Hayden Travinski looks to leave his mark in final season at LSU

Year after year, it was always a different injury with Hayden Travinski. Battling through season-ending injuries became the norm in his first three years at LSU, but last year, in his fourth season, he was finally healthy enough to help LSU make a push to win the College World Series.

Even then, Travinski was unable to play in the 2023 CWS because he was injured.

Regardless, it was a crucial year for Travinski, who started at catcher 23 times on the year, appearing in 41 games and batting .356 with 10 home runs and 30 RBIs. He was huge for LSU’s success in SEC play, homering at least once in each of LSU’s final five series, with a couple of swings that won the game for the Tigers.

When the time came for Travinski to make a decision about his future after his fourth year, head coach Jay Johnson was adamant that there was more meat on the bone for Travinski who would be a central piece on his 2024 squad.

“I worked hard to get him back,” Johnson said. “There were guys on last year’s team where it was their time to go. With Hayden, at least since I’ve been here, he hasn’t had a stretch when he’s been healthy. I still believed there was more on the table for him at LSU and he believed the same. It’s really cool  to see that type of maturity, because he definitely could have been drafted and signed, so in terms of value, he will be one of the most dangerous hitters in college baseball this year. He’s gotten better. He got better last year and throughout the fall, his at bats were something you’d expect from a guy with that talent and that experience. Now it’s our job to keep him healthy and keep him on track.”

With Travinski back, the work started over the fall to not only find ways to improve his consistency, but keep him healthy. LSU’s staff succeeded in both of those respects, and as a result, Travinski had the most beneficial offseason of his entire career before heading into year five.

“It had been two years at one point without consistent reps, due to injuries and unfortunate circumstances,” Travinski said. “Just getting at bats every day. This past fall was the first time in my career I didn’t miss a single practice.”

With so much star power on the roster, it’s easy to forget how impactful Travinski was. He ended the 2023 season third in slugging percentage at .692, only behind Tommy White and Dylan Crews. He was also top three in OPS and batting average, while having the highest home run percentage on the team with 10 homers in just 104 plate appearances.

This year, he’s likely the staring designated hitter for the Tigers, taking the burden of catching off of his shoulders and giving him a better shot at staying healthy. Travinski certainly can step in to catch if needed, but Brady Neal has seemingly locked down the starting job entering the season as a talented second-year player.

“It’ll help down the stretch in terms of staying fresh,” Travinski said of not catching. “If you look at the numbers the more people catch, the numbers fall a bit, just because it’s such a taxing thing on your body. I was able to catch all fall with no issue, though, and I look forward to doing the same leading up to the season.”

Travinski’s leadership has also been a point of praise from his head coach this offseason. With so much upperclassmen talent gone, the fifth year senior has no choice but to embrace the new haul of talent both from the transfer portal and from the high school ranks. He says some of them teach him things since “they’re born in like 2005”, but Travinski thinks about how far he’s come and he’s thrilled to be paying it forward and playing his final season at LSU. 

“Over the course of the years, I’ve come to love the program and what the program means to me,” Travinski said. “I was just thankful that I was asked to come back. It’s big for me to get more reps, to get to play with Alex for one more year, and just to play in the purple and gold again.”