![\"Jake](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/JakeBrown1_JMailhes-678x381.jpg\" "\\"Jake")
\nLSU outfielder Jake Brown was an integral part of the Tigers’ 2025 national championship team. (Tiger Rag photo by Jonathan Mailhes).<\/p>\n
\nLSU outfielder Jake Brown was an integral part of the Tigers’ 2025 national championship team. (Tiger Rag photo by Jonathan Mailhes).<\/p>\n
By JEFF PALERMO, Louisiana Radio Network News & Sports Director<\/p>\n
Jake Brown bled purple and gold for three seasons at LSU, but this weekend the former Tiger is ready to take the next step toward the dream\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0had since childhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Sulphur native is expected to hear his name called in the\u00a0second round of the\u00a0Major League Baseball Draft Saturday afternoon (12 p.m., NBC, Peacock, MLB Network, MLB.com stream) as he begins the journey toward becoming a big leaguer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely super excited,\u201d Brown told the Louisiana Radio Network this week. \u201cThis is something I\u2019ve dreamed about my whole life. I\u2019m excited to see what the next chapter offers for me and begin a new journey in my life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first 10 selections of the first round will be televised by NBC and Peacock. Selections 11-40 will be televised by MLB Network and streamed on MLB.com. Selections 41-135 will be streamed on MLB.com, completing the fourth round. Rounds five through 20 will be televised on Sunday (10:30 a.m., MLB.com).<\/p>\n
Baseball has always been part of Brown\u2019s life. Born on Jan. 12, 2005, in Sulphur, he comes from an athletic family. His father played baseball at McNeese State, while his mother played softball for McNeese before earning her law degree at LSU.\u00a0Brown developed into one of Louisiana\u2019s premier high school prospects at Sulphur High. Perfect Game ranked him as the state\u2019s No. 1 player in the Class of 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a senior in 2023, Brown hit .336 with seven home runs, 26 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. He also starred on the mound as a left-handed pitcher, striking out 118 while allowing just 39 hits in 73 and two-thirds innings. His talent caught the attention of the Texas Rangers, who selected him in the 16th round of the 2023 MLB Draft. Instead of turning pro, Brown chose to fulfill a lifelong dream by playing for LSU.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brown never pitched in Baton Rouge, but he made an immediate impact as a\u00a0freshman in 2024. He appeared in 56 games with 21 starts, batting .264 with four home runs and 13 RBIs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His role expanded significantly during LSU\u2019s 2025 national championship season. Brown embraced sharing time in\u00a0right\u00a0field with Josh Pearson, putting the team\u2019s success ahead of individual statistics. He rewarded the Tigers with\u00a0a .320 batting average, eight home runs and 48 RBIs while leading the team with 11 stolen bases.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brown\u2019s defensive growth was just as impressive. After a costly outfield misplay during the 2024 NCAA Regional in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, he used the experience as motivation to improve. The following season, he committed just one error.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His junior campaign\u00a0ended abruptly\u00a0last April 19 when he suffered a broken hamate bone in his wrist. Despite missing the final stretch of the season, Brown finished with a .309 average, 16 home runs and 49 RBIs,\u00a0establishing\u00a0himself as one of LSU\u2019s most productive hitters.\u00a0The recovery required patience, but Brown says\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0fully healthy again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a pretty slow process getting all the way back, trying to get strength back, trying to get comfortable swinging again to where it\u2019s completely pain-free,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI\u2019m there now, and I\u2019ve been full steam ahead for the last three weeks, so I\u2019m feeling great.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although Brown had the\u00a0option\u00a0of returning to LSU for his senior season, he believes now is the right time to pursue his professional career.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy ultimate goal is to be a Major League player,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI had a great time at LSU. I definitely wouldn\u2019t have minded coming back to LSU, but it feels like a more realistic and better path for me to enter the draft.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brown is projected to be selected in the second round, where he could command a seven-figure signing bonus\u2014far exceeding what he could have earned through an NIL deal by returning to LSU.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Brown, the decision\u00a0ultimately came\u00a0down to chasing the dream\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0been working toward his entire life.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LSU outfielder Jake Brown was an integral part of the Tigers’ 2025 national championship team. (Tiger Rag photo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":790552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2276],"tags":[5,26200,4694,3619,13353,3620,2291,4,1586],"class_list":["post-790551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb-draft","tag-baseball","tag-jake-brown","tag-jay-johnson","tag-lsu","tag-lsu-baseball","tag-lsu-tigers","tag-major-league-baseball-draft","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-draft"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117172690588361822","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790551","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=790551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/790552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=790551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=790551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=790551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}