LSU landed one of the most sought-after talents in the transfer portal in Notre Dame outfielder Bino Watters. The Michigan native hit .362 with 10 homers, 51 RBI and a .610 slugging percentage his sophomore season with the Irish. Bradley Smart covers the ACC for D1Baseball and said he’s only gotten better each year in South Bend.
“He’s a big physical left-handed bat. He’s 6-3, 210, and he really tapped into that power a bit more,” said Smart. “I think that’s really the next thing that he can unlock under Jay Johnson at LSU…Huge pick up for LSU.”
While Watters certainly has the SEC power profile, he also has exceptional bat-to-ball skills. In two years and 382 at-bats with the Irish, he struck out just 63 times.
Smart said, “He’s not a big swing and miss guy. He does tend to expand the zone a little bit. He does not take a lot of walks, which speaks to that contact, but I think the one thing that’ll really sort of unlock that next level is sort of finding the right approach between bat-to-ball and pitches you can do damage on.”
LSU was in a heated recruiting battle with Texas and Texas A&M for the slugger, but Jay Johnson and his staff were able to bring him to Baton Rouge to address some glaring needs in the outfield next season. Smart said he can be a day one starter for the Tigers.
“This is a plug-and-play,” he said. “He sort of learned outfield as he went, I believe, and he’s a corner outfield profile. You’re basically adding an impact bat that you can slot into the middle of the order and expect a lot of run production out of.”