[ad_1]
Stars matter in college baseball.
Last year, LSU won its seventh national title due in large part to the exploits of two generational talents in pitcher Paul Skenes and outfielder Dylan Crews — the top two picks in the 2023 MLB Draft. The Tigers beat a Florida team that was led by Wyatt Langford, the No. 4 pick in the draft, and two-way star Jac Caglianone, the potential No. 1 selection in 2024.
With that in mind, we start our annual college baseball coaches forum by asking our panel about the top talents in the game in 2024 and also get their thoughts on the best college baseball players they have ever seen. In Part 2, published tomorrow, the coaches offer their thoughts on NIL, the transfer portal and realignment. And Part 3, on Thursday, addresses recruiting and scouting.
Here are the coaches:
- Craig Gibson, Mercer (Southern)
- Chip Hale, Arizona (Pac-12)
- Link Jarrett, Florida State (ACC)
- Jay Johnson, LSU (LSU)
- Chris Lemonis, Mississippi State (SEC)
- Steve Owens, Rutgers (Big Ten)
- Kirk Saarloos, TCU (Big 12)
- Jim Schlossnagle, Texas A&M (SEC)
- Andy Stankiewicz, USC (Pac-12)
- Tom Walter, Wake Forest (ACC)
- Robert Woodard, Charlotte (AAC)
Who is your pick for the best position player in the country in 2024 not on your team?
Walter: Well, when you talk about just like raw hitters, I think it certainly starts with Tommy White (LSU). He’s as good of a college hitter as I’ve ever seen — power to all fields, feel for the barrel, he competes. So for me, he’s the best, after (Wake Forest’s) Nick Kurtz. As far as all-around position players, certainly JJ Wetherholt from West Virginia is in that conversation. Just because he’s such a good athlete. He’s so versatile. So if you’re looking for just kind of a dynamic athlete, versatile guy, probably JJ Wetherholt. As far as a pure hitter, Tommy White.
Owens: I would say maybe Jac Caglianone at Florida or JJ Wetherholt at West Virginia. There’s a lot of guys, but those guys are pretty elite hitters.
Stankiewicz: I was with the U.S. National Team over the summer and was fortunate to be on staff with coach (Larry) Lee (from Cal Poly). Saw some pretty pretty skilled hitters. Charlie Condon (Georgia) had a had a great summer with us. I liked him. Our shortstop from Virginia, Griff O’Ferrall, and you got the (Jac) Caglianone kid, when you can pitch and hit like that. I think he’s probably going to be up there. I’ll tell you what, a great player in our conference is the kid from Australia, Travis Bazzana, at Oregon State. He is always a threat whether it be with a bat or stolen bases. So I don’t know if I can give you one, but I gave you four there.
Hale: I go back to JJ Wetherholt from West Virginia. He played here last year in Tucson, our second weekend. They came in and played us, and whether it was league, non-league, he was the best player we saw here. And I know he kept it up throughout the year, just the ability to put the ball in play, the power, the base running, it was really really super defense, was a really impressive player. Travis Bazzana from Oregon State is a really good player. Jac Caglianone, doing the pitching and the hitting, seeing him in Omaha, knowing he’s coming back … Those are all impressive guys, and they are probably all going to be top-five picks (in the draft). But I would say Wetherholt.
Schlossnagle: Tommy White and (Jac) Caglianone come to mind. I like Colby Shelton a lot. Not sure what position he is going to play at Florida. But we could never get him out (while he was at Alabama). So I’ll throw Colby Shelton in there.
Lemonis: There’s so many good ones, but I have to say Jac Caglianone, and he probably has the numbers to back it up right now.
Johnson: I really like JJ Wetherholt.
Saarloos: Well, the guy in our conference is pretty good, JJ Wetherholt. He’s a little bit of a throwback. It doesn’t matter if you’re a left-handed or right-handed pitcher, he’s got the ability to hit to all fields and has power. He can really run. He’s a tough, hard-nosed player. He’s a winner.
Jarrett: I would probably say from what I witnessed firsthand, Nick Kurtz is tough. The physicality, the pitch recognition, use of the field, balance. That’s a talented, talented guy. Very mature with the approach. I’ve seen Tommy White when he was at NC State. Obviously my son (J.T. Jarrett) was on that team. He was dynamic, but I did not coach against him last year. Caglianone at Florida. Again, like Kurtz, big, physical presence. Power to all fields. Those three guys are are impressive to me.
Gibson: Well, I’m partial to Kevin O’Sullivan because he used to be my assistant coach in American Legion baseball. So I’m gonna go with his first baseman, Jac Caglianone, a dual-threat guy. Link Jarrett at FSU used to coach for me, too. So I will say Cam Smith, too, the big third baseman.
Woodard: I’m intrigued about (Stanford transfer) Braden Montgomery at Texas A&M. Two-way guy, super athletic. I could see him having a big year just watching him from afar last year.
Best pitcher in 2024?
Walter: I really like LSU’s No. 1, the kid who transferred from Alabama, Luke Holman. He can really pitch, and his stuff is really starting to come on. I can see him having a really, really big year this year.
Owens: I’m not aware of all the players across the entire country, outside of the ones that you read about quite a bit, but I know Josh Hartle is pretty elite, at Wake Forest. And then, if you look at stuff, Chase Burns, who is also at Wake this year, along with maybe somebody like Brody Brecht (Iowa) that throws 105 miles an hour. There’s a lot of good pitchers, but I think those are three that could be included on that list.
Stankiewicz: We had a kid out of (Dallas Baptist) on the national team that I was really excited about, Ryan Johnson, tall lanky kid, kind of threw from a low slot. And then the Matt Ager kid at Santa Barbara.
Hale: We saw a little bit of (Chase) Burns in the tournament when he was at Tennessee up in Phoenix last year. He was really good. Now at Wake Forest. It’ll be really interesting to see what his development goes to. But I think he and the Caglianone guy from Florida are the best two for me.
Schlossnagle: Carter Holton (Vanderbilt). I’m assuming he’s healthy. He pitched awesome against us his freshman year (in 2022).
Lemonis: I’m gonna go with Hagen Smith, Arkansas. Just the times that we’ve seen him, he’s been electric, so maybe we’ve just seen him at the right times. It sounds like he has a chance to be one of the top pitchers in the country.
Johnson: Hagen Smith.
Saarloos: I think from a pure stuff standpoint, you got two guys that jump out. Jac Caglianone at Florida, just from the left side with premium velocity, and then you got Chase Burns in terms of pure stuff as well that is pretty doggone good. Then you look at a guy that we had trouble against in Lebarron Johnson at Texas, that is the same build as those two guys. Big, strong, physical with power stuff.
Jarrett: Hartle has been tough at Wake, and Burns, there’s some stuff he’s running out there that is pretty electric. Totally different. Hartle, command of the fastball movement, both sides of the plate, complete control of what he’s doing on the mound. Burns actually pitched against us in the Super Regional when I was at Notre Dame and the craziness that evolved there, and he’s tough. And he’s clearly more mature and more prepared and more ready and older and stronger. So, my heavens. They’re different. But that’s a dynamic duo.
Gibson: The pitcher from Wake, Josh Hartle. I would love to take the other one (Chase Burns), too. I’ll take either one of them.
Woodard: I think I gotta go Chase Burns for the arm. We played Tennessee in the Regional last year and I got to watch him against Clemson and then just sort of following his journey over here to the state of North Carolina up at Wake. He seems pretty dialed in on being great.
Who is the best position player you have ever seen in college baseball?
Walter: I played against Mo Vaughn (Seton Hall), and he was the best. And then when I was an assistant coach, I felt like Todd Walker (LSU) was the best, but I didn’t have a super long stint as an assistant. But I look at those Florida State guys, between JD Drew and Buster Posey. It would be pretty hard to pick somebody other than one of those two guys.
Owens: Buster Posey (Florida State). He was a two-time player of the year candidate. And I think one was at shortstop and one was at catcher. So it’s pretty elite.
Stankiewicz: Well, do you remember Oddibe McDowell? At Arizona State. When I was playing at Pepperdine, I remember playing him. Obviously, you’ve got the guys who came out of ASU and went straight to the big leagues, you’ve got the (Bob) Horners, but as far as guys I’ve witnessed myself, Oddibe was up there. Pete Incaviglia (Oklahoma State), you look at the college numbers. And Lance Berkman, take a look at some of Lance Berkman’s numbers coming out at Rice. Every once in a while, I look at those and my jaw drops because that’s pretty insane, the numbers that he put up at Rice. So I think about those three, and then of course Barry Bonds at ASU has to be someone as well.
Hale: This is probably different than most people will say because I was a player here in Arizona in the 1980s, and the best that I ever encountered as a player was Oddibe McDowell. So Oddibe was at Arizona State with Barry Bonds. And you know, to be frank with you, he played circles around him at that point in their careers. Now, it didn’t all work out professionally. Obviously, Barry Bonds is probably the best slugger that we’ve ever seen in baseball. I played against Robin Ventura. There were some really, really good players, but Oddibe is probably the best one.
Schlossnagle: Man, I have been a part of so many. I want to say Alex Bregman (LSU).
Lemonis: I want to say JD Drew. He was just so impressive at that age.
Johnson: Can I say Dylan Crews? If not on my team — he wasn’t a Division I player — but Bryce Harper (College of Southern Nevada) would be my other answer.
Saarloos: One guy that I remember early in my coaching career, my first year as a as a pitching coach, was a guy from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo by the name of Mitch Haniger. Mitch is in the big leagues right now. Really, really good player. And then I think back to Michael Lorenzen, who I was able to coach my first year and then played against him when I came to TCU and he was at Fullerton. And there was another center fielder from the West Coast back in 2014, from Pepperdine. He was their Friday night starter and then played center field and could impact the game a lot of different ways. Aaron Brown was his name.
Jarrett: That 2009 team in Chapel Hill with (Dustin) Ackley and (Kyle) Seager, those guys were something else. At Cal State Fullerton, Justin Turner. The Justin Turner that we know today was a lot different than the Justin Turner on the 2006 Cal State Fullerton team. He could bunt, run the bases, play defense. Those guys were good. Another one, Brandon Crawford when he was at UCLA. Just total feel for what he was doing. Incredible, instinctive shortstop, the left-handed bat.
Gibson: I’m going to say JD Drew. That’s probably the best position guy, and I’ve coached 30 years, that I’ve ever seen.
Woodard: The ones that come to mind are Ryan Zimmerman (Virginia), Buster Posey (Florida State), Ryan Braun (Miami). The toughest out of my college career as a pitcher (at North Carolina) was actually John Jay at Miami. It was physically impossible to get him out.
Best pitcher you have ever seen?
Walter: I’d have to say Paul Skenes (LSU). What he did last year was pretty incredible. And to do it as consistently as he did it, week in, week out, and the way he pitched in Omaha, was pretty special.
Owens: I’ll give you a name of somebody that we faced and he was pretty incredible, and that was Casey Mize at Auburn. His split-finger, it was almost hard to comprehend how good it was. His stuff and his command, and I think about the numbers he put up … he sticks out to me.
Stankiewicz: Well, we faced Randy (Johnson) when I was at Pepperdine, and he was here at USC, but he wasn’t, he wasn’t like … it was just a great arm. This is gonna maybe surprise you, and I know people on the West Coast will know a young man named Tim Layana, he went to Loyola Marymount. We faced him numerous times when I was at Pepperdine, he was LMU, we had a great rivalry between them and us. We were actually teammates with the Yankees, and he was a competitive son of a gun. And he was somebody that in a big game you don’t want to face. Now, unfortunately, Tim passed away. But he went on to pitch in the big leagues, I think with the Cincinnati Reds, but just from my era on the West Coast, Tim Layana was probably the best. And one of my teammates, Mike Fetters at Pepperdine, I got to play behind him. And you take a look at his numbers in college, and they’re pretty, pretty impressive as well.
Hale: There’s been so many great ones. Mark Prior, what he did at USC is really super impressive. Again, a guy that’s still in the game, which is really cool, as a pitching coach down in the big leagues. I will probably have to give it to him.
Schlossnagle: (Paul) Skenes, by far. Not close. And I coached against (Stephen) Strasburg, (Mark) Prior, all of them. It’s not close.
Lemonis: I know this was recent, but Paul Skenes. It was just everything. It’s just the presence. The average fastball is like 100 through the whole game. It was three pitches for strikes. It’s just a complete package.
Johnson: Paul Skenes. But Stephen Strasburg would have been my choice outside my team.
Saarloos: I can’t say one of our guys? The cool thing about Preston Morrison from TCU — he was a three-time All-American and threw 82 to 87 miles per hour — it was the funnest thing ever to call pitches for him. It was like playing Nintendo in the dugout because he could throw a sinker from two slots, a slider, a changeup, and do it with a bunch of feel. We faced Walker Buehler (Vanderbilt) in Omaha. Alex Faedo (Florida) dominated against us in the World Series. You know, there’s been a lot of special arms that we’ve had to face.
Jarrett: Wes Roemer at Cal State Fullerton. It’s been a while, but rarely did I feel like there was a guy on the mound that was pitching against us that could still to this day be pitching against us from that same outing. That was something else. I will say Paul Wilson (at Florida State) when I was playing. When he had his stuff going … that was some dominant, dominant stuff. He was the first overall pick (in 1994).
Gibson: The best amateur pitcher I’ve ever seen is Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast).
Woodard: I got to be on the same pitching staff (at North Carolina) for three years with Andrew Miller and Daniel Bard. The three of us were teammates for three years. Aside from Andrew Miller and Daniel Bard, the one pitcher that I saw that I was a little bit in awe of was Tim Lincecum (Washington). I remember the first time I ever saw him pitch up in the Cape, I had never seen anything like that before.
Name a team that might surprise in 2024.
Walter: Florida State added a lot of new pieces, and Link Jarrett and his staff are really good coaches. They did a really good job in the transfer portal. It’s hard for me to say ever that Florida State is a surprise because they’re historically so good. But last year they struggled, so to me, they’ll have the biggest turnaround from last year to this year.
Owens: Indiana’s not ranked and I think they’re pretty good. A lot of good players this year. Iowa is a Big Ten team that got ranked and they have some elite arms, but I think Indiana was very good last year, and they have a lot of guys back.
Hale: In our league, I think a team like UCLA, who’s coming off such a tough year with injuries and kind of growing pains. I think they have some really, really good guys, as long as they come back healthy. They’re gonna always pitch well, with coach (John) Savage. I think Oregon State’s probably the favorite going in because the veterans they have, but I think UCLA could surprise across the country. And I think they have a little chip on their shoulder that they haven’t had in the past. So I think that’s one thing that I’d look out for.
Schlossnagle: I don’t know where people have Alabama, but I think — even with the losses they’ve had — I think Alabama is just really, really good.
Lemonis: Maybe Troy. I think Troy brought back a lot of people. I know it’s not one of your bigger schools, but it’s one of the good mid-majors down there. I think Troy’s got a chance to have a really good season.
Johnson: Mississippi State. I just think they’re super talented. And they’re a little bit older. They may sneak up on some people because they’ve had a couple of down years, but they’re a little older, again, and they’re talented.
Saarloos: I think two of the teams from our own conference, and they’re in the same state, and one team I thought should have been in a Regional last year, but I think will definitely be in a Regional this year, if not hosting, is Kansas State. They have a premium position player in (Kaelen) Culpepper, and they have a premium pitcher in (Tyson) Neighbors and they have a lot of pieces around them. And then the other one, Dan Fitzgerald has turned that roster (at Kansas) in two years and has a team that is going to push us in our league and I think it’s a definite Regional team. People don’t know about Kansas. They’ll know about Kansas by the time May and June rolls around.
Gibson: Well, Link (Jarrett) totally overhauled that group down there (at Florida State). So I think they’re gonna make some huge noise in ACC. We played him in the fall, so I’ve seen him. It’s a total different group.
Woodard: I have a lot of respect for the Dallas Baptist program. I don’t know if that would be a surprise, but DBU, that’s a real program with real prospects and future pros, and they’re really well coached. In terms of just like maybe a program that hasn’t been to Omaha, Dallas Baptist is probably a program I could see surprising college baseball.
GO DEEPER
Behind the unprecedented rise in young impact players in baseball
(Photos of Chris Lemonis, Chip Hale: Courtesy of Mississippi State Athletic and University of Arizona Athletics; Tom Walter: Steven Branscombe / USA Today)
[ad_2]
Source link