College Baseball 2024

[rhd]

I thought this needed a thread so I started one. I'm not sure how popular it will be but I at least will be posting here from time to time.

The NCAA college baseball season got under way this past weekend. Wake Forest is pretty much the consensus no. 1 team rt now and they had a good weekend, going 3-0. They have 4 players that have a good chance of being drafted in the first round (Nick Kurtz, Seaver King, Chase Burns and Josh Hartle) w Kurtz having a legit shot at being no. 1 overall. It seems at this point that there are 4 players in contention for no. 1 draftee overall, Kurtz, J.J. Wetherholt of West Virginia, Travis Bazzana of Oregon St. and Jac Caglianone of Florida. All had good starts to the season, particularly Bazzana who had 3 HRs, 2 SBs and a slash line of .539/.600/1.308. My team, U. of MD went 2-1 on the road. I dont expect them to have a great season and they'll probably struggle to make the NCAA tournament this year but so far so good.

One notable human interest story is of East Carolina player, Parker Byrd. He lost his lower right leg in a boating accident but got a prosthetic leg and this weekend became the 1st NCAA Div. 1 player to appear in a game w a prosthetic leg. He appeared as a pinch hitter and drew a walk.

[madducks]

.....

[rhd]

I'll probably usually wait until after the weekend is over to post updates in this thread but I decided to post here today.

There are several players that have had noteworthy performances at this point of the young season. Charlie Condon of U. of Ga. is making a case for inclusion in the small group of players w a chance to go (#1 overall. He is (#2 in the country in HRs w 7 in 9 games. He also is (#2 in the country in BA w a .639 mark (!) and he's walked more than he has struck out. His OPS is 2.112 (!!!), which is 1st in the nation among qualified hitters and his 1.389 SLG also leads the country.

Speaking of HRs, the nation's leader in HR is freshman Drew Burress of Ga. Tech. He's hit 9 so far, including 4 in one game. And he's tied for 3rd in RBI w 20. His 1.895 OPS is 2nd in the country among qualified hitters and his 1.382 SLG is 2nd. I was previously unfamiliar w him. He was ranked BA's (#128 draft prospect last year coming out of HS. He's on my radar now.

The (#1 2024 draftee on my list, JJ Wetherholt, is injured now. My (#2, Travis Bazzana, is having a terrific start to the season. He is tied for 10th nationally w 5 HR and his slash line is .447/.571/1.079. I've moved him ahead of Wetherholt.

Vance Honeycutt North Carolina is demonstrating his excellent power/speed combination w 6 HR and 4 SB. He has a very strong 1.253 OPS.

Jace LaViolette of Texas A&M is another of the best-performing underclassmen so far. LaViolette is tied for 3rd in HR w 6 and tied for 7th in RBI w 16. He probably will be one of the top draftees next year.

Some noteworthy pitchers include Hagen Smith of Arkansas, Chase Burns of Wake Forest, Brody Brecht of Iowa and Jonathan Santucci of Duke. Smith had a game where he struck out 17 batters in 6 IP. He has 31 Ks for the year, which is tied for (#3 in the country, and he's issued only 4 BB. Santucci also has 31 Ks, has won every start so far and has not given up an ER. Burns has 18 Ks in 11 IP w an 2.38 ERA. Brecht is 2nd in the country in K w 33 in only 15.3 IP but he's also issued 12 BB, which continues to be a problem for him. These 4, maybe along w Josh Hartle of Wake, might be the main candidates for the 1st college pitcher drafted this year.

Luke Holman of LSU and Ryan Prager of Texas A&M also have won all 3 of their starts and have not given up an ER. Ben Hess of Alabama also has had a great early season, winning all 3 of his starts w a 1.38 ERA and 24 Ks in 13 IP.

Preseason favorite Wake Forest remains the (#1 ranked team according to D1Baseball and most other sites and they have one of the top rotations in the country w Hartle, Burns and Michael Massey, but they could be challenged by several other schools from the ACC and SEC. It will be interesting to see what happens when ACC play starts, which I think begins next weekend.

And which school currently is the top rated team in RPI? Why Central Florida, of course. They're undefeated against a pretty strong schedule so far. Not currently ranked, tho.

[onejayhawk]

I took Wetherholt in the final round of our keeper league draft.

Langford was the pick last year and that is looking good.

[rhd]

I took Wetherholt in the final round of our keeper league draft.

Langford was the pick last year and that is looking good.

Wetherholt's injury was a hamstring and he's still out. Last word I've seen that he's considered day-to-day and it's not expected to keep him out long-term. But he may not be getting SBs for a while.

[rhd]

Charlie Condon is going insane! The Univ. of Georgia OFer is leading the nation in BA, OBP, SLG, HR, is tied for the lead in runs and has more walks than Ks. In a recent podcast, a couple BA staff said they would take Condon (#1 overall if the draft was held today. I've moved him up to just behind Travis Bazzana and J.J. Wetherholt among the 2024 draftees on my list.

Speaking of Bazzana, he continues to have a fantastic year, w an OPS of 1.488 and almost twice as many BBs as Ks. Braden Montgomery of Texas A&M also is having a monster year so far. He is tied for 3rd in RBI and has an OPS of 1.419. He is now on my top 150 list. Another freshman having a stellar college debut is 3Bman Daniel Cuvet of Miami. He is 3rd in the nation in both SLG (1.036) and OPS (1.611).

Luke Holman of LSU and Ryan Prager of Arkansas still have won all of their starts (4) and still have not allowed an earned run. Each is tied for 5th in Ks w 40. Prager has not been on the top draft prospects lists so far but he is vaulting himself into top draftee recognition. Other noteworthy pitchers so far include Hagen Smith of Arkansas, Chase Burns of Wake Forest, Trey Yesavage of East Carolina and Ben Hess of Alabama. Burns had a 6-inn., 14-K performance this weekend and is 2nd in the country in Ks w 43 in 23.3 innings.

What was considered the marquee team matchup of the year so far occurred Friday when (#12 Duke faced off against top-ranked Wake Forest. It was also the marquee pitching matchup as Jonathan Santucci faced Josh Hartle. Both are considered 1st round talents. Both underwhelmed as each gave up 5+ runs and neither pitched beyond the 4th inning. Duke took the game 8-5 and also took the series 2 out of 3. I'm sure there'll be a new (#1 team when the rankings come out today. It probably will be Arkansas, which is 13-2, was previously ranked 2nd and now has the (#1 RPI.

There now are only 2 undefeated teams in Div. 1. Texas A&M continues their terrific season at 16-0 and Florida State is at 14-0.

[rhd]

So who are the college players that fantasy owners should be most interested in at this point? The potential 2024 draftees probably merit the most immediate interest. On a recent BA podcast, they said there seems to be a group of 4 front runners for this year's Golden Spikes award, which is for the top amateur player in the country. "Amateur" would technically include HSers but it's always been awarded to a college player, almost always a 4-year college player. This group includes: Charlie Condon (OF, U. of Georgia), Travis Bazzana (2B, Oregon State), Hagen Smith (SP, U. of Arkansas) and Chase Burns (SP, Wake Forest).

These BA guys previously said that if the draft were held today, they would select Condon (#1. He continues to be amazing. He has a 1.935 OPS and leads the country in BA, OBP and SLG, as well as being tied for the lead in HR w 13 and tied for 2nd in runs w 32. To realize how unbelievable this is consider that there are 305 colleges in NCAA Division 1, each with up to 40 players on their roster. That's potentially around 12,000 players! Bazzana is a power/speed guy. He had 11 HRs and 36 SBs last year in 238 ABs and has 6 HRs and 4 SBs so far this year and has a 1.408 OPS, which is 16th in the country. Both Condon and Bazzana have twice as many BBs as Ks. Smith and Burns appear to be neck and neck for the best pitcher in the country now. Smith is tied for the nation's lead in Ks w 50 in 23 IP against only 8 BB, has a 1.57 ERA and is 2nd in BA against at .108. Burns hasnt pitched yet this weekend but w a good day can take over the lead in K. Currently, he has 43 in 23.3 IP against only 10 BB and has a 2.31 ERA.

On another BA podcast, they said that there was a group of 8 players they thought had separated themselves from the rest. They didnt name the 8 but obviously it includes the 4 from above. The other 4 I would surmise to be J.J. Wetherholt (2B, West Virginia U.), a power/speed guy who currently is out w a bad hammy, Braden Montgomery, (OF/RP, Texas A&M), Jac Caglianone (1B/SP, U. of Florida) and Nick Kurtz (1B, Wake Forest). Before he got hurt, Wetherholt had a solid start to his season w a 1.093 OPS. Montgomery has a sparkling 1.336 OPS and is tied for 3rd in the country in RBI w 31. He's only pitched 1 inning this year and is not expected to become a 2-way player as a pro. Caglianone has a great 1.147 OPS and also has been solid on the mound, w a 1.80 ERA and 27 Ks in 15 IP. Still, I would expect his pro club to develop him only as a hitter. Kurtz has not really gotten going yet this year, hitting only .245 but the BA guys said they werent worried about him at all.

Other players worth mentioning are Vance Honeycutt (OF, U. of North Carolina) and Seaver King (MI/OF, Wake Forest). Honeycutt is another power/speed guy who has 6 HRs and is tied for 9th in SBs w 12. King also has power/speed potential and altho he hasnt put up gaudy numbers yet, the BA guys still raved about him.

So those are some guys I would consider candidates now to go high in the FYPDs next year, Or, if your league allows you to select amateurs as minor leaguers, as one of mine does, you can target them in your drafts this year, particularly if you have deep rookies rosters. Personally, I plan to take either Condon or Bazzana in my draft next weekend.

What about 2025 and 2026 draftees? There are several guys already on my radar. For 2025, there are Jace LaViolette (OF, Texas A&M), Ethan Petry (OF, S. Carolina), Dakota Jordan (OF, Mississippi State) and Blake Barthol (2B/3B, Coastal Carolina). And for 2026, there are Drew Burress (OF, Georgia Tech) and Daniel Cuvet (3B, U. of Miami). The latter 4 guys have OPSs above 1.400 so far, particularly impressive for the 2 freshmen.

[harmon]

Thanks for this RHD, very valuable info.

[rhd]

A shorter update this time, since I just made a new post on Saturday.

BA just had their 1st mock draft of 2024. The top 8 picks were indeed the 8 I listed in my prior post. Charlie Condon was (#1, Jac Caglianone was (#2 and Travis Bazzana was (#3. The next 5 in order were Chase Burns, Hagen Smith, Braden Montgomery, Nick Kurtz and J.J. Wetherholt. Seaver King was (#10 and Vance Honeycutt was (#13.

Grant Knipp, catcher from Campbell U., deserves a mention. He now leads the nation in HR (14), RBI (37) and OPS (1.885). Campbell is a quality baseball school and currently is ranked (#21. Knipp is draft-eligible but I havent seen him listed among the top draftees yet.

Jamie Arnold of Florida State also is worth mentioning. He is the only starter in Div 1 to have won all 5 of his starts. He has given up only 1 ER this year and his ERA is 0.33. He has 44 Ks in 27.7 IP, which is 10th best in the country. He is not draft-eligible until next year and I havent seen him listed among the top draft prospects for next year yet.

Arkansas remains the top ranked team. They had an undefeated week and in a weekend series against a conference opponent they gave up only 1 run total. Florida State now is the only remaining undefeated team in Div. 1 at 18-0.

[rhd]

I will be busy w 2 drafts this weekend so I decided to do a quick update now.

Hagen Smith continues to dazzle. He won again tonite 1-0, 6 IP, 12 K, 0 R. He is 4-0, his ERA is now 1.24 and he has 62 Ks in only 29 IP. And in preseason, everyone thought Wake had the best weekend rotation in Josh Hartle, Chase Burns and Michael Massey, followed by Iowa with Brody Brecht, Marcus Morgan and Cade Obermuller but it's looking now like Arkansas has the best trio w Smith, Mason Molina and Brady Tygart. All 3 are undefeated, Molina has 43 Ks in 23 IP w a 2.74 ERA while Tygart 35 Ks in 24.7 IP w a 0.73 ERA. All 3 are in the top 13 in the country among SPs in BA against, w Smith leading the country at .108. With those 3 pitching every weekend, Arkansas might stay ranked (#1 for a while.

Another pitcher worth mentioning is Jurrangelo Cijntje of Mississippi State. He has very good numbers, w a 4-0 record a 2.70 ERA, 41 Ks in 26.7 IP and a .163 BAA. But what is special is that he is an ambidexterous pitcher and he throws mid-nineties and can touch the upper 90's w each arm. People are calling him the best ambidexterous pitcher of all-time. FWIW, he also is a switch-hitter, the only player I've ever heard of who is both a switch-hitter and switch-pitcher. He is draft-eligible and is (#111 on BA's latest list, which corresponds to the 4th round. So he has a reasonable chance of making it to MLB. I wonder if his MLB club will have him continue switch-pitching?

I said in an earlier post that Dakota Jordan and Blake Barthol were in next year's draft class but they're actually both draft-eligible sophomores this year. Jordan is ranked (#42 by BA but Barthol is ranked only (#251, which surprises me w the season he's having.

Another freshman worth noting is Gavin Grahovac of Texas A&M. He is OPSing 1.131 w 8 HR and 30 RBI. He now is on my radar.

Florida State remains undefeated at 19-0 and now has the top RPI in the country.

[rhd]

Charlie Condon, Travis Bazzana, Chase Burns and Hagen Smith continue to dazzle in college ball. I would say that the no. 1 overall draft choice will be one of these 4, altho Jac Caglianone w his 2-way talents could be in the mix also. Condon is doing everything offensively that a player can except steal bases and he even had 2 of those yesterday. He continues to lead the country in BA, OBP, SLG and HR. Bazzana has had a a power surge recently and now is 3rd in the country in HR. It's almost as if his profile has changed. He had 11 HR and 36 SB last year but already has 14 HR this year and only 5 SB. Burns is 2nd in the country in Ks and Smith is 4th. Smith is 3rd in BAA and 10th in ERA. Burns also has a very strong 1.93 ERA and .152 BAA despite pitching half of his games in one of the most hitter-friendly parks in the country. Neither has lost a start.

Jamie Arnold of Florida State, who was the last SP to have won all of his starts, had another great start over the weekend but his bullpen let him down and he didnt get the win. He continues to have the best ERA among starters at 0.52, and is tied for 8th in Ks. Arnold is a sophomore that will be draft-eligible next year. BA ranked him (#35 in next year's class before the season so w his great performance this year he could be a projected 1st-rounder in the preseason next year.

Arkansas had another strong week and remains the top-ranked team. The last undefeated team, Florida State, got swept 3 straight by Clemson, who now has the top RPI ranking and is ranked no. 2 overall by Baseball America.

[ThatRogue]

Thanks for sharing the info, RHD! On Saturday, Kurtz (3rd round), Condon (4th round) and Weatherholt (8th round) all went relatively early in our 15 round reserve draft, but I was able to land Bazzana in the 12th round, which will make him a $2 keeper if and when he comes up with an NL team. The Reds and Rockies have the 2nd & 3rd overall picks and I’ll be ecstatic if he lands in either one of those home ballparks.

[rhd]

Thanks for sharing the info, RHD! On Saturday, Kurtz (3rd round), Condon (4th round) and Weatherholt (8th round) all went relatively early in our 15 round reserve draft, but I was able to land Bazzana in the 12th round, which will make him a $2 keeper if and when he comes up with an NL team. The Reds and Rockies have the 2nd & 3rd overall picks and I’ll be ecstatic if he lands in either one of those home ballparks.

You're welcome! Glad to see there's some interest in college ball here (I just came back from a college game - my Terps won again, now 19-6 on the year but unlikely to be ranked anytime soon). I neglected to mention that last week Travis Bazzana did something that has only been done once in MLB, which is hit a leadoff HR in 4 straight games. Brady Anderson of Baltimore is the only MLBer to do it.

[rhd]

The season is at the halfway mark now. Charlie Condon of U. of Georgia continues to lead all of Div 1 in BA, OBP, SLG and HR, as he has for most of the season. Travis Bazzana of Oregon State also continues to mash, having yet another HR to lead off a game over the weekend and is tied for 3rd in the nation in HR and OPS.

A teammate of Condon's who has just come to my attention is Corey Collins. He doesnt show up on the leaderboards yet because he doesnt have enough ABs to qualify but his stats are about as impressive as Condon's. In less than half of Condon's ABs, he has 12 HR and 29 RBI to Condon's 19 HR and 40 RBI. His OPS is almost as high as Condon's, 1.814 to 1.869. He is a 5th year senior and does not show up on any of the draft lists but he's worth a mention.

Another unheralded player that's worth a mention is Matthew Matthijs of North Carolina. He is a reliever but he has 11 wins while no one else in Div 1 has more than 6. He is sophomore and has a 2.10 ERA and has 27 Ks in 25.7 IP w only 4 BBs.

Hagen Smith had another strong outing and now is 5-0 w a 1.54 ERA w 72 Ks in 35 IP, which is 4th best in the country. Chase Burns had a rare rough outing but still had 14 Ks and he still leads the country in Ks w 82. They've switched him to be the Friday starter, as Josh Hartle continues to struggle mightily. Jamie Arnold finally lost a game but continues to have the best ERA in the country among SPs by far at 0.66.

Arkansas had another undefeated week and remains the top-ranked team. Clemson continues to have the best RPI and is ranked no. 2.

[rhd]

I will be travelling tomorrow so I am posting this now.

Charlie Condon finally has cooled down some and he no longer leads in any major category except HRs and OPS. Travis Bazzana remains hot and has almost caught Condon in OPS, 1.671 to 1.686 coming into today. This pair are among only a handful of players in Div. 1 that have more HRs than Ks. BA said during a podcast that if these 2 were eligible for their top prospects list they would rank them in the 25-35 range.

Braden Montgomery of Texas A&M also continues to mash and is tied for 2nd in HRs, 2nd in RBI and is 4th in OPS.

Another player worth a mention is James Tibbs of Florida State. He is another player w more HRs than Ks (13 to 9) and is 9th in OPS.

Hagen Smith had another strong outing - 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 11 Ks and a W. He is 6-0 w a 1.76 ERA , is 3rd in the country in Ks and is 5th among SPs in BAA. Chase Burns gave up a few runs again but struck out 15 in 7.0 IP and got a W. He leads in Ks by a comfortable margin w 97 in 50.7 IP and is 6-1. Jamie Arnold had another impressive start and continues to lead all SPs in ERA at 0.94 and is tied for 9th in Ks. He is 6-1.

Another SP worth mentioning is Brett Sears of Nebraska. He leads all SPs in BAA at .114, and is 2nd among SPs w a 1.14 ERA. He is 5-0. He is a 5th year senior having a breakout year. I would project to be drafted in the early rounds.

Forgive me for mentioning one of my Terps but Logan Berrier is 7-0, which is tied for the 2nd most wins in the country. His ERA is 2.02. He is a reliever and is not highly touted but I think he has a chance to be drafted in the later rounds this year.

Arkansas had another undefeated week. They've won 8 in a row and most certainly will remain the top-ranked team. Clemson also was undefeated during the week and should remain (#2. They also continue to have the best RPI.