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The season starts next week!

Here is BA's top 25:

1. North Carolina
2. Vanderbilt
3. Arkansas
4. Louisville
5. Mississippi State
6. Oregon State
7. South Carolina
8. North Carolina State
9. Stanford
10. Louisiana State
11. Kentucky
12. UCLA
13. Mississippi
14. Texas Christian
15. Oregon
16. Georgia Tech
17. Florida
18. Rice
19. Oklahoma
20. Florida State
21. New Mexico
22. Cal State Fullerton
23. Southern Mississippi
24. Arizona
25. San Diego

And Perfect Game's:

1. North Carolina
2. Arkansas
3. Vanderbilt
4. Stanford
5. Louisiana State
6. UCLA
7. Florida
8. Oregon State
9. N.C. State
10. Oregon
11. South Carolina
12. Georgia Tech
13. Kentucky
14. Texas Christian
15. Louisville
16. Mississippi State
17. Florida State
18. San Diego
19. Mississippi
20. Oklahoma
21. Rice
22. Arizona
23. Cal State Fullerton
24. Texas
25. Arizona State

Also USC has suspended their coach, Frank Cruz, pending an investigation of violations to the NCAA Countable Athletically-Related Activities.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/col ... fractions/

Top 25 is a perfect example of why Mississippians wish we only had one major athletics college.

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Same as North Carolina, Kentucky and Oregon?

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[The sound of fastballs] was one of those things that told me my pitches were fast....because I've never heard pitches as loud as mine.

We have 3

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I'll be going to a bunch of the Oregon St. games this year. They have been saying optimistic things about the team, we'll see.

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I am fully prepared to be impressed. Just try me.

Enjoy watching MIchael Conforto. That Kid can really hit.

Dude is a stud. Top 10 pick in 2014.

And Frank Cruz was fired today: http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/col ... dan-hubbs/

Love how low the USC baseball program has sunk.

Carlos Rodon got rocked: 5 runs in 4innings against Appalachian State, surrendered 3 HRs. He only gave up 2 HRs all season. Stuff is fine; it sounds like he's working 91-94 with the same strong mid-80s slider and he got 7 strikeouts.

Maybe we need a 2014 draft thread.

Rebels have sold 5,700 season ticket packages for this baseball season. Very nice.

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Sooooo that's where they got all that money from to pay for the football recruits

Raisin, what does all your info say about Ole Miss' Bobby Wahl. Is he projected to be a first/second round pick?

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Possible top 10 pick, likely first rounder.

Ah, very nice!

Had a good first game today against #13 TCU: 6.1, 0 ER, 3 hits, 8 K

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TCU has a really good offense too.

Gonna be an interesting year for my Wahoos. Good start to the season.

The offense should be solid. It's led be Derek Fisher, but there's a solid cast of hitters around him. They seem really high on some of the freshmen, like Joe McCarthy. There's the usual cast of athletic players, so defensively we should be fine.

The big question entering the year was the pitching. We lost Branden Kline to the draft, and then Artie Lewicki went under the knife (really had some breakout potential in his junior year, reminded me a bit of Rob Morey). Instead of touted freshman Nathan Kirby getting a rotation spot, or veteran hand Kyle Crockett, Brandon Waddell won the opening day job and has gotten a lot of love from the staff. Veteran Scott Silverstein follows, and there were good summer reports on him. They really like Nick Howard in the rotation as well, but he's also the starting 3rd baseman. Whit Mayberry came back earlier than expected from TJ, and may grab a spot. Short of it is, the rotation is likely a work in progress in the early-goings. Electric arms Cam Tekker and Josh Sborz may help in the pen, along with Kyle Crockett. Trey Oest had a very nice start, so will be curious where he fits in as the season progresses. A lot of freshmen arms.

In general, expectations aren't high this year. They actually had a surprising year last year, but 2 years of attrition of key guys (including our own Stephen Bruno) was going to lead to a rebuilding year. I don't expect them to host a regional this year, but I do expect them to get into the field. It's a ridiculously young team - only 9 juniors or seniors on the entire squad (34 total). 2014 should be a big year for them - another good pitching prospect coming in, the development of these young freshman arms, and most of the offense coming back.

As for draft prospects, not much. Lewici was the one big name, and he'll probably come back another year. I mean, I could see all the seniors perhaps get a flyer look. The most intriguing guys are probably Kyle Crockett and Whit Mayberry. With Mayberry, who pitched well last year before going under the knife, a lot will depend on how strong he is. He had a nice fastball (92/93) and slider combination when he was on. Ceiling probably isn't huge, but he should get a look. Crockett fascinates me. IMO, he should be starting, but he's just so reliable in the pen. I wonder if he'll get a look as a starter in the pros, like another former UVA lefty, Matt Packer. Silverstein has some power as a lefty, so that may be a sleeper to watch in the minors, as a lefty pen arm type.

9,333 paid attendance tonight for our game against Rhode Island.

Raisin, what kind of attendance does UCLA have? Aside from teams in the South, the other good college baseball teams are generally from the West. Just curious as to whether people get enthused about it out there as much as they do down here in Dixie.

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UCLA draws rather poorly, partly because the stadium isn't on campus and isn't that great a stadium. Also, UCLA's run of mediocrity means baseball is generally ignored by the fanbase and LA traffic makes it really tough for most alums to get out there on a Friday night.

USD, San Diego State and Cal State Fullerton are the schools that draw well in Southern California but then again, there really isn't much going on athletically at at CSUF and USD. Outside Southern California, I believe Stanford, Arizona and ASU draw well.

any possibility of seeing Mannea pitch on MLBN or something? (heck I'd even be willing to pay for an online package) any pointers in the right direction appreciated.

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Thank you Ricketts. This truly is the New Era of Cubs baseball.

This was posted in the draft thread:



The problem is Indiana State is a school without a link in there so you'd need to find a team Indiana St plays on the road with a good feed.

On the other hand, that link will let you see Appel tonight.

FYI, Oregon State will be hosting Arizona State in two weekends. On Friday, 3/22, Trevor Williams (a likely first rounder who Jason McLeod personally scouted on opening day) should be the starter for ASU.

Ole Miss improved to 16-1 today.

Pro teams that need some help at catcher might want to check out Stuart Turner, the Rebels catcher. He has thrown out 11 of 15 baserunners and is hitting .491/.523/.800 through 55 ab's so far.

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Yeah, he's moving up draft boards in a strong draft for catchers.

I know you want to go BPA over needs in the baseball draft, but with the strength of the catching in this draft and our clear lack of depth/quality of it in the system I'd be a bit disappointed if we don't draft a catcher in the first 3-4 rounds.