Two LSU baseball stars predicted for rapid climb to the MLB ahead of draft
Fresh off winning the 2025 College World Series and national championship, a few LSU baseball stars are preparing for the MLB Draft.
LSU pitcher Kade Anderson has a chance to be the No. 1 overall pick, Anthony Eyanson has a strong case to go in the top 40, and Chase Shores improved his stock with a strong showing in the NCAA Tournament.
With the draft on the horizon, The Athletic's Keith Law revealed six college prospects who could be in store for a quick rise to the major league level. We've seen LSU stars do it before with Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews flying through the minor leagues.
Law thinks Anderson and Shores could do the same.
"He might have the most complete arsenal of any pitcher in the draft class. That's not always the ticket to move quickly through the minors, but given how well he pitched against the best competition in the country — the only knock is that he didn't have to face the LSU lineup — I expect him to start in Double A whenever he makes his pro debut," Law said of Anderson.
After Anderson's heavy workload at LSU, Law doesn't expect the lefty to pitch in a game this year.
On Shores, Law highlighted some inconsistencies but remains impressed with the pure stuff.
"Shores lost his rotation spot in mid-April after giving up 22 runs in his nine starts for a 5.12 ERA, and his results weren't necessarily better when he moved to relief, but his stuff was, as he hit 100 mph 47 times in the NCAA Tournament. His main fastball is a two-seamer with significant tailing action, and his slider is at least a 55 on the 20-80 scouting scale, with a potential velocity of up to 91 mph, exhibiting solid tilt," Law wrote.
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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Arch Manning Q&A: Life as Texas' QB1, advice from Matthew McConaughey and more
THIBODAUX, La. — You'd think LSU's starting quarterback would be recognized walking into a Walmart less than an hour away from Baton Rouge. That didn't happen Thursday. But patrons recognized the person Garrett Nussmeier walked in with … Arch Manning. While professing his love for Nussmeier on Friday after a boiling hot first day of the Manning Passing Academy, Manning exposed how the two quarterbacks and camp counselor roommates left their dorm rooms at Nicholls State the night before on a Walmart run. Advertisement When asked if no one in Thibodaux knew who they were, Manning humbly said shoppers asked for pictures, but 'it was good.' By the end of the Friday's interview session, Nussmeier had been asked four times about the duo's excursion to Walmart. It wasn't exactly the topic Nussmeier thought he'd be asked about repeatedly. 'Everybody keeps asking me about Walmart,' Nussmeier said with a smile. 'It's just a typical Louisiana Walmart. There wasn't a lot of things on the shelves. But we got what we needed and we got out. Just picking up some bedding, things like that.' Who paid? 'Dude, the dude pulled his card out,' Nussmeier said. 'I'm like, 'Give me your Venmo, bro!' We've got it settled now. But all right, Arch. Is that what we're doing?' And back to the 'being recognized' part: When asked if they were recognized, Nussmeier bluntly said, 'He was!' 'This is hilarious. This is the first time in Louisiana where this has kind of happened,' Nussmeier said. 'We were just laughing. (People) come over, 'Hey Arch! Arch! Can I get a picture?' I'm just sitting in the background like 'Hey guys!'' Was Nussmeier asked to take the picture? 'No, but that would've been hilarious,' Nussmeier said. 'I would've LOVED to take the picture!' Thursday's Walmart experience encapsulated Manning's life as the most recognizable college athlete in the country. So how prepared is he for everything that comes with being the next Manning quarterback? 'Who knows? I think I'm ready. Just be prepared,' Manning said. Amid the backdrop of the longtime mid-summer football camp with grandfather Archie, uncles Peyton and Eli and father Cooper, Arch sat back and fielded questions for the 30-minute media session without another notable quarterback within shouting distance in Thibodaux or Austin: former Texas starter Quinn Ewers, whose departure has cleared the way for Arch to start this season. Advertisement Here's a selection of questions Manning answered from reporters during Friday's session: What's your first memory of the Manning Passing Academy? I grew up as a young kid, like 4 or 5 years old, just kind of hanging around with my dad. And then I was a camper. I think I started camping when I was going into seventh grade, staying in the dorms with all my buddies, playing 7-on-7. Being around guys like Jake Fromm and Trevor Lawrence, my counselors. So it's been fun all the way up. Now being a coach, it's been a blessing. It's a family reunion, so it's been fun every summer and I look forward to it each year. Have your camp duties changed? Have they made you get footballs through the years and then you graduated? I've gone from waterboy to camper to coach. So I've climbed the ladder. How are you managing the sky-high expectations this year? Yeah, I'm just doing what I can to control what I can control. I'm not really worried about what other people think. Just get my job prepared. And when it's time to go play, go play. You're used to playing and you've had to work behind Ewers and now you're the guy that's going to be starting. How have you handled that and learned throughout the way? Yeah, I've learned a lot, a lot about myself. Picked up a lot from Quinn's game and just how he handled everything, whether it was on the football side of it, the mental piece, the media. And just take bits and pieces and try to add my game. I learned a lot over the last two years. I'm blessed I had that time to grow as a person and a player. What's it like to be a student at Texas? I drive to class because classes are far away. But the parking tickets, it's crazy. But everyone's super nice, especially when we're winning. Class is good. I like going to class, change it up. Get out of the facility a little bit. New scenery, so it's been good. It's been an awesome experience. Advertisement How many parking tickets? I've got a few parking tickets. I've got to Venmo my dad because he gets them. How often do you get stopped when you do walk around campus? A pretty good amount just because we've got passionate fans, but you know that's what you signed up for and just got to deal with that. What's the weirdest interaction you've had? I've got a bunch. I would say probably holding someone's pet (a dog) for a picture. How do you kind of know what you need to work on with only limited game action? I think we do a good job of getting game-like reps in practice. So the coaches are on us and constantly getting better and continue to grow and grow as a leader, which I'm trying to do right now. So it's a constant grind of getting better. You've been a public figure pretty much since eighth grade. How do you think about that? I don't think about it at all. I just go about my daily life. I'm just a normal guy, have fun, hang out with the fellas, play football. Can you actually be a normal guy? Yeah! Hell yeah! That's a good thing about Austin. It's not like Ty Simpson or Gunner Stockton in Alabama and Georgia (respectively) where the town rallies around it. I can go to parts of Austin where no one really cares about me, which is nice. What are some of the things you have worked on to gear up for Week 1 at Ohio State? I think especially this offseason, just my leadership skills and getting the guys to rally around me and play for me and serve them. … You're a little bit behind the scenes trying to talk to guys 1-on-1 (when Ewers was the starter). But this year, it's nice. You're full-throttle and be the guy and I'm blessed to be in this position. Family aside, who do you watch? Who do you study? Which quarterbacks do you kind of take bits and pieces from? I watch a lot of Joe Burrow and Josh Allen. Those are my guys. Obviously (Patrick) Mahomes. I like to take bits and pieces of everyone and I like watching the other guys, other great players. … I remember watching Josh Allen when he was at Wyoming here. And he could throw it 75 yards. … Joe Burrow, he's got all the swag and the style. I don't think I've got as much as him. Advertisement You haven't even been a Week 1 starter, but people are saying you can be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft next year. How do you process that? Deal with that? Yeah, I really don't pay much attention to anyone, what they think besides my coaches, my parents and some close friends that will tell me the truth. But I'm not worried about what other people think. I'm just going to go out there and have fun and play my game. What's your relationship like with your grandfather (Archie)? We're really close. He came over the house all the time, went to all my practices in high school. He texts me every single morning, no matter what. He's just the perfect role model for me and such a great guy, and this camp kind of shows the person he is. … Yeah, he texts all the grandkids every morning, motivational Bible verse. And then he'll text me, 'How did practice go?' I get a lot of texts from him (laughs). He can't hear well, so he has to text. If you go out in Austin, how many picture requests do you get? A few. It depends on the night, but I stay pretty low key. … I had to get used to it a little bit. I've actually talked to Matthew McConaughey about that. He's given me some advice. He's been great to have in my corner. … He just told me different ways on how to handle things in different situations. He's way more known than I am, so it's good anytime you get advice from him. … He kind of told me you still have to live your life. He says he goes to the grocery store, walks down every aisle and he lives his life. You can't let you taking a picture or signing an autograph affect your life. What do you feel like is the best thing you're doing right now on the field? I don't know because whenever I think I've got a handle on something, the next day I'll throw three picks. So I like to kind of right in the middle. … You feel like then you've got to be the JV quarterback and you're not even starting varsity. You've just got to stay level.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Jung Hoo Lee's slump is a symptom of the type of hitter he is — and is likely temporary
The Giants have played .500 ball over their last 73 games. The fast start was a lot of fun, but it wasn't very sustainable, as it turns out. Robbie Ray won't finish with a 20-0 record. Wilmer Flores will fall short of 150 RBIs. A lot of the magic from the first couple weeks was temporary, and that's OK. Even the most optimistic Giants fans knew there were corrections and regressions coming. Advertisement The hope, then, was that there would be enough sustainable brilliance to keep them afloat. Logan Webb would have to keep acing (check). Heliot Ramos would have to hit like 2024 first-half Heliot instead of 2024 second-half Heliot (check). And, of course, Jung Hoo Lee would have to maintain his superstar trajectory. Which he was obviously going to do. You know what happened next: Seasoned consumers of nerd stats know which column is going to get the most attention, and we'll get there. But if it's felt like Lee has been hitting like a sub-Mendoza line hitter over the last month, that's because he has been. He's been a contributor in the field and on the bases, but his slump is one of the biggest reasons the Giants are struggling to score runs. It might be the biggest reason. There's no sense saving his low batting average on balls in play (BABIP) as some sort of twist for the end of the article. It's a part of the story, and it might actually be the entire story. Blaming BABIP is the sabermetric equivalent of entering a baking soda volcano into a science fair, so get your third-place ribbons ready, but sometimes it's the obvious answer because it's the correct one. Lee has had two consecutive months where he didn't get nearly as many hits as expected. And that's just comparing Lee to the average player. A player with his speed should have a resting BABIP a little higher than the league average (.291). Hitting the ball and running fast is a time-honored baseball strategy, and it shows up in the BABIPs of faster players. Lee's BABIP right now would only make sense if he ran like a Molina brother carrying another Molina brother. Everything we know about batting average and balls in play suggests this is just a hiccup. The hits will start falling, and the world will make sense again. The good news is that Lee isn't the kind of hitter who will hit like this for very long. The bad news is that he's exactly the kind of hitter who will have long stretches like this at some point. If the question is 'Is Lee as good as he was in April, or is he as bad as he's been in June?', the answer is 'yes.' He's both. Call it the Juan Pierre Paradox or the Steven Kwan Conundrum: High-contact, low-power players will forever be terrorized by the BABIPdook. They live by the ball in play, and they die by the ball in play. Advertisement In the first month of the season, Lee sprayed balls over the short Yankee Stadium porch and led the league in doubles, suggesting above-average power that was both welcome and unexpected. A player with Lee's skill set and 25-homer power is the type of player who gets MVP votes at the end of the season. It feels safe to put that dream to rest, though. He's almost certainly a known quantity now, a member of the predictably unpredictable group of high-contact, low-power players. This both is and isn't the kind of hitter you should expect from now on. By law, I'm required to mention Steven Kwan several more times in an article like this. Some counties require Luis Arráez references, too. That's because they're exactly the kind of hitters Lee should be compared to. They're the obvious comps because they're the correct ones. When you go to Lee's Baseball Savant page, you'll see a lot of blue (bad) and red (good). It's the exact same profile that you'll find on Kwan's page and Arráez's. Lots of squared-up contact, without any exciting exit velocities. Is Kwan the kind of player who will hit .374/.436/.582 for a month, or is he the kind of player who will hit .207/.313/.297 for a month? The answer is yes. He's both, with those numbers representing his slash lines from last June and August, respectively. Month-by-month splits for Arráez will make you just as seasick. These guys are either the greatest hitters in the world or the worst hitters in the league for long stretches at a time. That's the kind of player you should expect Lee to be, and you'll have no warning which version is going to show up in any given month. Some hitters with this profile will have entire seasons that go in just one direction, making it seem like they've hit some sort of sustainable high or ominous low for their career. They'll almost invariably return to their predictably unpredictable ways the next season. Lee might make an entire season out of Aprils one of these years, but he'll always be the kind of hitter with a June lurking around the corner. The reverse is also true, for better or worse. They're maddening players, these high-contact, low-power types. But it's so fun when it works. The good news is that Lee's defensive profile and baserunning make him a helpful player, even when he's not doing much at the plate. His slumps are costing his team runs, but he's finding them in other places. Compare that to Arráez, who's worth just 0.2 WAR while hitting .288/.317/.397 for the Padres this year. He can't hit like a regular schmoe and still help his team win. Lee can, which is more than a minor consolation prize. Advertisement If there's a red flag in Lee's profile, it's that he's been consistently weaker against fastballs in his career, which might help explain why he's done less damage on pitches down the middle than the average hitter. That's bad news, considering they aren't making fastballs any slower these days. If Lee has to cheat to catch up with velocity, it'll expose him to breaking balls and make him take ugly swings. That's less of a hypothetical and more of a description of his last two months at the plate. It's possible that he'll adjust as he gets more exposure to MLB fastballs, or that he'll never adjust, and his struggles with velocity will always keep him from the highest highs of players like Kwan or Arráez. If he can't do more damage on fastballs, he'll start to get a 'poor man's' label slapped on before the comparisons. He might be in the same genre of player, but we don't know if he's at their level yet. In the meantime, rest assured. The hits will start falling in for Jung Hoo Lee any day now. Aaaaaaaaany day now. It'll be fun while it lasts, but never forget that the BABIPdook is always hiding under the bed. That's the uncomfortable bargain these kinds of hitters have made.
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
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