There’re a couple of fresh faces in the starting rotations for the Tigers, but it was Michael Braswell III who was projected to make an immediate impact for LSU. Unfortunately, the South Carolina transfer opened the 2024 season in a slump, hitting .143 over the first four games.
Filling the shoes of Jordan Thompson is no small task, and doubts have arisen from fans on whether Braswell is fit for the job. But for LSU, he’s one of the most talented options it has.
READ MORE: LSU baseball takes revenge, defeating Stony Brook 18-10 in final weekend game
Since Braswell’s slow start, he’s already improved. He’s increased his season batting average to .261 following LSU’s win against Rice, almost doubling his original average from opening weekend.
Some offensive shine came from the South Carolina transfer last weekend against Northern Illinois when Braswell tallied his first home run with the Tigers. His shot over the right center field wall marks only his fourth collegiate home run, but strides have been made to improve his power.
“Him and Coach Wanaka have put in a lot of work,” head coach Jay Johnson said about Braswell. “He led our team in hitting in the fall, and he has a really good idea of what he’s doing right now.”
The work has started to pay off. Power has been the main focus of many of Johnson’s players, and Braswell’s improvements with power have become noticeable. His isolated power stat (slugging – batting average) has tripled since joining the purple and gold, showing his drastic improvements at the plate.
Braswell continued displaying some improvements at the plate after his home run last weekend. In the rematch with Stony Brook, Braswell hit a triple, batting in three runs early in the game to give LSU a comfortable lead.
Things have begun to click, and Braswell’s batting average could continue to rise as he finds his form at the plate.
“The adjustments mechanically are good,” Braswell said. “For me, it’s more mental. After Coach Johnson talked to me, we settled down and now I can finally let the mechanical adjustments play in the game.”
Outside of his big hits, Braswell’s strengths on offense are more than what meets the eye. On the season, the shortstop has cut his strikeout percentage in half compared to his two years at South Carolina, striking out only 12.9% of at-bats compared to 23.9% in his freshman season.
Braswell has a strong presence at the plate. He’s been unlucky with a lot of the balls he’s put into play, but with a slugging percentage of .522, his batting average is likely to continue to improve.
The majority of Braswell’s strengths, though, come from his reliability on defense. He’s quick, athletic and has shown a great ability to get to balls that many other players can’t. At 6-foot-2, Braswell’s length, combined with his agility, allows him to cover more space than most infielders can.
Although he underperformed on offense to start the season, his solidity on defense is important for LSU to do well.
MORE SPORTS: What are the possibilities for LSU men’s basketball?
“We won the game [Central Arkansas] Saturday largely because of his defense. That is the most important thing we need him to do,” Johnson said. “We’ve all seen him succeed, and he will succeed.”
Braswell’s proved he can succeed in the SEC before. He was named to the Freshman All-SEC team while at South Carolina, tallying a .284 batting average and recording a hit in 16 straight games at the beginning of the season.
Starting for two years with the Gamecocks, Braswell’s impressive play turned heads across the SEC, including Johnson’s.
“Whenever we were scouting an opponent South Carolina was playing, myself and Coach Wanaka were like ‘man, this would be a great guy to have,’” Johnson said. “When we played them last year, I thought he took very mature at bats. I like how he plays.”
For the Tigers, Braswell’s transfer to LSU was imperative. Once he announced he was transferring from South Carolina, Johnson immediately got Braswell on the phone to talk about coming to Baton Rouge.
Johnson refused to wait until the end of the season to begin recruiting Braswell, organizing a visit to LSU the very next day, showing how important the Georgia native is to this team.
“He means a lot to our team,” Johnson said. “It’s hard to imagine our team this year without him. Defensively, he’s even better than I thought, and I always had a high opinion of him. We brought him here because I wanted him.”
With how much talent is on LSU’s roster, the lineups are constantly going to change as Johnson tries to find the best possible combination. Whichever lineup he decides on, Braswell is going to be at shortstop.
