LSU baseball adds Auburn centerfielder out of transfer portal

LSU baseball had a specific need in centerfield.

Tigers coach Jay Johnson and his staff went out and addressed that specific need. Former Auburn centerfielder Chris Stanfield announced via his X page, formerly known as Twitter, Tuesday morning that he was transferring to LSU. Stanfield is the sixth transfer out of the portal LSU has landed (infielder Luis Hernandez and pitchers Zac Cowen, Luke Hayden, Deven Sheerin and Chandler Dorsey).

Paxton Kling, who was LSU's Opening Day starter in centerfield, entered the transfer portal last week.

Stanfield batted .276 for Auburn this past season. The sophomore right-hander belted four home runs and finished the year with 35 runs, 25 RBIs and 51 total hits. From his freshman season in 2023 to 2024, Stanfield's strikeout rate went down from 23.8% to 17.3% while he saw his walk rate shift from 9.5% to 10.9%.

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Stanfield also brings plenty of SEC experience, playing in 98 games for Auburn the last two seasons. He's a career .276 hitter with .398 career on-base percentage and .760 OPS.

Where the addition of Stanfield arguably helps the most is in the field. In 50 games played for Auburn last season, Stanfield committed two errors, proving he's a sure glove and a great decision maker in center.

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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU baseball adds Auburn centerfielder out of transfer portal