Tag: Baseball America

LSU leads the nation with four on Baseball America’s preseason All-American team

Four Tigers named preseason All-American by Baseball America

LSU leads the country with four players on the 2022 Baseball America Preseason All-America team. Sophomore outfielder Dylan Crews and Sophomore infielder Jacob Berry were voted to the first team, and Sophomore first baseman Tre’ Morgan and Redshirt Sophomore infielder Cade Doughty were voted to the second team.

In 2021, Dylan Crews was named the 2021 Perfect Game National Freshman of the Year. He hit .362 (89-for-246) with 16 doubles, 2 triples, 18 homers, 42 RBI, 64 runs scored, and 12 stolen bases. Crews’ 18 home runs last year were the most in a single season by a freshman in LSU history, surpassing Mike Fontenot, who hit 17 home runs as a freshman in 2000. Crews also earned all-tournament honors for the Euguene Regional as he batted .476 (10-for-21) with two doubles, one triple, three home runs, four RBI, and six runs scored.

Jacob Berry is a new face in Baton Rouge, but he is a guy that Tiger fans will get familiar with quickly. Berry transferred to LSU from Arizona, where he led the Wildcats to the 2021 College World Series and the Pac-12 Championship. Berry batted .352 with a team-high 17 homers and 70 RBI. He was named the National Co-Freshman of the Year by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Berry earned first-team All America honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and he was named a second-team All-America honors from D1Baseball and Perfect Game.

Tre’ Morgan batted .357 (89-for-249) last year with 16 doubles, 4 triples, 6 homers, 42 RBI, 64 runs scored, and 15 stolen bases. He was honored as a Freshman All-America, Second-Team All-SEC, and Freshman All-SEC.

Cade Doughty posted a .308 batting average (70-for-227) in 2021 with 11 doubles, 2 triples, 13 homers, 55 RBI, and 41 runs scored. Doughty helped LSU clinch a spot in the SEC Tournament against Texas A&M when his two-out, three-run homer in the fifth inning erased a 6-3 deficit and then hit a two-run double in the top of the 13th to help the Tigers take the lead and seal the deal.

LSU baseball ranked in fourth preseason poll

Another preseason poll, another top 10 ranking

We are less than a month away from the beginning of the 2022 college baseball season and the LSU Tigers are among the top 10 teams in the country.

New baseball head coach Jay Johnson is preparing to lead this team back to Omaha and the College World Series. Last season their dream was cut short by the Tennessee Volunteers in the Super Regional.

After signing the No. 1 recruiting class in 2022, the Tigers are ready to defend their turf and make another run at a national championship. LSU hasn’t returned to the CWS since 2017. Johnson led the Arizona Wildcats to Omaha last year.

Per the LSU Tigers’ release:

LSU is ranked No. 10 in the 2022 Baseball America preseason Top 25, marking the Tigers’ fourth Top 10 appearance in a preseason poll.

LSU’s previously released preseason rankings are No. 3 by Collegiate Baseball, No. 4 by Perfect Game, and No. 8 by D1 Baseball.

The Tigers are engaged in groups workouts and conditioning drills, and LSU’s first official team practice is scheduled for Friday afternoon. The 2022 season begins on February 18, when LSU plays host to Maine in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

Rank Team
1 Texas Longhorns
2 Vanderbilt Commodores
3 Mississippi State Bulldogs
4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
5 Virginia Cavaliers
6 Florida Gators
7 Stanford Cardinal
8 Arkansas Razorbacks
9 Mississippi Rebels
10 LSU Tigers
11 Oregon State Beavers
12 Florida State Seminoles
13 Arizona Wildcats
14 Georgia Bulldogs
15 East Carolina Pirates
16 North Carolina State Wolfpack
17 Tennessee Volunteers
18 UC Irvine Anteaters
19 Oklahoma State Cowboys
20 Nebraska Cornhuskers
21 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
22 UCLA Bruins
23 Texas Tech Red Raiders
24 Old Dominion Monarchs
25 Miami Hurricanes

 

Baseball America: Re-Ranking of 2016 recruiting classes shows Arkansas knew what it was doing.

Four key players still in professional baseball

I love the concept of re-evaluating a recruiting or draft class (no matter the sport) a few years later. That’s really when we know how well a franchise/program evaluated the available talent. As is often the case, we commonly see 3-star recruits and late-round draft picks blossom once in the right spot.

This week Baseball America looked back at the 2016 recruiting class. Arkansas was coming off its worst season under Dave Van Horn, but managed to build a class that would anchor its run to back-to-back trips to Omaha.

Arkansas hosted three straight regionals from 2017-19, made the College World Series in both 2018 and 2019 and finished as national runner-up in 2018. This class played a key role in all of those teams. Cronin was one of the best relievers in the country throughout his college career, emerging as a dominant force at the back of the bullpen. Fletcher was a three-year starter in center field for the Razorbacks and was the top draft pick in the class at No. 75 overall in 2019.

You can read the rest of the article here.

Former Gator Jonathan India named MLB’s 2021 Rookie of the year by Baseball America

Former UF infielder Jonathan India had a fantastic first campaign with the Cincinnati Reds.

Florida’s baseball program has been arguably the most consistent over the course of the last decade, and with the team constantly recruiting at an elite level, it’s no surprise that it puts good players into the major leagues with regularity.

The latest of these is Jonathan India, who played at Florida 2016-18. India was dominant in college, being named the 2018 SEC Player of the Year and a First Team All-American by several outlets. He was projected to be one of the top players selected in the 2018 MLB draft, and indeed, the Cincinnati Reds took him fifth overall.

India made his debut for the Reds in 2021, and he had a spectacular season. For his efforts, he’s been named Baseball America’s Rookie of the Year.

India appeared in 150 games for Cincinnati, playing mostly at second base and earning a .269 batting average with 21 home runs and 69 RBI. He had 36 extra-base hits on the season, 34 of which were doubles.

It took India a couple of years to reach the sport’s pinnacle, as he spent the last two seasons in the minor leagues. But his major league career is off to a phenomenal start, and he could be the latest Gators player to make a big impact in MLB.

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Baseball America releases new Top 25 rankings

Baseball America unveils new Top 25 list

Monday, Baseball America released its latest Top 25 poll after the first weekend of play for 2021.

The Gators of Florida fell a few spots to No. 7 after dropping back-to-back games against Miami, while the Bulldogs still have not cracked the Top 25.

Georgia started off slow with a season-opening loss to Evansville, but was able to rebound to win three-straight and take the series.

Up next for the Dawgs is a date with Georgia State on Wednesday in Atlanta before hosting Gardner-Webb for four games in Athens next weekend.

To view the full Top 25 rankings for this week, click here ….

Notre Dame baseball update: 2021 season set to begin next week

A primer on what to expect when Notre Dame baseball gets their season started next week.

Notre Dame baseball is getting closer to their opening day, a week from this Friday. Last year, in Link Jarrett’s first season with the Irish, prior to the season being canceled, the Irish posted  a sparkling 11-2 record. The fast start had the Irish ranked as the 24th best program in the country in one of the major polls.

There are high expectations for this years team, with the majority of players returning with the exception of pitcher Joe Boyle, who was drafted by Cincinnati Reds in the 5th round of the MLB Draft. Here is a quick primer on Notre Dame baseball news as the season is set to begin next week.

Ryan Bliss, Richard Fitts named preseason All-America by Baseball America

The preseason accolades keep coming in for Ryan Bliss and Ruchard Fitts ahead of the 2021 season.

Auburn shortstop Ryan Bliss and right-handed pitcher Richard Fitts were named Preseason third team All-America by Baseball America.

It is the third honor for Bliss, who has also been named Preseason third team All-America by Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game/Rawlings.

It was the second for Fitts, who earned Preseason second team All-America honors from D1 Baseball.

A native of LaGrange, Georgia, Bliss ranked second in the SEC and sixth in the country in hits (29) in 2020. He also appeared in the top 10 in the league in runs (21), doubles (seven), triples (two) and total bases (46).

Making the move from second base to shortstop prior to the 2020 season, Bliss started in all 18 games and didn’t commit an error in 58 chances en route to earning third team All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball at the position. He enters the 2021 season regarded by Baseball America as the No. 76 overall prospect for the 2021 MLB Draft.

Fitts has also emerged as one of the top prospects ahead of the 2021 season. He has been ranked the No. 8 and No. 9 college prospect by Perfect Game and D1 Baseball, respectively, and has been tabbed the No. 13 overall prospect by Perfect Game, the No. 15 overall prospect by Baseball America and the No. 17 overall prospect by MLB.com.

Fitts has posted a 6-3 record with a 4.88 ERA in 27 appearances. He went 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA in six appearances as a sophomore.

Baseball America: UF has unanimous All-America First Team selection, also Third Team

UF got some good news from Baseball American, which published its preseason All-America teams ahead of the start of the season on Monday.

The Florida Gators baseball program, which enters 2021 a consensus No. 1 team according to at least three major publications, got some good news from one of those esteemed outlets on Monday when Baseball American published its preseason All-America teams ahead of the start of the season.

Sophomore outfielder Jud Fabian, who recently earned D1Baseball’s SEC Player of the Year honor, was a unanimous choice for the First Team along with the Vanderbilt Commodores’ starting pitcher Kumar Rocker; they were the only two to earn the unanimous distinction.

Last season, Fabian led off the batting order for UF while starting all 17 games in center field, collecting 20 hits and 19 runs — second-best and most on the team, respectively — for a .294 batting average while also drawing 13 walks to post a .407 on-base percentage.

Here is what Baseball America had to say about Florida’s talented sophomore outfielder.

Jud Fabian, OF, Florida

As his contemporaries were playing their senior seasons in high school, Fabian was starting every day as Florida’s center fielder as a true freshman in 2019. While Fabian still has some pure hit tool and swing-and-miss questions to answer (.250 career average, 22% strikeout rate), he has a high-upside blend of athleticism, power that has been proven with wood, speed and defense and will still be 20 on draft day.

Junior starting pitcher Tommy Mace made the magazine’s Third Team after a successful 2020 campaign that was abruptly ended by the coronavirus pandemic. He appeared in four games, recording quality starts in all of them for a 3-0 record while putting up a 1.67 ERA — which ranked second among starters — and a team-leading 27 innings pitched.

Baseball America received votes from 16 major league organizations that comprised these rankings, which you can find in their entirety below.

FIRST TEAM
Pos. Name, School AVG OBP SLG AB HR RBI
C Adrian Del Castillo, Miami .358 ,478 .547 53 2 15
1B Alex Toral, Miami .296 .435 .593 54 5 16
2B Max Ferguson, Tennessee .333 .462 .524 42 2 6
3B Alex Binelas, Louisville .143 .143 .143 7 0 1
SS Matt McLain, UCLA .397 .422 .621 58 3 19
OF Colton Cowser, Sam Houston State .255 .379 .364 55 1 6
OF Jud Fabian, Florida .294 .407 .603 68 5 13
OF Ethan Wilson, South Alabama .282 .329 .465 71 3 12
UT Grant Holman, California .250 .324 .333 60 1 10
Pos. Name, School W L ERA IP SO SV
SP Jaden Hill, LSU 0 0 0.00 11.2 17 2
SP Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt 2 0 1.72 15.2 22 0
SP Ty Madden, Texas 3 0 1.80 25 26 0
SP Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt 2 1 1.80 15 28 0
RP Ryan Webb, Georgia 2 0 1.20 15 26 1
UT Grant Holman, California 1 3 3.28 24.2 20 0

SECOND TEAM

C — Henry Davis, Louisville
1B — Bobby Seymour, Wake Forest
2B — Robert Moore, Arkansas
3B — Zack Gelof, Virginia
SS — Cody Morissette, Boston College
OF — Christian Franklin, Arkansas
OF — Sal Frelick, Boston College
OF — Levi Usher, Louisville

SP — Ryan Cusick, Wake Forest
SP — Steve Hajjar, Michigan
SP — Gunnar Hoglund, Mississippi
SP — Jordan Wicks, Kansas State
RP — Jackson Leath, Tennessee
UT — Spencer Jones, Vanderbilt

THIRD TEAM

C — Hunter Goodman, Memphis
1B — Niko Kavadas, Notre Dame
2B — Darren Baker, California
3B — Jake Rucker, Tennessee
SS — Ryan Bliss, Auburn
OF — Robby Martin, Florida State
OF — John Rhodes, Kentucky
OF — Isaiah Thomas, Vanderbilt

SP — Mason Black, Lehigh
SP — Richard Fitts, Auburn
SP — Tommy Mace, Florida
SP — Mason Pelio, Boston College
RP — Jack Perkins, Louisville
UT — Spencer Schwellenbach, Nebraska

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Baseball America reveals never too early rankings, Texas top 15

The 2021 Texas Longhorns baseball team is already receiving attention in Baseball America’s never too early top 25 rankings.

It is really never too early to start talking baseball around Austin. The Texas Longhorns baseball got off to a good start in their 2020 campaign before the pandemic shut down their season. The Longhorns were 14-3 and in the midst of a four-game winning streak before it was ended.

The Longhorns are now looking forward to what should be a full season in 2021, fingers crossed anyway. National baseball publication Baseball America has released their “never too early” top 25 rankings. Texas currently sitting inside the top 15 teams in American at number 11.

The Longhorns are joined by Texas Tech, Texas Christian and Oklahoma in the rankings.

  • Texas Tech (2)
  • Texas (11)
  • Texas Christian (16)
  • Oklahoma (18)

The Longhorns lost two key members from their team a year ago with Duke Ellis and Bryce Elder making the jump to Major League Baseball. However outfielder Austin Todd, first baseman Zach Zubia and catcher D.J. Petrinsky are all back for another season.

Prior to the season, Baseball America ranked their 2020 recruiting class number one in the nation. It will be interesting to see how that group plays for the Longhorns in 2021. One of the top prospects in the MLB Draft went undrafted meaning that Tanner Witt will play for the Longhorns in 2021. His signability being a major concern. MLB teams didn’t want to use a pick on a play they may or may not be able to sign since the draft was only five rounds this year.

Given the players who decided to return in 2021 and the rise of freshman pitcher Pete Hansen, the Longhorns look to rise to the challenge of taking back the Big 12.

Notre Dame Baseball’s Jarrett Voted Underrated By Peers

Baseball America polled a group of 90 Division I coaches questions and first-year Irish head coach Link Jarrett voted as underrated.

Baseball America has been asking a group of 90 Division I head coaches a series of questions and today, one of them involved Irish Baseball Coach Link Jarrett. In his first season as leader of the program, an impressive 11-2 start to the abrupted season, which included winning their last 7 games, impressed everyone nationally.

The the coaches  were asked who they thought is the most underrated coach in the nation. Although Jarrett wasn’t the top pick, that honor went to Rutgers’ Steve Owens, who didn’t quite have the same start at his new location as Jarrett did, Baseball America found that other coaches are high on Jarrett’s ability.

Prior to matriculating to South Bend, Jarrett was the head coach at UNC-Greensboro, compiling an 215-164 (.567) record, winning at least 34 games the final four years and no lower than a 3rd place conference finish. The early season success led to the Irish being ranked #24 when the season was canceled, leading fans to dream about the future of the program. It seems like the Irish have found a coach with a ton of potential in Jarrett.