LSU baseball center fielder Derek Curiel turning pro isn’t as done of a deal as previously thought. On Wednesday, in an interview on Baton Rouge ESPN 104.5 FM with Matt Moscona, LSU’s outfield keystone revealed that he was mulling over foregoing the draft in 2026 to return for his junior year.
“I definitely don’t have all my eggs in one basket yet,” Curiel said about his future prospects.
Curiel, who recently turned 21, is draft eligible a season before most college players because of his age. He has been one of LSU’s, and the country’s, best players since entering the college ranks in 2025. He is expected to be a first-round pick in July’s MLB Draft.
A player of Curiel’s caliber delaying turning pro is rare, but not unprecedented. These holdouts are typically to secure a better contract, though eligibility is typically viewed as a bargaining chip in those negotiations.
Curiel’s motivation to return, though, seems to be to continue with the program and its head coach, Jay Johnson.
“I’ve definitely talked to Coach Johnson. I obviously want to be a Tiger,” Curiel said. “I told him, if there’s a coach I could play for forever, it would be him.”
Another potential motivation for Curiel could be to display the best version of himself. He also revealed in Wednesday’s interview that he was injured.
Curiel broke his left ankle in November — just three months before the season — and wasn’t in a position to prepare for the season until late January. He didn’t outright blame the injury on his slower start compared to his freshman season, but also didn’t downplay its impact.
“That’s why the season started how it did,” Curiel said. “But I feel like I showed some toughness.”
Still, Curiel managed to grit his way to a .345 batting average, eight points higher than his mark a season ago.
His power metrics took a step back, perhaps due to the injury on the ankle he loads his weight on in his swing, but was still strong. He OPSed over .950 and finished just a home run and nine RBI back of his 2025 tallies, both numbers set back from Curiel not playing in the postseason this year — costing him 10 games.
A healthy Curiel in his freshman season was good enough for him to be recognized as the country’s best freshman and projected to be the best sophomore in America ahead of the 2026 season.
A healthy Curiel as a junior in college could produce a monster season, one that could spring him from a mid-to-late first round pick in this season’s draft to a candidate for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the country’s best player, and becoming the fourth player from LSU to be taken in the top three picks of a draft in four years.
Curiel returning would also be huge for LSU. If Curiel is to stay the course and go in the draft, LSU will begin 2027 without any of its opening day starters in the outfield. Corner outfielders Chris Stanfield and Jake Brown are set to leave the program as the former runs out of eligibility and the latter turns pro.
Retaining a player like Curiel brings back a two-year SEC starter with double-plus fielding ability in center field and an elite hit tool to mentor whoever plays beside him in the outfield. Curiel’s ability and experience would double his value.
The counterpoint to Curiel’s return is that nothing is guaranteed and that a return to LSU sets him back on his path to the MLB by a year.
There’s no way of knowing for certain how Curiel’s 2027 season would go if he chooses to return. But, a poor showing in his junior year, regardless of how that comes to be, would threaten to stall his draft momentum.
He could fall from his projected draft position, lowering his “slot value,” a metric used as a base for negotiations. With only one year of college eligibility left if he returns, his leverage to get a better deal is weakened substantially.
While unlikely, a circumstance like this is uncertainty that Curiel can avoid by turning pro this summer.
As it stands, though, Curiel is open to all options, and more cards will need to be revealed before any final determination is made.
“I’m excited for whatever lies ahead, and it’s all in God’s hands in my opinion,” Curiel said. “I’m open to whatever.”
