Jay Johnson opens up on Jared Jones, Michael Braswell returning to LSU after MLB Draft

The LSU Tigers and head coach Jay Johnson were prepared to lose several talented players in the MLB Draft. That included Jared Jones and Michael Braswell who instead decided to return to LSU after seeing where they were selected.

Johnson recently made an appearance on Mik’d Up w/ Mikie Mahtook. There, he opened up on what Jones and Braswell returning to LSU means.

“I will say, I love both of those guys,” Jay Johnson said. “Great player-coach relationship with both of them. Both very important to me and to our staff and our program. But I think the separator is those two love playing at LSU.”

Jared Jones entered the MLB Draft as a draft-eligible sophomore, but was not selected and ended up returning to LSU instead. Similarly, Michael Braswell announced his return after the second day of the MLB Draft, after no team selected him where he wanted to go.

“Honestly, if you’re not playing for the Yankees, the Dodgers, somebody of that nature, like this is the best place to play baseball anywhere, and I think both Jared and Michael appreciate that,” Johnson said. “In Jared’s case, he has another year where he’ll be a junior in the draft and he had a great season and he put a high value on himself, as he should. I don’t know many people that hit 28 home runs against an SEC schedule this year and Jared did that.”

Jared Jones finished the 2024 season with a .301 batting average to go with a .454 on-base percentage and a .747 slugging percentage. He also hit 28 home runs with 59 RBIs for the season. That came from a right-handed bat that primarily played first base but can also catch.

For his part, Michael Braswell hit .311 with a .411 OBP and a .453 slugging percentage. He had four home runs and 36 RBIs. That came as he played a premier defensive position at shortstop.

“In terms of Michael, he had a value on himself that, if it was met, he was gonna go. It was not. So, he was elated to return,” Johnson said.

“So, I’m very grateful to the players who make those decisions because those are very impactful, not just on their on-the-field production but it’s really important to me that we’re continuing to build a program, and having Michael and Jared back [is] going to help us continue to do that.”

Jay Johnson praises Jared Jones, happy for his return to LSU

Jay Johnson would go out to praise Jared Jones for his play. In particular, he emphasized how happy he is for him to return to LSU despite his apparent MLB-level talent.

“I want to speak about Jared real quick. I’m super proud of him and he had a heck of a season. I mean, a heck of a season. I’m not gonna pretend to be a professional baseball scout, but I think we were very fortunate to get him back. You don’t see that kind of light tower power very often. I thought his swing decisions were very good this year. I thought he hit against the best pitchers and he played a great first base. So, lucky us, is how I look at that,” Johnson said.

“So, I’m super excited about that. He definitely can catch. You could roll him over to third base. I thought he was an elite first baseman and maybe went unnoticed this year because we had a couple years of Tre’ Morgan before that, who is obviously a wizard, but Jared did an excellent job defensively there too.”