lsureveille
One of LSU baseballs promising freshman arms is moving on from the program.
The right-handed pitcher entered the transfer portal last week, seeking new pastures for 2027 and beyond.
Marcos Paz was up and down but heavily involved throughout the Tigers previous season.
He made 17 appearances across the year and tallied 2913 innings in his freshman year.
His results were very Jekyll and Hyde, being unhittable at times or the victim of a shelling by the opposing offenses.
It came together for a poor ERA mark of 9.20 but some positive underlying metrics like a K/9 north of 12.
He also excelled at limiting walks or free passes, combining for just 31 walks or hit batters and only plunking five batters.
With the writing on the wall for LSUs dismal season, his results and an open starter spot due to Cooper Moores injury compelled head coach Jay Johnson and pitching coach Nate Yeskie to entrust Paz with starts against SEC foes late in the season.
He got four starts in LSUs final four series of the year against Mississippi State, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
Johnson described those starts as rebooting Paz after he missed his last year of high school rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
Those starts werent always peachy, but the pitcher, rated by Perfect Game as Americas 33rd best freshman entering the season, closed it with a few strong outings.
His best came against South Carolina, allowing a single run and hit in a career-long five innings of work.
He fanned eight batters that night and earned high praise from Johnson postgame.
Thats where hes headed, Johnson said.
Hes got the ability to be one of the best pitchers in the country.
It was clear that Johnson intended for Paz to be an important part of LSU going forward.
What became less clear as LSU entered the offseason was the timeline for his impact to be felt.
The Tigers ace, Casan Evans, is set to return as their Friday night starter in 2027.
Saturday starter Cooper Moore, who Paz started in place of, announced his intent to return in 2027 shortly after LSUs elimination in May.
Sundays job appeared open at the start of the offseason, but that door slammed shut with LSUs acquisition of top pitcher Landon Hood via the portal.
Space wont be available at starting pitcher until 2028, but its likely that Paz feels ready to make an impact now.
A move to the transfer portal to try and find a place to do that supports that theory.
Pazs move is likely to keep him in the SEC, a move that could ruffle some feathers in Baton Rouge.
Shortstop Steven Milam, who elected to forgo the MLB Draft in 2026 and return for a senior year in 2027, commented a brief but semi-colorful reaction to capture his disbelief of the move on an Instagram post breaking Pazs decision to transfer.
Milam has since deleted the comment.
Paz is a native of Carrollton, Texas, a suburb about 30 minutes north of Dallas.
Though other teams, including SEC powerhouse Georgia, have reached out, the bidding for Pazs services appears to be between the SEC sides in his home state: Texas and Texas A&M.
The loss of Paz is a blow for LSUs staff as a whole, even if not at the front end.
The Tigers had a dismal bullpen in 2026 and Paz couldve been an answer for that in his second season post-surgery.
Instead, itll rely on its previous arsenal of arms and new additions like former USC freshman Diego Velazquez to get outs in 2027.
The post Marcos Paz transfers from LSU baseball, future destination linked to other SEC teams appeared first on Reveille .