BATON ROUGE, La. – “He’s raised the bar for himself and this team. I think that’s what he wants. That’s what the guys on the team want. There’s a lot of hype coming into the year, but I think it’s good hype,” said former LSU Baseball star Mikie Mahtook.

Not only did head coach Jay Johnson need to replace some stars on offense, but he also replaced what the 2022 team lacked, pitching depth.

“Tommy White from NC State,” Mahtook continued. “White was the number one transfer guy in the portal. He had 26 home runs as a freshman.”

“He went and used the portal to fill in those spots. He brought in Paul Skenes, who is potentially number one overall pick in this year’s MLB draft. He throws 100 miles an hour,” said Mahtook.

Johnson filled the 2023 roster with players he knew would make an impact.

Mikie Mahtook, former LSU outfielder and national champion, gave the Tigers advice on how to handle the pressure of being ranked in the top spot in every poll. 

“I tell these guys all the time, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how much hype you have, how much hype you have, how good you think you are, how good people think you are. You have to go out there and show them that you’re that good,” said Mahtook.

But what makes this team so good aside from all the rankings?

Their commitment to their goal, winning a national championship.

“What I’ve seen from this team is, you know, you have a lot of superstars, but within those superstars, you have very humble guys,” said Mahtook.