LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson reflects on Jake Brown's career

LSU baseball beat New Orleans on Tuesday night -- a needed win after LSU was swept by Texas A&M. But the win was overshadowed by devastating injury news earlier in the day. LSU star outfielder Jake Brown is sidelined for the year with a broken hamate bone, delivering a blow to LSU's playoff hopes and likely bringing Brown's LSU career to an end.

Prior to the injury, Brown ranked top-five in the SEC in home runs and RBI. He was LSU's most complete hitter in 2026, hitting for power and average.

After the win, LSU head coach Jay Johnson was asked about what Brown meant to the Tigers for the last three years.

"It's hard to put into words. I have a lot of favorite players of all time. He's easily one of the favorite players of all time," Johnson said, "He was first recruited as a pitcher first. And then I went to watch him pitch. It was the night before we played Arkansas in 2023, his graduating year. He was pitching in town. I think it was at Dutchtown. And he threw 126 pitches. It was a complete game win and all that. But I walked away watching the four or five at bats and was like, this guy's going to be a great position player for us, too."

Brown made an immediate impact as a freshman on LSU's 2024 team. He racked up 24 hits and homered four times in year one in a platoon role. In 2025, Brown emerged as one of LSU's best players, posting a .935 OPS and playing a key role on LSU's national title team.

"That athleticism, everybody can see it. The competitiveness, everybody can see it. The character, I see that. And it's hard to put all those things, like, in one player. And that's who Jake Brown is," Johnson said.

Brown will be one of the top college outfield prospects in the upcoming MLB Draft. That's no secret, so the writing was on the wall when news of Brown's injury broke. He has another year of eligibility, but he'll be off to play professional baseball this Summer.

"I'm proud of his development, 16 homers. I can't say enough good things about him. Like, that was a gut punch, you know, not just for forget the production for the team, but, like, that dude means a lot to me. And not the way you want, you know, a career of that caliber to end. First question he asked me is, you know, can I continue to travel? And I was like, coach third base if you want to," Johnson said.