The first two rounds of the 2019 MLB draft were held Monday night with three LSU signees and one player on the current roster selected in the first two rounds.
Here's where the Tigers stand after day one of the 2019 draft:
Current Players:
Josh Smith- Second Baseman (Round 2: No. 67): New York Yankees
The LSU shortstop was drafted as a second baseman by the Yankees in the second round is likely to sign pro, foregoing his senior season. Since Smith is still a junior, he has some leverage in negotiating his signing bonus, which is slotted for $976,700. After missing his sophomore season with a lingering back injury, Smith bounced back with a phenomenal season, batting .346 with nine homeruns and 41 RBI.
Signees:
Daniel Espino- Pitcher (Round 1: No. 24): Cleveland Indians
Espino is a virtual lock to sign with the Indians after being the only LSU signee to be selected in the first round. Espino has a slot value of $2,831,300 and should work his way up the minors pretty quickly as it's reported he can already touch 100 mph on his fastball.
Rece Hinds- Shortstop (Round 2: No. 49): Cincinnati Reds
Hinds is in a similar boat with Espino as he too is not expected to come to school. Hinds was a guy in many first round mocks but ultimately slipped to the top of the second round with a slot value of $1,507,600. With the team likely getting infielder Cade Doughty to come to school next year, this isn't a big hit for LSU.
Jimmy Lewis-Pitcher (Round 2: No. 78): Los Angeles Dodgers
Lewis is a little bit harder to read as it's reported that the coaching staff wants him to come to school. Lewis was selected with the last pick of the second round, which has a slot value of $793,000. A 6-foot-5, 215 pound right-handed pitcher from Texas, Lewis threw nine outings his senior season with a 0.52 ERA with 83 strikeouts and 15 walks.
Maurice Hampton-Outfielder
The surprise of the evening was baseball and football signee Maurice Hampton not being selected in the first two rounds. Hampton was deemed a sure fire first round pick in 2019 mock drafts but after sliding out of the first, likely let teams know he'd be coming to school, leaving him still undrafted heading to Tuesday. Hampton, a dual sport athlete, is signed on to play defensive back for the football team as a four-star prospect and in the outfield for Paul Mainieri and company come Spring.
Hampton tweeted out Monday night that he'd be coming to LSU but quickly deleted the message. It has since been reported that the deleted tweet means nothing and Hampton fully intends to enroll in the fall.
What to look for Tuesday:
The draft resumes at noon on Tuesday and expect LSU players Zack Hess, Zach Watson and Antoine Duplantis to come off the board sometime today. Hess and Watson are both juniors so they carry a little more leverage than Duplantis but expect the juniors to be selected anywhere from rounds three to six.
As for the signing class, the LSU coaching staff will be sweating bullets in the early rounds as infielder Christian Cairo and pitcher Connor Phillips are still on the board. With LSU losing Smith, Brandt Broussard and Chris Reid in the infield, Cairo's addition to the team would help the team exponentially. Denham Springs shortstop Cade Doughty has a good shot of coming to school, particularly after being undrafted after Monday's first two rounds. Cade's older brother Braden is currently a catcher at LSU so the attraction of playing with his brother at school combined with playing 15 minutes away from home could ultimately be the determining factor in Doughty getting to campus.
