This 18-year-old should be in high school. Instead, he’s the starting catcher for LSU

Brady Neal should be in his senior year of high school right now. Instead, he’s the starting catcher for the top college baseball team in the country.

The Tallahassee, Florida, native graduated early after one year at North Florida Christian School and two years at the IMG Academy. He turned 18 in October, when he was already on campus competing for a spot in the starting lineup.

Getting an early start is advantageous for baseball players who are taking the collegiate baseball track because the MLB draft puts a high premium on younger players.

“Florida has had a few guys do it. Vanderbilt had a few guys do it. He is the first one that I’ve had do it,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said. “I have tried a lot out west. The kids are a little more geared toward wanting to go to pro baseball as fast as they can, so nobody is interested in doing that, but the value for the player is tremendous.”

The catching position is one of the hardest to hone as a younger player. He is tasked with managing a pitching staff of players much older than him.

Neal won the starting catcher position on IMG Academy’s highest-level national team as a sophomore, which is impressive since IMG has 12 baseball teams — a pseudo minor-league system for high school kids.

“We put a handful of guys that can play at that level, and they have to go out and compete for the job. If you struggle, there’s another guy that gets an opportunity,” IMG Academy national team coach Kason Gabbard said.

The national team, which included both Neal and LSU third baseman Tommy White, has the kind of talent that attracts 20-30 MLB scouts per game across the country.

“He was on our team playing a little bit of outfield, but he was swinging the bat really well,” Gabbard said. “When he was a sophomore, he was very hard on himself when he would get out or make an error. I think just the experience of him failing made him learn that he’ll have other opportunities to build off of that.”