Tag: Baseball America

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.

Ohio State catcher Dillon Dingler named Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year by Baseball America

Ohio State catcher Dillon Dingler has been named the Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year by Baseball America.

We’re just a few days away from the start of the Ohio State baseball season. The team is currently in Port Charlotte, Florida practicing and getting ready to break the seal on 2020.

Just before all the fun starts, some of the preseason accolades begin to make their way through the news cycle, and we’ve got a noteworthy one for you. Catcher and team captain Dillon Dingler has been named the Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year by Baseball America.

The junior was a second-team All-Big Ten player last season and is looking to build on that performance. In two seasons so far in Columbus, he’s totaled 17 doubles, three triples, seven home runs, 62 runs scored, and 36 RBIs.

He hit .291 last year with two triples, three home runs, and 19 RBIs. If the Buckeyes have plans of doing some damage in the Big Ten and making the NCAA Tournament, they’ll need their backstop to be a difference-maker behind the plate, and at the dish with the bat.

Ohio State opens the season Friday, February 14 at 1 PM Eastern against St. Joseph’s.

Texas Longhorns Miss Out On Baseball America’s Top 25

Baseball America has released their preseason top 25, with three Big 12 teams in the polls the Texas Longhorns miss making the cut.

Baseball season is almost upon us and the Texas Longhorns are looking to return to Omaha in 2020 for the College World Series. The Longhorns didn’t have the best regular season a year ago but they were able to finish with the best conference record. It marked the first time since 2015 that Texas would get to Omaha.

With the success of last season, the Longhorns are looking to repeat as conference champions. They finished the regular season without being ranked in the top 25. Baseball America has come out with their preseason top 25 rankings and the Longhorns didn’t make the cut.

There are three teams from the Big 12 ranked in the preseason rankings with Texas Tech (6), Oklahoma State (16) and Oklahoma (19). The Longhorns will need another 2018 like season to take down three of the best teams in the country to build upon last year’s success.