8 former LSU Baseball players on 2025 MLB Opening Day rosters

Major League Baseball is celebrating its 2025 Opening Day on Thursday, and LSU fans can once again celebrate several former Tigers playing key roles for teams all over the country.

Eight of coaches Paul Mainieri’s and Jay Johnson’s former players are on rosters to start the new season: Alex Bregman, Dylan Crews, Jake Fraley, Kevin Gausman, D.J. LeMahieu, Aaron Nola, Paul Skenes and Josh Smith.

LSU has had at least one former player make his MLB debut in 30 of the past 34 seasons, according to the university’s Athletic Department, and has produced a total of 87 Major Leaguers during the program’s history.

Here’s a quick look at each player and their team’s expectations.

IF Alex Bregman, Boston Red Sox

MLB Debut: July 25, 2016 | Year with Club: 1
Preseason Team Odds: 86.5 wins (3rd in AL East, 4th in AL, T-8th in MLB)

The two-time College World Series participant and two-time All-American was one of the late headlines of the offseason when he joined the Boston Red Sox last month after nearly a decade and two championships with the Houston Astros, who drafted him No. 2 overall in 2015. Bregman brings a veteran presence in the lineup and at third base to Fenway Park, where he boasts the highest career OPS (1.240) of any player. His World Series titles in Houston came in 2017 and 2022, and he earned a pair of all-star selections in 2018 and 2019.

OF Dylan Crews, Washington Nationals

MLB Debut: Aug. 26, 2024 | Year with Club: 2
Preseason Team Odds: 72.5 wins (4th in NL East, 13th in NL, 25th in MLB)

One of the two members of LSU’s most recent national championship in 2023 who has already made his way to the Majors. The speedy outfielder was selected No. 2 overall in that summer’s draft by the Nationals and called up late last season during which played in the final 31 games, during which he batted 26-for-119 with three home runs, five doubles, a triple, eight RBIs and 12 stolen bases.

OF Jake Fraley, Cincinnati Reds

MLB Debut: Aug. 21, 2019 | Year with Club: 4
Preseason Team Odds: 78.5 wins (3rd in NL Central, 10th in NL, T-21st in MLB)

The veteran outfielder begins his fourth season with the Reds and seventh in the Majors this week after being selected by Tampa Bay in the second round of the 2016 draft, traded to Seattle in 2018 and making his MLB debut the following summer. Fraley holds a career .249 batting average with 41 home runs, 156 RBIs, 137 walks and 57 stolen bases.

P Kevin Gausman, Toronto Blue Jays

MLB Debut: May 23, 2013 | Year with Club: 4
Preseason Team Odds: 78.5 wins (5th in AL East, 12th in AL, T-21st in MLB)

Gausman has settled into a home with the Blue Jays for now a fourth season after a few journeyman years in the middle of his 13-year career. The former All-American was the fourth-overall selection by Baltimore in 2012. He debuted for the Orioles the following summer and spent the first five-plus seasons of his MLB career with the franchise before being traded to the Atlanta Braves in 2018. He signed off waivers with the Cincinnati Reds in 2019, then the next two seasons with the San Francisco Giants before heading to Toronto in 2022. He was a two-time all-star in 2021 and 2023, led the AL in strikeouts in 2023 and holds a career 102-102 record with a 3.84 ERA and 1,765 strikeouts.

IF DJ LeMahieu, New York Yankees

MLB Debut: May 30, 2011 | Year with Club: 7th
Preseason Team Odds: 89.5 wins (1st in AL East, 1st in AL, 5th in MLB)

The longest-tenured former LSU player currently in the Majors, the member of the Tigers’ 2009 national championship team begins his 15th MLB season overall and his seventh with the New York Yankees. LeMahieu was a second-round selection by the Chicago Cubs in 2009, was promoted in 2011 and traded that winter to Colorado, where he spent seven seasons before joining the Yankees. The three-time all-star (2015, 2017, 2019) boasts a career .289 average — including battling titles in 2016 and 2020 — and is a four-time Gold Glove and two-time Silver Slugger award-winner.

P Aaron Nola, Philadelphia Phillies

MLB Debut: July 21, 2015 | Year with Club: 11
Preseason Team Odds: 91.5 wins (2nd in NL East, 3rd in NL, 3rd in MLB)

The first of just two members of this list who are Louisiana natives, the former Catholic (Baton Rouge) star and two-time All-American at LSU enters his 11th season in the Majors, all in the Phillies’ rotation, since being select No. 7 overall by the organization in 2014. Nola earned a 2018 all-star selection and helped Philadelphia win the National League in 2022 when he set an MLB record for the most strikeouts (235) with fewer than 30 walks (29) in a season. He holds a career 104-79 record with a 3.70 ERA and 1,779 strikeouts.

P Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates

MLB Debut: May 11, 2024 | Year with Club: 2
Preseason Team Odds: 77.5 wins (4th in NL Central, 11th in NL, 3rd in MLB)

The ace of the Tigers’ 2023 national championship squad — with a long list of LSU, SEC and All-America awards and records along the way — was selected No. 1 overall by the Pirates in that summer’s draft and was called up early last summer on his way to all-star and 2024 National League Rookie of the Year selections. Skenes posted an 11-3 record and 1.96 ERA in 133 innings (23 starts) last season with 170 strikeouts and 32 walks and became just the fifth rookie ever to start an MLB All-Star Game on the mound.

IF Josh Smith, Texas Rangers

MLB Debut: May 30, 2022 | Year with Club: 4
Preseason Team Odds: 85.5 wins (2nd in AL West, 5th in AL, T-10th in MLB)

Another Catholic (Baton Rouge) product and decorated former LSU star, Smith was a second-round selection by the New York Yankees in 2019 before being traded to the Rangers in 2021 and making his debut the following summer. He helped lead Texas to its first World Series title in 2023 and earned a Silver Slugger Award in 2024. He holds a career .229 batting average with 21 home runs and 93 RBIs, with career-highs across the boast last season of a .258 average, 13 homers, 62 RBIs, 36 walks and 11 stolen bases in 149 games playing third base, shortstop and in the outfield.