1/30/2024 baseball Edit

LSU Pitcher Gage Jump is ready to take the SEC by storm

Luke Hubbard • Death Valley Insider

Analyst

Gage Jump is a very talented left handed pitcher who's spent his first two collegiate seasons at UCLA. With the Pac-12 dissolving and UCLA missing the NCAA Baseball Tournament in 2023, Jump wanted a new change of scenery.

When Jump officially hit the portal, LSU head coach Jay Johnson and company knew they needed to get the talented lefty to come to Baton Rouge.

Lucky for Jump and Coach Johnson, the two already had a connection. Johnson knows Jumps older brother and also recruited Gage to Arizona out of high school. With their connection and Jump looking for a new home, LSU became an obvious landing spot for the lefty.

"I just wanted to be in the SEC. The [Pac-12], I didn't really like the way it was going. I don't really have a long track record in college, I think I only have 16-17 innings. Coach Johnson, I've known him since high school, he knows my brother so we already had that relationship. LSU, it's the best place in the world to play baseball, so I'm just super pumped to be here and I'm super grateful for that."

— Gage Jump

Another reasons Jump came to LSU is because he wanted to compete in the best baseball conference in the country, the SEC.

Jump's brother played four years at Arizona State before transferring to Kentucky for the 2022 season. After spending his final year in Lexington, he told his younger brother that the SEC is the place he wants to play baseball. That, mixed with watching LSU in Omaha from the couch made Jump hone in on becoming an LSU Tiger.

"So my brother went to Kentucky for his fifth year and he was a Pac-12 player too at Arizona State, so he was the one kind of telling me, 'hey, SEC is the real deal, this is where you want to play." I was watching LSU play in Omaha and that's when it really clicked for me. I've always wanted to play in Omaha, I've always wanted to play in a Super Regional and being at Alex Box Stadium with that environment, I kind of thought of that when they were playing those games. I got really fired up and I just really wanted to play here."

— Gage Jump

Jump is one of the most talented pitchers in the country, but he hasn't really been able to show off his talents at the collegiate level. In his freshman season, Jump pitched 16.1 innings, but suffered a torn UCL and needed Tommy John surgery.

Since then, Jump has been in an 18 month recovery process that caused him to miss the entire 2023 season. Now that he's been cleared and has finally gotten some pitching reps in practice and scrimmages, Jump says he's feeling great and is ready to go.

"After Tommy John, I'm feeling good. I think it's been 17-18 months, and usually 18-21 [months] is when you're full go and there's no issues, so I'm feeling really good."

— Gage Jump

Since many of us don't know much about Jump due to his lack of playing time, Jump was asked to describe about his pitching style.

He throws four pitches; fastball, slider, curveball and changeup, and is very aggressive on the mound. He and newly hired Pitching Coach Nate Yeskie have been working all offseason on how they can put pressure on the opposing hitter when Jump is on the mound.

"I'm a four-pitch guy, fastball, curveball, slider, changeup. I like to say I'm very aggressive, and with Coach Yeskie, the idea is suffocating the zone and playing to our strengths to put pressure on the hitter. I'm really happy to be pitching with the talent we have on this team and I'm really excited for this season."

— Gage Jump

Despite being here for just a few months, Jump has earned the praise of one of, if not the best player on this Tigers roster.

Tommy White, the man who led the nation in RBI's with a separated shoulder just a season ago, called Jump the toughest pitcher that he's faced this offseason. White says Jump has some stuff that's going to really surprise us this spring.

"Toughtest pitcher? The guy that just talked [Gage Jump]. I think that he's got some stuff that's going to surprise y'all and you guys are going to lean back and be like wow, so I'm really excited to see him play."

— Tommy White

Needless to say, Jump is going to pitch, and he's going to pitch a lot. Jump should and will be in the mix to be a weekend starter, but my only worry is if they'll limit his pitch count early in the season while he works back from Tommy John.

Either way, Jump is going to be must watch TV every time he's on the mound. He's got so much talent, now it's time to put it to use against some of the best competition in the country.

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