Transfer LHP Justin Loer embraces new competition at LSU

As Justin Loer was packing his things at Xavier to head home to Minnesota, he got a call from an unsaved number that only read “Baton Rouge, Louisiana.”

It had been less than an hour since Loer officially entered the transfer portal, so receiving a call was surprising, much less from LSU, a team preparing for a super regional.

“There’s no way this is Jay Johnson,” Loer said to himself. 

Loer answered the phone and sure enough, it was LSU’s head coach. Before long he was on a plane to visit LSU during the super regional against Kentucky, and the rest was history.

“I got to watch Paul Skenes pitch and hear 13 thousand people screaming and it was unreal. That was it for me,” Loer said. “There’s no way I can’t come to a place like this. It was pretty quick and easy and I committed before they played Tennessee in the College World Series.”

The atmosphere of the baseball game sold him, but it was experiencing things like LSU football games that blew Loer away once he arrived. Going from Xavier, a private school in Ohio to LSU was a culture shock for Loer who was excited to make that jump.

“It wasn’t really a baseball thing for me,” Loer said. “I felt like off the field I could put myself in a better situation college-wise. Xavier is a small institution, doesn’t have a football team, and I felt like I was missing out on the college experience, so I wanted to go to a place where I could go to a football game in the fall and there’s no better place than here. It was the right decision for me and the right time to do it.”

Loer pitched for two years at Xavier, giving him two more years of eligibility as a key left handed pitcher in Jay Johnson’s rotation. Last year, Loer pitched 57 innings in 29 appearances and had a 1,89 ERA with a 6-3 record and 63 strikeouts to 22 walks. 

At 6-foot-5 with an incredible motor and a unique delivery as a lefty, Loer checks every box for Johnson as the Tigers rebuild their pitching rotation for 2024.

“I love competition and I love pressure. Last year I pitched in the late innings role and I loved it,” Loer said. “I was at a school where there weren’t a lot of fans, so I had to use internal things, so it was really me vs. the hitter. It’s a battle and that’s something I thrive off of and people will see that when I’m on the mound here.”

Loer continues to work to find his spot in the pecking order at LSU, on a roster with several new arms and a new pitching coach in Nate Yeskie. Loer, a Minnesota native and Yeskie, a Wisconsin native have built a strong relationship since arriving in Baton Rouge and it’s helped Loer get comfortable in a hurry.

“Besides the occasional jokes about the Vikings, we have a great relationship,” Loer said. “I can go into his office every day and talk to him for hours and he’ll tell stories about the different players he’s coached and his past. It’s more of a friendship and I can talk to him about anything. I understand who I am as a pitcher, I’m not going to blow the radar gun up, but I’m in tune with who I am and he understands that.”

Loer is not a fastball-dominant pitcher. However, with his style, the change-up, curveball, and slider are more than enough to keep any batter uncomfortable – especially lefties.

“It’s a low three-quarter slot from the left side, then I have a ton of run on the ball,” Loer said, describing his delivery. “I’m difficult for lefties to face then once I got to college I had to focus on how to get righties out as well, but yea it’s a really unique delivery and it feels like im coming from behind the left handed hitter. [The changeup] has taken a big step forward this fall and that’s what I’ll be using more of this season.”

On most staffs, Loer being a lefty would make him unique in itself, but not at LSU. After two years of harping on it, Johnson finally has his staff with an immense amount of left-handed pitching talent. LSU has 10 left handed pitchers on the roster and it figures to play a significant role into getting outs and being more flexible this season as the Tigers take on the SEC and look to return to Omaha. 

Loer and the staff know what’s ahead and the competition they face to get on the mound at LSU, but they’re sure it will make them one of the best staffs in the country in 2024.

“This is the deepest staff in the country and I love the competition,” Loer said. “Just being able to see how people have success in different ways as left handers. Understanding there are so many ways to pitch and it’s cool how people do it differently but have the same success I do. I love left handed pitchers and we’re all a bit weird, but we can be weird together.”