{"id":650374,"date":"2026-03-29T12:15:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T12:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/650374\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T12:15:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T12:15:09","slug":"lsu-baseball-freshman-player-breakdown-before-sec-play-lsu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/650374\/","title":{"rendered":"LSU baseball freshman player breakdown before SEC play | LSU"},"content":{"rendered":"

LSU baseball<\/a> has leaned on its freshmen more than many would have anticipated heading into this season.<\/p>\n

The Tigers<\/a> were expected to be a veteran-laden group in 2026<\/a>, with multiple starters back from a national championship-winning team and the addition of 10 new players from the transfer portal.<\/p>\n

But LSU still wound up turning to a handful of young players to fill important roles during nonconference play. Here\u2019s a look at where each freshman stands as SEC play begins.<\/p>\n

Mason Braun, OF\/1B<\/p>\n

Braun started XX of the XX games heading into LSU\u2019s conference slate and entered the weekend hitting XXXXXXXXXX. His outfield defense needs work, but he has a pretty swing that generates a lot of contact and can hit the ball to all fields. Braun might not start every game moving forward, but expect LSU coach Jay Johnson to turn to his left-handed bat often in SEC play.<\/p>\n

Reagan Ricken, RHP<\/p>\n

Of LSU\u2019s three healthy freshman arms, Ricken has thrown the best, recording a XXX ERA in XXXX innings during nonconference play. He\u2019s a former high school starting quarterback, and his athleticism shows up on the mound. Ricken hasn\u2019t been tasked with throwing too many high-leverage innings at this point, but he has the potential to earn those opportunities as the season moves along.<\/p>\n

Jack Ruckert, 2B<\/p>\n

LSU\u2019s defensive struggles at second base have helped open up playing time for Ruckert, who Johnson believes is LSU\u2019s best defensive option at the position. At the plate, Ruckert may be inexperienced, but he wasn\u2019t overwhelmed by the pitching he saw in nonconference play, posting a XXXXXXXXX heading into this weekend.<\/p>\n

Omar Serna, C<\/p>\n

Serna has started XX games while also serving as Kansas transfer and right-hander Cooper Moore\u2019s primary catcher. His workload has been similar to that of sophomore Cade Arrambide\u2019s last season, when he caught at least once a week and was tasked with being Anthony Eyanson\u2019s battery mate. Offensively, Serna has struggled, hitting XXXXXXX before SEC play began.<\/p>\n

Zion Theophilus, RHP<\/p>\n

Theophilus walked three batters in his first outing, but hasn\u2019t issued any free passes since, displaying the sort of control that led to Johnson believing in him in the first place. He only made XX appearances before the start of SEC play.<\/p>\n

Marcos Paz, RHP<\/p>\n

Paz has struggled mightily with his command in his return from Tommy John surgery. He\u2019s had trouble coralling his breaking ball, and his fastball velocity has been inconsistent, posting a XXXX ERA in XX innings during LSU\u2019s nonconference slate.<\/p>\n

William Patrick, OF<\/p>\n

Patrick was a top-100 MLB Draft prospect, but he hasn\u2019t started a game yet for LSU. The Monroe native has entered numerous games as a defensive replacement in left field and had a single and scored three times in LSU\u2019s comeback attempt against Northeastern on March 2.<\/p>\n

Ethan Clauss, INF<\/p>\n

Johnson said on his radio show Monday that he wants to play Clauss more, but playing time will be difficult to come by for the Las Vegas native. Junior Steven Milam is cemented at shortstop, even if Clauss does possess intriguing size and athleticism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LSU baseball has leaned on its freshmen more than many would have anticipated heading into this season. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650375,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2290],"tags":[5,14310],"class_list":{"0":"post-650374","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baseball","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-hardwall"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116312420065730499","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}