With the college baseball season two weeks from opening, D1 Baseball is looking at the top players at each position. The publication has already revealed its top first and second basemen and catchers, and LSU has three of the nation’s best at each position.
LSU veteran first baseman Jared Jones checked in as the top first sacker in America, while transfer Luis Hernandez is ranked No. 10 among the top 50 catchers in the nation. Daniel Dickinson, another highly regarded transfer, is No. 3 among second basemen.
A native of Marietta, Georgia, Jones was named a First-Team Preseason All-American by D1 Baseball after he hit .301 last season with 14 doubles, two triples, 28 homers, 59 RBI and 56 runs. His 28 home runs marked the fourth-most in LSU history and the most by a Tiger since first baseman Matt Clark also hit 28 in 2008. Jones finished the season No. 2 in the SEC in walks (59), No. 5 in home runs, No. 5 in slugging percentage (.747) and No. 9 in total bases (171).
LSU needed Jones’ big bat during the post-season and he came up big in the 2024 NCAA Chapel Hill Regional, going 7-for-13, with two homers, four RBI, five runs, nine walks and a .739 on-base percentage. He enters the season ranked the No. 39 Top College Prospect for the 2025 MLB Draft, according to D1 Baseball.
A 2024 First-Team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection, Hernandez hit .359 with 14 doubles, 23 homers and 76 RBI. This past season for an Indiana State team that made it to the NCAA tournament in the Lexington regional, Hernandez came to Baton Rouge as a much-needed power hitter for the Tigers after they lost Hayden Travinski and Tommy White.
Hernandez, who also has played first base and has been used as a designated hitter, joined a room that included incoming JUCO signee Blaise Priester and freshman Cade Arrambide.
Dickinson transferred to LSU last summer from Utah Valley, where he posted a .369 career batting average in two seasons with 27 homers, 95 RBI and a .457 on-base percentage. Last season, he hit .363 with 14 doubles, two triples, 18 homers, 53 RBI and 32 stolen bases.
D1 Baseball rates Dickinson as the No. 31 top college prospect for the 2025 MLB Draft.
With Dickinson’s addition, Jay Johnson has been able to reshuffle his infield. Steven Milam, a Freshman All-American last year, is projected to play shortstop to open the campaign, with Michael Braswell making the move from short to the hot corner at third base.
Ranked as high as No. 2 in the country in the national polls – D1 Baseball and Perfect Game – LSU opens the 2025 season at 2 p.m. CT on Friday, February 14, when it hosts Purdue Fort Wayne in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. The Tigers will play 17 games in the 2025 regular season against teams that are ranked in the D1 Baseball Preseason Top 25, including 15 SEC games.
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