Former Auburn centerfielder Chris Stanfield announced Tuesday he will be transferring to LSU, according to a post on his account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Stanfield was an integral and reliable piece of Auburn’s lineup throughout his freshman and sophomore seasons at Plainsman Park, and had very similar stats between his two seasons.

Auburn brought in a transfer from LSU in relief pitcher Samuel Dutton. It also added star East Carolina freshman outfielder Bristol Carter to likely take Stanfield’s spot.

Stanfield quickly jumped into the transfer portal right when it opened earlier in June, according to D1 Basbeall’s transfer tracker. Thus far, he is the most significant loss from Auburn’s disappointing 2024 team.

But Stanfield is also keeping his name in the MLB Draft process. He is one of 319 participants on the list for the 2024 MLB Draft Combine. Taking part in the Combine does not preclude a player from returning to school, similar to the NBA Draft process.

The Combine runs from June 18-June 23. The MLB Draft runs from July 14-July 16.

Three Auburn pitchers are also on the participant list.

Chase Allsup is the only current Auburn pitcher set to go to the Combine. Head coach Butch Thompson alluded throughout the 2024 season that even as Allsup was largely inconsistent this year, he was likely to pursue the MLB Draft after this season given his mid-to-upper 90s fastball and SEC experience.

The Dothan native had a 4-3 record this year and struck out 74 batters over 62.1 innings. In Allsup’s final four appearances in 2024, he allowed a total of five earned runs while striking out 31 batters in 21.1 innings.

Though what would cause more nerves at Auburn is the inclusion of its two highest-rated incoming freshman signees, both pitchers.

Connor Gatwood from Mobile and Christian Chatterton from Killen are on the list. Both are top 50 overall players in the 2024 high school class and MLB.com ranks Gatwood as the 101st overall prospect for this year’s MLB Draft.

Thompson has emphasized how important Auburn’s top-five rated signing class will be for re-tooling its pitching staff. The incoming class is heavy on pitchers, headlined by Gatwood and Chatterton.

Their participation does not guarantee they will be selected in the MLB Draft. The MLB Draft is among the more chaotic professional league selection processes due to its inclusion of high school player and heavy emphasis on slot value signing bonuses.

Auburn’s incoming transfer class currently includes three pitchers, all heavily used out of the bullpen: Dutton, Creighton transfer Mason Koch and Cal Baptist transfer Ryan Hetzler.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]