The New York Yankees grab LSU's Thatcher Hurd in MLB Draft

The LSU baseball team had a fourth player selected in the Top 100 picks of the 2024 MLB Draft as Thatcher Hurd came off the board with the 89th overall pick.

Hurd was selected by the New York Yankees during Monday’s third round of the draft. Hurd had entered the NCAA Transfer Portal following LSU’s season, but was considered to be a high draft selection, meaning he would likely make the leap to professional baseball.

The selection of Hurd comes after former Tigers Tommy White, Luke Holman and Gage Jump were all drafted on Sunday.

The Yankees grab Hurd inside the Top 100

Hurd, a product of Manhattan Beach, Calif., was the winning pitcher in the 2023 College World Series Championship Game, as he posted the victory over Florida to clinch LSU’s seventh NCAA title. He limited the Gators to two runs on two hits in 6.0 innings with two walks and seven strikeouts.

Hurd posted an 8-3 overall record and three saves in 2023 with 84 strikeouts in 63.1 innings, and he was named to the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional All-Tournament Team.

Hurd registered a 3-4 mark in 2024 with a 6.55 ERA in 18 appearances (nine starts), recording 56 strikeouts in 44.0 innings. He turned in a brilliant outing on June 2 when he defeated North Carolina in the first game of the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional championship round.

He worked the first 5.2 innings of the contest, limiting the Tar Heels to two runs on six hits with no walks and six strikeouts.

Rounds 3-10 are being conducted Monday in Fort Worth, Texas, and the draft will conclude Tuesday with Rounds 11-20 beginning at 1 p.m. CT. The draft rounds on Monday and Tuesday may be viewed on MLB.com.

The rundown on LSU Tigers in the MLB Draft’s Top 100 picks

With the 40th pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, White was selected by the Oakland Athletics, giving Jay Johnson and LSU another first round pick in his tenure with the Tigers.

White is a 6-foot-1 right handed batter from Florida who broke records as a freshman with 27 home runs at North Carolina State. Then, in two years at LSU, White hit 48 home runs, had 175 RBIs, and averaged .374 as a sophomore and .330 as a junior.

“He’s one of my favorite non-top 11 guys in the Draft,” MLB.com’s Jim Callis recently said about White. “Everybody thinks about the power, but I think he’s a really underrated hitter. He keeps making more contact each year. I’m a really big Tommy White fan.”

White was ranked No. 20 in the MLB.com prospect rankings and No. 29 in ESPN with his bat carrying the a ton of upside as he enters the league.

The second Tiger picked in the 2024 MLB Draft was LSU right-handed pitcher Luke Holman, who was selected with the 71st pick by the Cincinnati Reds.

Holman started his career at Alabama, where he was a starter as a sophomore before transferring to LSU for his junior year where he was excellent. In 16 starts, Holman pitched 91.2 innings and had a 2.75 ERA, allowing just six home runs and 33 walks with 127 strikeouts. Holman was the Tigers’ ace and came through time after time when LSU needed wins down the stretch, including in the SEC tournament with an excellent outing in a win over Kentucky.

“He’s special,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson said after the win over Kentucky. “I’ve been fortunate with Paul then Luke this year. It’s deeper with him as a cancer survivor as a little kid, so when you put into context a game you need to win in college baseball versus what he went through and overcame, it’s not surprising. His poise, presence, mound demeanor, maturity, is as good as anybody else I had. He’s going to pitch for a long time. I love it too because some people have more on the fastball or are better in the metrics, but nobody is better at getting outs than him.”

The third Tiger off the board was LSU pitcher Gage Jump. He selected Sunday night in Competitive Balance Round B – in between the second and third rounds – of the MLB Draft (73rd pick overall) by the Oakland Athletics.

Jump, a product of Aliso, Calif., recorded a 6-2 mark and a 3.47 ERA in 83.0 innings this season (17 appearances, 15 starts) with 22 walks and 101 strikeouts while limiting opponents to a .218 batting average.

Jump finished No. 8 in the SEC in ERA and No. 8 in opponent batting average. He was voted to the SEC All-Tournament Team after defeating Georgia, working 7.0 innings and allowing one run on four hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.