Top 10 2024 prospect withdraws from MLB Draft, will play for LSU
On Monday evening, Derek Curiel announced on social media that he was withdrawing from the MLB Draft next month to play for LSU next year.
“After talks with my family, advisors, and loved ones, I have formally withdrawn my name from the 2024 MLB Draft. I will be enrolling early this summer at LSU.”
Curiel is the No. 6 player in the country and No. 1 overall player in the state of California on Perfect Game as an elite outfield prospect that projects to help the Tigers significantly immediately.
“I’m always in attack mode,” Curiel told MLB.com in 2023. “If they give me a good pitch to hit early, I’m going to swing, but I like to work counts. I would say I’m a little hard to strike out because I like to foul pitches off. I’ll just keep working counts until either I get a walk or get a hit and get a pretty good barrel on it. I think I’m a power/contact [player], so I think I can do it all.”
Here’s what MLB.com wrote about the highly touted prospect in 2023.
“Curiel’s combination of skills could certainly place him comfortably in the first round of the 2024 Draft. However, should he choose to go the college route, he’s committed to LSU, a notable distinction this week after the Tigers captured their first NCAA title since 2009.”
Top 10
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Just Means More
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- 3Trending
Desmond Howard mocks Ohio State
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- 4
Thorne returning as starter
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- 5
Hurricane Floods HSFB Field
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LSU’s 2025 roster continues overhaul
Jay Johnson continues to move quickly both in the portal and now with potential incoming freshmen. The Tigers have had 11 players enter the transfer portal and have as many as 11 draft eligible players set to decide on their future in the coming weeks. With all of this indecision, Johnson is set to add more top-end talent to next year’s roster to get LSU back to the top.
“Obviously, there are some situations where guys are in between pro baseball and coming back,” Johnson said. “All of those guys will be welcomed back and have a place on our roster. Even with that, we have a lot of work to do to have the team we want to have. It will have a lot of high impact. I’m not so worried about the numbers. That’s where my head is at in terms of building the roster moving forward and at a place like LSU you can do that. It’s really fluid right now.”
LSU’s youth has plenty of experience after a whirlwind of a season and Jay Johnson is excited to pair that with top-end talent from the transfer portal and incoming freshmen. The lineup projects to look completely different in 2025 after a troubling season at the plate.
Stay tuned to the Bengal Tiger On3 for the latest LSU baseball news.
