LSU Baseball Head Coach Jay Johnson spoke to the media Wednesday about the work he and his staff put in over the summer to recruit new talent to their squad.

Johnson also released the fall roster, which includes only six hitters who started in last year’s regional final in Chapel Hill. Johnson hopes Michael Braswell, Jake Brown, Jared Jones, Steven Milam and Josh Pearson will use their experience to be leaders on the team.

“Everybody will say they want to lead by example. Leading by example is just only doing what you’re supposed to do,” Johnson said. “So in that regard, you should have an entire roster of players that are leaders by example.”

Fall scrimmages will begin on Oct. 10, but Johnson made it clear that last year’s starters will have to work to earn their spots back.

“Every position this year is completely open for competition,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to get too far down the road and say this guy has this spot. I don’t feel that way right now.”

One of his main goals this season is to improve the offense, which struggled last year, especially in SEC play. To achieve that goal, Johnson and his staff snagged 10 players in the transfer portal and junior college talent as well.

“We had to do more to have the type of talent on the roster that is necessary to compete the way we’re supposed to compete,” Johnson said. “With that many guys going out, we had work to do.”