Alabama Baseball Lands Transfer Commitment from Former LSU Catcher

The Alabama baseball team has landed a new catcher.

Tigers catcher Brady Neal 16 scores a run as The LSU Tigers take on Texas A & M. Sunday, May 5, 2024. / SCOTT CLAUSE/USA TODAY Network / USA

The Alabama baseball team will be replacing one former SEC transfer catcher's spot on the roster with another. Mac Guscette is moving on, but former LSU catcher Brady Neal has committed to the Crimson Tide.

Neal took to social media Monday with the announcement. Guscette, who played at the Capstone for the last two seasons, was a transfer from Florida. Neal initially entered the transfer portal on June 17. He played in 70 games across two seasons in Baton Rouge.

A career .251 collegiate hitter, Neal posted a sharp .917 OPS in 2024 while spending time at both catcher and designated hitter. The rising junior had nine home runs and 31 RBIs in 116 at-bats, improving his season batting average to .276 (.209 in an injury-shortened 2023 season). Neal played in the Tigers' series against Alabama at Sewell-Thomas Stadium this past May.

He is a previous draftee of Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Brewers, hearing his name called in the 17th round of the 2022 draft. The IMG Academy product instead elected to play college baseball. LSU will now have to assemble a new catching corps, as Neal's counterparts, Hayden Travinski and Alex Milazzo, will also no longer be part of the program.

Guscette was one of a number of players Alabama would need to fill the shoes of ahead of the 2025 campaign, head coach Rob Vaughn's second at the helm. Neal also has one attribute that dominated the Crimson Tide's starting lineup last season: he bats left-handed. A southpaw-heavy order was a staple of Alabama games in 2024.