News: LSU Baseball Loses Ace Pitcher For 2023 Season

Tigers' depth takes a hit ahead of the season with the loss.

LSU right-handed pitcher Grant Taylor will miss the 2023 season with a torn UCL, LSU Country learned on Monday.

The sophomore ace was looking to earn a spot in the starting rotation this year after productive offseason with LSU during fall ball and his time spent in the Cape Cod League over the summer.

During his freshman campaign, Taylor pitched in 17 games while posting a 5.81 ERA in 31 innings pitched. The youngster also added 39 strikeouts and made two starts for Jay Johnson’s group.

Grant Taylor (2023 Eligible) @LSUbaseball @WhitecapsCCBL shoved at Y-D going 6 IP, 4 H, ER, 12 K. Taylor sat 93-94 mph, T95 mph w/ 17-18 inches of IVB & 11-12 inches of HB on his FF. Mixed a hammer CB at 77-78 mph w/ 2500+ rpm, -20+ inches of drop, showed CT, SL, CHG #BACape22 pic.twitter.com/HiOxjHsZ02

— Geoff Pontes (@GeoffPontesBA) July 13, 2022

D1Baseball had Taylor as their No. 15 prospect in the 2023 MLB Draft class as the season inched closer and closer.

LSU’s depth is significant heading into the season, but losing a player of Taylor’s caliber certainly hurts this program moving forward.

Taylor's injury occurred over the weekend in a scrimmage and the ace is set to undergo surgery and return to the program for the 2024 season

Jay Johnson Talks Continuity

“There were a few things that were really important,” Johnson said. “Obviously we have a ton of new players so building the concept of team with really good returners was a priority. To this point we’ve done as much as we can and that was positive.”

“We were more deliberate with things this year because of the amount of new players but the work was much more quality and I say that because the foundation with how we’re gonna roll was more set in stone.”

Jay Johnson Details Dylan Crews’ Maturity/Improvement

“He’s made a couple of small adjustments with his approach and he was hard to get out the last four or five weeks,” Johnson said on Monday. “He’s a guy who could be just doing the bare minimum but is taking it to another level and reminds me of a Kobe Bryant type mentality in that regard.”

“How much he cares about the team and the leadership piece and helping guys along. That’s something I really appreciate and you won’t find one player in our program who’s not pulling for him because of how he operates.”