BATON ROUGE, La. – Former LSU right-hander Paul Gervase made his Major League Debut on Saturday with the Tampa Bay Rays, helping them defeat the Detroit Tigers, 8-3, at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla.
Gervase, a product of Fuquay-Varina, N.C., is the 90th Major Leaguer in the illustrious history of LSU Baseball. LSU has had at least one former player make his MLB debut in of 31 of the past 35 seasons.
Gervase pitched 2.0 scoreless relief innings on Saturday against Detroit, allowing no hits with two walks and one strikeout. Prior to Saturday, he had spent the entire 2025 season with the Triple-A Durham Bulls, where he owned a 3.78 ERA and 0.94 WHIP through 33.1 innings.
Gervase pitched at LSU in 2022 – coach Jay Johnson’s first season with the Tigers – and he was selected in the 12th round of the MLB Draft by the New York Mets.
He worked primarily as LSU’s closer, making 29 appearances and recording a 4-1 mark and a 1.85 ERA in 39 innings with 15 walks, 52 strikeouts and six saves. He finished No. 7 in the SEC in appearances and No. 8 in the league in saves.
Gervase earned a save and a win in the 2022 NCAA Hattiesburg Regional, posting a 0.00 ERA in 5.0 innings with three hits, three walks and three strikeouts.
He picked up the save in first-round regional win over Kennesaw State, firing a scoreless ninth inning with one strikeout. Gervase secured the win in the second-round regional game vs. Southern Miss, working a scoreless top of the 10th inning with one strikeout before LSU claimed the victory in the bottom of the frame.
Gervase is the fourth LSU Major Leaguer coached by Johnson during his four seasons at the helm of the program. The others are right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates, outfielder Dylan Crews of the Washington Nationals and right-handed pitcher Grant Taylor of the Chicago White Sox.