When you think of Guidey’s from the bayous outside of New Orleans, the mind automatically shifts to Louisiana Lightning, but there is no blood relation between the two. Born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Gavin Guidry attended High School. If that sounds familiar, it should- another Mets-related Gavin was also born in Lake Charles, attended Alfred M. Barbe High School, and was drafted by the Mets.
A three-year letterwinner who lost the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Barbe baseball team won consecutive district championships in 2019, 2021 and 2022, and the state and national championship in 2021, and Guidry was a major reason why. Coach Cecchini let his star player pitch and hit, and his efforts culminated in winning the 2022 Gatorade Player of the Year (Louisiana) in his senior year. At the plate, he hit .422 with 5 home runs and on the mound, he posted a 0.16 ERA in 45.0 innings with 83 strikeouts.
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Guidry generated a ton of scouting buzz and by the time the 2022 MLB Draft rolled around, he was in high demand. Considered the best high school player in the state and one of the top prep players in the 2022 draft class, he was forced to choose between accepting one of the many offers made to him by professional teams or honoring his commitment to Louisiana State University. The two-way high school star elected to attend college, with the ability to be drafted as a sophomore thanks to his age.
In 2023, head coach Josh Jordan used Guidry as a two-way player, having him pitch out of the bullpen in 23 games and trying him out at second base and shortstop in an additional 12. The freshman quickly emerged as a weapon out of the bullpen, posting a 3.77 ERA in 28.2 innings, allowing 23 hits, walking 12, and striking out 42 while notching 3 saves; at the plate, he hit a much less impressive .143/.333/.143, going 1-7 and drawing a walk.
The right-hander did not experience a sophomore slump in 2024, posting similar numbers to his strong freshman season. Appearing in 22 games, Guidry posted a 2.59 ERA in 24.1 innings, allowing 14 hits, walking 18, and striking out 36 while locking down 3 saves. Unlike the 2023 season, coach Jordan did not give the right-hander much time at the plate, utilizing him as a hitter in just a single game. Guidry made it count, though: in his two at-bats on the year, he smacked a double. Draft eligible, the right-hander did not have his name called in the 2024 MLB Draft.
At some point after he threw his final pitch of the 2024 season and 2025, Guidry’s back began hurting him. There was no one specific event where he hurt it, but the pain became so intense that basic functions like laying down to go to sleep left him in excruciating pain. The 2025 season began without Guidry, and every time he started feeling better and began working out to get himself in baseball shape, he would later find himself in even more pain than before. Eventually, he was diagnosed with a herniated disk in his L4-L5 lumbar spine and underwent surgery, formally ending his season. Adding insult to injury, LSU won their second NCAA national championship in three years with the right-hander having to sit on the sidelines. Eligible for the 2025 MLB Draft, the right-hander once again went undrafted.
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Guidry returned from his surgery in 2026, his redshirt junior season, fully recovered. The 22-year-old appeared in 20 games and posted a 6.39 ERA in 43.2 innings, allowing 38 hits, walking 20, and striking out 59, saving 1 game for the Tigers. Following the conclusion of the season, he left LSU for the cape, playing for the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League to attempt to further round into form. Retaining his draft eligibility, Guidry has expressed interest in returning to the Tigers to attempt to win another championship.
The 6’2”, 185-pound right-hander throws from a high-three-quarter arm slot with a medium arm action through the back. He drops and drives off the mound with good extension and has clean, simple, deliberate mechanics. Though a reliever, the right-hander has a large pitching repertoire, utilizing a four-seam fastball, cutter, slider, and curveball.
Guidry’s fastball was noticeably not where it was before his back surgery, sitting in the low-90s rather than in the low-to-mid-90s. While the velocity was on the lower side of the spectrum for a right-handed pitcher, he made up for it by getting well above-average induced vertical break on the pitch, up to 20 inches, thanks to its spin and his high release point.
His slider is his go-to strikeout pitch, a mid-80s offering with above-average spin rates, giving it tight, gyroscopic break. It tunnels well out of his hand with his fastball thanks to his high release point and its sudden downward bite has consistently flummoxed hitters, though he hung plenty of the course of 2026 that batters had no issues with. Because of the success of the pitch, for good and for bad, Guidry can sometimes get slider-heavy and throw the pitch just as much, if not more, than his fastball.
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Both his cutter and curveball are more change-of-pace offerings than much else. His slider sits in the high-80s and has a bit of horizontal hop, but is primarily used as a transition pitch between his fastball and slider, to set up the latter. His curveball is used similarly, with the mid-to-high-70s pitch mainly used as a sequence-buster to set up his next pitch.
The right-hander was still shaking the rust off in 2026 and nowhere was that more apparent than with his home run problems. After having allowed 6 homers in 53 innings in 2023 and 2024, Guidry allowed 10 in 43.2 innings this past spring. He is not allowing more fly balls as compared to prior seasons- he actually had a 44.5% flyball rate this spring as compared to a cumulative 49.4% in his freshman and sophomore seasons- but he was giving up home runs left and right, his HR/FB% almost doubling from 10.5% in 2023 and 2024 to 20.4% this past season. Hitters did not otherwise hit him particularly better- opposing batters hit .229/.318/.434 against him with a .280 BABIP as compared to .209/.298/.355 with a .297 BABIP in his freshman season and .165/.317/.247 with a .255 BABIP in his sophomore season, making the home run spike an outlier that will likely end with the expected and then return of his prior fastball velocity.
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