Jay Johnson had only seen it happen once before.

When Johnson was the associate head coach at San Diego in 2010, signee and right-handed pitcher Dylan Covey wound up at school despite being the Milwaukee Brewers’ first-round pick. His physical with the club after he was picked revealed that he had Type 1 diabetes, resulting in the two sides not being able to agree to signing terms.

The Covey saga was the only time Johnson had a high school signee who was picked in the top few rounds of the MLB draft but still ended up at school. But that changed on Saturday.

Logan Schmidt, one of the top high school left-handed pitchers in this year’s draft who the Cleveland Guardians selected with the No. 59 overall pick in the second round, is coming to LSU, he announced on Saturday. The top prospect turned down a chance to sign with the Guardians and join the junior college ranks — which would have allowed him to be eligible for next year’s draft — to come to Baton Rouge.

“In this era, they only pick guys that they have agreements with,” Johnson said in an interview with The Advocate on Saturday. “In this case, they picked a player they didn’t have an agreement with.

“It also speaks to his talent and his capabilities that they were willing to roll the dice on it.”

Schmidt, a top-60 player in the draft, according to The Athletic, ESPN and MLB.com, will get a chance to develop under Johnson and LSU for potentially the next three seasons before he is eligible to be drafted again in 2029.

“It’s a great deal for our program on a lot of levels,” Johnson said. “Having been doing this for a long time now, you don’t win these with Major League Baseball, typically.”

LSU ramped up its communication with Schmidt’s camp once it became clear that he wouldn’t come to an agreement with Cleveland, speaking with them “several times” in the 2-3 weeks leading up to Saturday’s announcement. Johnson met with the lefty in person twice last week, including with pitching coach Nate Yeskie on Saturday.

LSU’s meetings with Schmidt were less about selling him on his opportunity to play for the school and more about listening to him and his family about what they thought was best for him.

“This is a trickier dynamic with a player that was sought after by Major League Baseball for a long time,” Johnson said. “I mean, he reclassified up into the 2026 class with the thought of being a first-round pick, and, frankly, he pitched that way during the high school season this year.”

Schmidt’s fit at LSU in 2027

With 39 players on its roster before Schmidt’s surprise inclusion, it was hard to find many holes on LSU’s roster after the MLB draft.

But Schmidt still fills a potential need as a lefty who could contend for a place in the starting weekend rotation. Freshmen rarely come out of the gates as starters in Southeastern Conference play, but Schmidt’s bigger frame (he’s 6-foot-4), mid-90s fastball, strike-throwing capabilities and two off-speed pitches provide him the tools to contend for a rotation spot.

LSU has seven lefties besides Schmidt, but Cooper Williams was the only arm among them who had any chance of cracking the rotation.

“It’s a wide-open competition, and he has the ability to contend for it, as I think the number of guys do,” Johnson said. “We have to perform better there.”

At the very least, Schmidt has the talent and polish to make a big impact out of the bullpen immediately, similar to what Casan Evans provided for the Tigers in 2025. He and fellow freshman Lucas Nawrocki — the No. 91 player in the draft, according to ESPN — were LSU’s biggest left-handed additions over the offseason after the Tigers didn’t add a lefty out of the portal.

“I’ve always believed in left-handed pitching and left-handed hitting,” Johnson said. “And really excited about that group as we start out.”