finals before returning for LSU.
The return of Travinski is not only a big piece on the field, but his leadership abilities off the field will help a young LSU program in the locker room as they put their heads down in search of claiming another title in 2024.
Javen Coleman
The left-handed pitcher from Richmond, Texas., enjoyed a strong freshman campaign in 2021 and he made three relief appearances in 2022 before suffering a season-ending elbow injury.
He rehabilitated at an accelerated pace after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2022, and remarkably returned to the mound in April 2023 to contribute to LSU’s National Championship season. He has appeared in 25 career games (six starts) at LSU, recording a 5-4 mark and 70 strikeouts in 52.2 innings.
Coleman appeared in eight games (four starts) in 2023, posting a 1-2 record and in 14.0 innings with 16 walks and 21 strikeouts. He started on the mound in LSU’s College World Series win over Wake Forest on June 21, recording two strikeouts in 1.1 innings of work.
Christian Little
Little returns to LSU with the chance to get back to his old ways on the mound. A player who contributed to Vanderbilt’s National Championship in 2019, he didn’t make the impact he had hoped for in 2023 with LSU.
Now, he returns to Baton Rouge for a second season in hopes of hitting his stride once again. After turning down a pro contract after being selected in the 2023 MLB Draft, Little is invested in what is being built down South.
Little made 19 appearances (eight starts) on the mound in 2023, posting a 2-2 record, two saves and 42 strikeouts in 34.2 innings. He worked a season-long 5.1 innings in a start at Ole Miss (April 23), limiting the Rebels to three runs on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
Little posted a save in Game 1 of the Texas A&M series (March 17), pitching 1.1 scoreless and hitless innings with no walks and one strikeout, and he picked up a save at Texas (Feb. 28), pitching a perfect ninth inning to preserve LSU’s 3-0 win.