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BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - A new season of LSU Baseball is just days away. The 2024 version of the Tigers has some new faces, but some familiar ones returning as well. Perhaps one of the most notable returnees from the National Championship squad is Hayden Travinski.

The catcher and designated hitter pieced together his best season yet in the Purple and Gold last year. The Shreveport native saw an uptick in playing time towards the back end of the season and saw several more at bats and boosted his batting average from .242 to .356.

Despite the success Travinski experienced last year, Jay Johnson felt that the grad student had a lot to gain by staying in Baton Rouge.

“I had a lot of conversations with him for a couple reasons, number one he’s been hurt a lot and I just felt like there was more on the table for him to do this year. It is his time he’s one of the best hitters in the country,” Johnson said.

Travinski notched 30 RBI on 37 hits last season while earning an All-Regional team nod in last year’s postseason. The catcher and designated hitter’s decision to return for an epilogue was fueled by both his love for the program and hunger for more preparation.

“Over the course of the years I’ve just come to love the program and what the program means to me. I was just thankful to be asked back, I thought it was just a better opportunity for me to get reps,” Travinski said.

Travinski has dealt with injuries over the course of his time at LSU. The grad student shared with us that this past fall he didn’t miss any practices due to injury for the first time in his career.

On that note, the Tigers return valuable depth at the catcher position which could mean that Travinski spends more time as a designated hitter this season. If that’s the reality, it could lead to better success in the batter’s box considering Travinski would have fresh legs.

“If you look at hitters statistically the more they catch obviously the numbers follow, you see that in the big leagues often just because it’s such a taxing thing on your body,” Travinski said.

Jay Johnson said it’s Travinski’s time in 2024. The Shreveport native is considered one of the best hitters in college baseball. We’ll get our first glimpse into the final chapter of Travinski’s LSU career on February 16th when the #2 Tigers host VMI.

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