It’s about that time of the year again for Alex Box Stadium to be flooded with Tiger fans for the first pitch of the 2025 LSU baseball season.
The Tigers will take the field this season with a new strength and conditioning head coach, Chris Martin.
Martin has been the Houston Astros Minor League strength and conditioning coordinator since November 2023. He spent six years with Houston’s organization before taking the job in Baton Rouge in August 2024.
Martin is the fourth strength and conditioning coach LSU head coach Jay Johnson hired over the past four years.
“I am really excited to add Chris Martin as our LSU baseball strength coach,” Johnson said. “Chris is exactly what we need here at LSU as we continue to develop future Major League players and championship teams in the weight room. Chris stands out in many ways, blending intelligence, a top-shelf work ethic, and he is elite at developing strength programs for players at the highest possible level.”
It all started with a call on the Fourth of July.
“It was about eight o’clock, and I got a call from a Baton Rouge number,” Martin said. “It was Coach Johnson, and that was our first time we had spoken. He laid out that they were looking for a new strength and conditioning coach. A few Zoom meetings and talks went on from there to the end of the month, and I couldn’t say no.”
Martin took the job in the bayou to win a national championship in Baton Rouge, but his job is to get the players to reach their full potential while making a name for themselves.
“I am here to make better baseball players,” Martin said. “So I don’t want to make guys better at lifting weights or training, just for the sake of lifting weights or training. At the end of the day, they have to be able to perform on the field, so everything revolves around that mindset and that overarching goal.”
Martin has showcased this ability in the past: 10 different Astros players made their Major League debuts in 2024 during his tenure with the team.
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” Martin said.
For Martin, part of his specialty is being a friendly face to talk to when the players need reassurance most.
“From my personal experiences, I can empathize with players,” Martin said. “I have been in their shoes before and have faced some of the mental and physical challenges players are going through. I have their best interest in mind. That doesn’t always mean that I’m going to feel like your best friend or that you’re gonna enjoy what I’m having you do, but it’s all it’s all planned out.”
Martin will continue giving out fist bumps in the dugouts before games; it’s the only way he knows how to coach.
Martin hopes he will be the missing piece the Tigers need to return to Omaha.
“There’s a thought process behind all of it,” Martin said.
LSU opens the season at the Box on Friday against Purdue Fort Wayne.
