There are a lot of interesting storylines that go along with this year’s LSU baseball team. Will the Tigers repeat as national champions? How will the pitching staff develop? Who is the next breakout star?
But when it comes to the best story of all you’ll have to go way down the roster to find that.
Numerically, John Shahrdar might be the last guy listed. But his path onto the 2026 Tigers is certainly the most improbable.
It was only a year ago that playing baseball anywhere was the last thing on Shahrdar’s mind. He was just another student at LSU and seemed to be quite happy about it.
Until he wasn’t.
After an outstanding career at Loyola (finishing as the District MVP in 2021), he went to Baton Rouge Community College for two seasons. Like most who go the junior college route, he hoped that would be a springboard to a spot at a Division I team. Which is what happened as he signed on to play at Northwestern State in 2024.
But things didn’t go as he had hoped.
“I just don’t think it was the right spot for me,” Shahrdar says. “I wasn’t giving it my all and I feel like I respect the game too much not to give it everything I had.”
Shahrdar pitched in 11 games, had a 0-1 record and an 11.25 ERA. Not exactly Paul Skenes’ numbers.
He made the decision that if his heart wasn’t in it, there was no sense in playing one more year.
Shahrdar decided to finish his college years at LSU and just be a student. For almost a year, he didn’t even pick up a baseball.
Since you already know how this is going to turn out, let’s take a moment and try to take in what’s about to happen. A regular college student who was out of baseball after a career with some pretty mediocre stats is somehow going to make it onto the roster of the defending national champions.
Really?
Sure, you can try to pull that off. But somewhere along the line, reality is going to dust you inside with some serious chin music.
“About a year ago, I started missing playing baseball,” he says. “But I really didn’t know what to do about it.”
Before Shahrdar could think about getting his arm in shape, he had another body part to check on – his heart. That’s what had betrayed him at Northwestern, and it wasn’t going to do him any good to try to do what it might take if he couldn’t get all his body parts to agree.
He began throwing baseballs with a friend and the itch started to return, so he scratched it. He reached out to some smaller schools.
Nothing.
Even though he didn’t have anything lined up, Shahrdar spent part of the summer at a training facility in Florida. There were changes to his grip, mechanics and pitch repertoire to give him a better chance … if he ever got a chance.
Then came the (first) moment of truth: He sent an email to one of the LSU assistant coaches, just to see about the possibility. Something along the lines of “My name is John Shahrdar and I used to play JUCO baseball and one year of Division 1. I’d like to throw a bullpen for y’all and see what you think.”
You know, the kind of correspondence SEC coaches probably get every time they open their email.
Had he never heard back, it wouldn’t have been a surprise.
For some reason Jamie Tutco, LSU’s Director of Player Development, responded. However, Tutco had a question: “Why do you want to play again?”
“I just told him it was my dream to play for LSU,” Shahrdar said. “And I wanted to achieve that dream.”
He was invited to come throw in a bullpen session in front of some of the Tiger coaches just before fall practice began.
Let’s hope you don’t think that this was some kind of made-for-movie scene where he was offered a position on the spot after a glowing bullpen session. But he did do well enough to warrant another look when fall practice officially began.
Basically, he kept showing up every day because no one told him not to.
Then came the next moment of truth(s) – pitching in a pair of live game scrimmages.
Up until that point, it had all been a neat little journey. But when he stepped on the mound for those two October scrimmages, John Shahrdar knew that was about to get as real as it could get.
“It was nerve-racking for sure,” he says. “I felt like my career was on the line. It was either going to be yes or no from them (the LSU coaches) and the only way to get a yes was to pitch well.”
Literally every time he stepped on the mound, whether in the bullpen or in a scrimmage, it was a make-or-break moment. “I had to be on my A game,” he says. “Every time.”
There was no grand announcement. No team meeting to make an official announcement that he was officially on the team. Shahrdar met with head coach Jay Johnson after the fall. “He was really straightforward,” Shahrdar said. “He never said I was on the team, but he did give me a plan for what to do over the break to get ready for the spring.”
He was told when Media Day was going to be and that there would be a jersey for him to wear for his picture on the website.
“I just got whatever number they gave me,” he says. “I probably wouldn’t have chosen 56, but it doesn’t matter to me. As long as I have one.”
At any point during the last 12 months, the odds could have caught up to John Shahrdar. Time after time, he beat them. Two years ago, he really didn’t want to play baseball anymore.
A year ago, he was just another student on the LSU campus.
The journey to the pitcher’s mound at Alex Box Stadium has been unlike any other. Sure, there are stories about walk-ons all over college baseball.
But not like this one.
“I’ve thought about what it would be like to pitch in a game at Alex Box (Stadium),” he says. “But you have to eliminate all the external factors and just do your job.”
No matter how much he pitches or doesn’t pitch this year, John Shahrdar has made it. He’s proved it to his coaches. He’s proved it to his teammates.
And most of all, he’s proved it to himself.
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com
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