Baseball Pre Season Top 25

[indiancardinal]

D1baseball.com Pre Season Top 25

The SEC leads all conferences with nine teams in the Top 25, including three of the top five and six of the top 10. The ACC is next with eight teams in the Top 25, followed by the Pac-12 and Big 12 with three apiece.

1. Louisville 
2. Vanderbilt 
3. Miami

11. Arizona State

14. UCLA 

17. STANFORD

[Brickcity]

D1baseball.com Pre Season Top 25

The SEC leads all conferences with nine teams in the Top 25, including three of the top five and six of the top 10. The ACC is next with eight teams in the Top 25, followed by the Pac-12 and Big 12 with three apiece.

1. Louisville 
2. Vanderbilt 
3. Miami

11. Arizona State

14. UCLA 

17. STANFORD

Considering that we lose most of our starting line-up, if we really are the 17th best team in the nation, then I'll be very happy.

[BobK]

15 in another poll. Yes way too high. So many of immense proportions losses

It’s up to some Frosh to do very well.

More on this as the season approaches

[Mr. Baseball]

15 in another poll.  Yes way too high.  So many of immense proportions losses

It’s up to some Frosh to do very well. 

More on this as the season approaches

Far too many question marks for this Cardinal team to start top 25. No power arms, no proven closer, a catcher who is a veteran but not great defensively and an offense topped by kids coming off of down years. The freshmen will have to grow up quickly.

[CTcard]

15 in another poll.  Yes way too high.  So many of immense proportions losses

Far too many question marks for this Cardinal team to start top 25. No power arms, no proven closer, a catcher who is a veteran but not great defensively and an offense topped by kids coming off of down years. The freshmen will have to grow up quickly.

The team lost most of its 2019 offense, the top 6 (or 6/7) hitters. Pitching lost the top three arms, but has more coming back.

A quick recap of returners who started more than a game or two last year:

Position Players
Integrating everyone below is about three total starters.
Tim Tawa - SS/3B (at least previously). Likely the guy that led to the "coming off down years" comment. Last year went .253(AVG)/.694(OPS) versus .296/.845 as a frosh.
Interestingly, the roster currently lists him as an outfielder.
Nick Bellafronto - 3B. (.258/.875 in 2019) One of the surprises of last year, emerging as a starter as a redshirt junior after never really on the field previously.
Christian Robinson - OF (.287/.756) My impression was that he was a big prospect, but his hitting has never really got going in two years at Stanford. Been a rotating starter for two years.
Nick Brueser - OF (previously). Was a rotating RF starter last year, now listed as infield. (.224/.720)
Brandon Dieter - SS/P (.208/.562) Began season as starting SS. Strong fielder but struggled at the plate as a frosh. When he lost the starting SS job I thought it was due the hitting problems. However, he basically didn't end up in games at all after that except for one pitching outing. So there could have been multiple issues involved.

Pitchers
Coming ...

[BobK]

Tawa was the starting CF before moving to SS.
Robinson was indeed a top prospect

Brueser had a HR HS bat and will be at 1B I assume
Our top Frosh is a SS

[CTcard]

Tawa was the starting CF before moving to SS. 
Robinson was indeed a top prospect

Brueser had a HR HS bat and will be at 1B I assume
Our top Frosh is a SS

With more detail ... Tawa started 2018 (frosh) as CF and then moved to 3B. In 2019 (soph) went from SS, to 3B when Kinamon came back, back to SS when Bellafronto came in and Dieter out. The current roster listing indicates he's now back to outfield whereas Brueser is moving the other way (though he'd also played 1B in 2018).

We have at least three frosh who were primarily SS in high school. I assume you mean Owen Cobb. Some publications had Gargus (1B) and Hinkelman (OF) higher. I'd be much more interested in how Esquer rates them - which perhaps is what you were referring to?

Stanford has a class of commitments for 2020. I hear it is quite strong. It includes the brothers Bruno - L and R handed pitchers (the lefty a very high prospect), the unfortunately named - but very talented - Tommy Troy, and Drew Bowser (SS) who may be the highest rated guy.
Perfect Game currently ranks the 2020 recruiting class as #14 in the country. But in baseball as in other sports, Stanford has small classes. Perfect Game also ranks Stanford as having the second highest average recruit rating (though that is very suspect given how many recruits they don't seem to have ratings for).
2020 Recruit Ranking

[slide]

nice g-2 CTCard.  Ryan Bruno sounds very intriguing.  lefty who has topped out at 96 mph as a 17 year old and sits in the low 90s.  Jaden's numbers are good as well but not quite as good as his brother's numbers.

[Mr. Baseball]

Projected lineup:

1. Dieter 2B
2. Robinson CF
3. Tawa SS
4. Bellafronto 3B
5. Brueser 1B
6. Molfetta C
7. Hinkelman lF
8. Gargus DH
9. Burton RF

*I think sooner rather than later you'll see Tawa move to CF, Robinson to left and Crampton take over at short. Probably will push Burton out.

Pitching

Beck
Palisch
Parthsarathy
Williams will be the mid-week guy
Jensen the closer with Grech the setup.

[treetop11]

[quote="BobK" pid='267568' dateline='1579045070']
Tawa was the starting CF before moving to SS. 
Robinson was indeed a top prospect

Brueser had a HR HS bat and will be at 1B I assume
Our top Frosh is a SS

With more detail ... Tawa started 2018 (frosh) as CF and then moved to 3B. In 2019 (soph) went from SS, to 3B when Kinamon came back, back to SS when Bellafronto came in and Dieter out. The current roster listing indicates he's now back to outfield whereas Brueser is moving the other way (though he'd also played 1B in 2018).

We have at least three frosh who were primarily SS in high school. I assume you mean Owen Cobb. Some publications had Gargus (1B) and Hinkelman (OF) higher. I'd be much more interested in how Esquer rates them - which perhaps is what you were referring to?

Stanford has a class of commitments for 2020. I hear it is quite strong. It includes the brothers Bruno - L and R handed pitchers (the lefty a very high prospect), the unfortunately named - but very talented - Tommy Troy, and Drew Bowser (SS) who may be the highest rated guy.
Perfect Game currently ranks the 2020 recruiting class as #14 in the country. But in baseball as in other sports, Stanford has small classes. Perfect Game also ranks Stanford as having the second highest average recruit rating (though that is very suspect given how many recruits they don't seem to have ratings for).
2020 Recruit Ranking
[/quote

Does 2020 mean they are coming this fall as frosh or does it mean they are committing this year for 2021?

---

Projected lineup:

1. Dieter 2B
2. Robinson CF
3. Tawa SS
4. Bellafronto 3B
5. Brueser 1B
6. Molfetta C
7. Hinkelman lF
8. Gargus DH
9. Burton RF

*I think sooner rather than later you'll see Tawa move to CF, Robinson to left and Crampton take over at short. Probably will push Burton out.

Pitching

Beck
Palisch
Parthsarathy
Williams will be the mid-week guy
Jensen the closer with Grech the setup.

I don't know a few of those guys mentioned in the lineup, but as for pitching, I like Williams as the #2 starter, much more stuff than Palisch.

[CTcard]

Projected lineup:

1. Dieter 2B
2. Robinson CF
3. Tawa SS
4. Bellafronto 3B
5. Brueser 1B
6. Molfetta C
7. Hinkelman lF
8. Gargus DH
9. Burton RF

*I think sooner rather than later you'll see Tawa move to CF, Robinson to left and Crampton take over at short. Probably will push Burton out.

Pitching

Beck
Palisch
Parthsarathy
Williams will be the mid-week guy
Jensen the closer with Grech the setup.

You should let us know if you are just spitballing or have gleanings from inside the program so that the rest of us know if we'll sound silly to suggest anything different. But with that risk, here goes ...

- I think Tawa to CF will be sooner, as the official site already lists him as an outfielder and there seems to be more need there.
- I would guess Dieter as the first starter at SS, but he won't stay there if his bat isn't better.
- Otherwise the frosh Cobb would seem a good bet - as I think he is the guy Bobk was referring to as our top recruit.
- Would like to know why you chose Burton for OF, reviews leaking out? But my guess is an outfield of Tawa-Robinson-Hinkelman. I gave Hinkelman the nod as a top rated incoming frosh OF, but that's shaky ground. It's really Tawa-Robinson-Somebody.
- C is another place I might imagine a frosh starter. Kody Huff was drafted by the Rays, so he presumably has shown some promise. Would he be ready to start?

Pitchers.
- I'd think Williams would move up to being a weekend starter after a strong frosh season as the midweek guy. And of course his heroic complete game win vs Sac St in the regional sticks in my mind.
- I had imagined Palisch and Weiermiller battling for the third starter/midweek starter positions, but ...
- Parthsarathy (our grad transfer from Rice) is an interesting addition. He started his frosh year on fire (2016), got injured after only 6 appearances, came back late 2017 and seems to have been gradually improving since. He pitched a lot for Rice last year as their third starter. I can imagine a wide range of possible contribution.
- If I am keeping folks straight, Jensen seemed to have a pretty lively arm and is a good choice to get the closer role keeping Grech as setup. Jensen had a nice outing in the Supers vs MSU.

[Mr. Baseball]

Projected lineup:

1. Dieter 2B
2. Robinson CF
3. Tawa SS
4. Bellafronto 3B
5. Brueser 1B
6. Molfetta C
7. Hinkelman lF
8. Gargus DH
9. Burton RF

*I think sooner rather than later you'll see Tawa move to CF, Robinson to left and Crampton take over at short. Probably will push Burton out.

Pitching

Beck
Palisch
Parthsarathy
Williams will be the mid-week guy
Jensen the closer with Grech the setup.

You should let us know if you are just spitballing or have gleanings from inside the program so that the rest of us know if we'll sound silly to suggest anything different. But with that risk, here goes ...

- I think Tawa to CF will be sooner, as the official site already lists him as an outfielder and there seems to be more need there.
- I would guess Dieter as the first starter at SS, but he won't stay there if his bat isn't better.
- Otherwise the frosh Cobb would seem a good bet - as I think he is the guy Bobk was referring to as our top recruit.
- Would like to know why you chose Burton for OF, reviews leaking out? But my guess is an outfield of Tawa-Robinson-Hinkelman. I gave Hinkelman the nod as a top rated incoming frosh OF, but that's shaky ground. It's really Tawa-Robinson-Somebody.
- C is another place I might imagine a frosh starter. Kody Huff was drafted by the Rays, so he presumably has shown some promise. Would he be ready to start?

Pitchers.
- I'd think Williams would move up to being a weekend starter after a strong frosh season as the midweek guy. And of course his heroic complete game win vs Sac St in the regional sticks in my mind.
- I had imagined Palisch and Weiermiller battling for the third starter/midweek starter positions, but ...
- Parthsarathy (our grad transfer from Rice) is an interesting addition. He started his frosh year on fire (2016), got injured after only 6 appearances, came back late 2017 and seems to have been gradually improving since. He pitched a lot for Rice last year as their third starter. I can imagine a wide range of possible contribution.
- If I am keeping folks straight, Jensen seemed to have a pretty lively arm and is a good choice to get the closer role keeping Grech as setup. Jensen had a nice outing in the Supers vs MSU.

Spitballing. I have a kid on the team but we NEVER talk about this. I want him focused on being the best version of himself he can be, whether that's as a front line starter or cheering his ass off from the dugout.

[BobK]

Thanks Mr Baseball. The Bay Area media day is coming up I think late this month so we should learn a lot then

I’m a long time season ticket holder but no longer live close enough now to go to many games

I too really like Williams

[CTcard]

Spitballing. I have a kid on the team but we NEVER talk about this. I want him focused on being the best version of himself he can be, whether that's as a front line starter or cheering his ass off from the dugout.

Thanks for the note and best of luck to your kid. I can see how you might end up in a difficult position in responding to the board, so I'll try to be careful what I ask you about.

Looking back at your projected starting lineup I realize that I don't know much about frosh Crampton whom you mention as a potential starting shortstop. Of course there are several guys for whom I'd make the same statement. The fun this year will be watching new faces emerge, and there certainly will be several. It's a long shot we'll see enough early success to get us to the top of the conference, but hope springs eternal.

[BobK]

The Baseball BBQ is exactly the same time as the WVB So I’ll miss the baseball Info
Hope someone goes and can report

[Mr. Baseball]

There are 35 players on the roster this year.

Only 14 -- six position players and eight pitchers -- have logged meaningful time in Division I games previously.

Pitching will be OK, as we have four returning with starting experience and three who have been effective bullpen arms in high-leverage situations.

The offense is another matter entirely. Tawa should be the cornerstone but he struggled for most of last year and did likewise in the Cape. Robinson and Brueser have yet to play to their reputations earned during high school. Bellafronto has been an impact player for half of one season in the three he's been on the farm, Molfetta even less than that and Dieter has 15 career hits, three for extra bases.

The good news, where the offense is concerned, is that in 2017 the team really only had Nico Hoerner back. Maverick had played a little toward the end of 2016 and Duke was about to be lost for the year but players (Stowers, Dash, Will the Thrill, Beau) stepped up and the offense was good. That will have to be the case this year. The only question remains: who will that be?

[BobK]

Bellafronto is in his 5th year or as I believe a grad student

We haven’t mentioned Brock Jones who had a great HS career. He played FB so a bit behind but could contribute a lot

[Mr. Baseball]

D1 baseball did a preview of the team and mentioned these freshmen:

Crampton
Jones
Gargus
Huff
Cobb
Mathews

No mention of Hinkelman.

That being said, they've been very wrong the past couple of years, so...

[BobK]

Well this cane on twitter so maybe it can be read my all

https://d1baseball.com/featured/top-25-b...-stanford/

[CTcard]

Well this cane on twitter so maybe it can be read my all

https://d1baseball.com/featured/top-25-b...-stanford/

Well, I can only read the introductory parts, though I can see the comment from Tim Tawa's dad.

D1 baseball did a preview of the team and mentioned these freshmen:
Crampton
Jones
Gargus
Huff
Cobb
Mathews

No mention of Hinkelman.

Perfect Game ranks Hinkelman as Stanford's top recruit and #60 nationally (I think that includes kids who signed thus not going to college).
The baseball HS evaluations on these services seems to be much more hit and miss than football and basketball. In those other sports no ranking is essentially equivalent to a claim that they aren't good enough to rank. In baseball it's often that the particular service couldn't/didn't get around to evaluating them.