2021 College Baseball Top 25 Chat (3/22/21)

Teddy Cahill: Welcome to this week’s college baseball chat. It was a full slate of games this weekend as several conferences moved into conference play. Exciting times! Let’s get to the questions.

Tyler (Lubbock):

 Who had the better weekend series win Texas or Tech?

Teddy Cahill: One of those conferences that got going with conference play was the Big 12, with a soft opening. Texas won a series at Baylor and Texas Tech won a home series against Oklahoma State. I think the Red Raiders had the better weekend. The Horns did what they needed to do on the road and Baylor did come in on a nine-game winning streak after a slow start to the season. But Oklahoma State is a team that we expect can challenge at the top of the conference. I think the Cowboys may well be the third best team in the conference and the Red Raiders come out with two wins in a close series. Strong weekend in Lubbock.

Karl of Delaware (Georgetown, Delaware):

 When a college baseball team plays substantially below expectations, like the University of Virginia this year, what effect does that have on how highly the star players of that team are drafted?

Teddy Cahill: The team not living up to expectations is not going to enter into the draft evaluation. But if a player isn’t living up to expectations and that’s why the team is struggling, that’s a different story. Ideally, you get great players on great teams, but for example in 2018 Wichita State struggled despite having Alec Bohm and Grayson Jenista. Bohm went third overall and Jenista went 49th. It happens.

Mick (NE):

 Who are the contenders in the Big Ten a quarter of the way through the conference slate?

Teddy Cahill: Michigan and Indiana are the two leading contenders. Nebraska, Northwestern and Rutgers (if its able to close out a sweep of Ohio State today, as I write this the Knights are leading early in the game) are a couple games back in the standings. Of that group, Rutgers has been the most impressive. Nebraska has looked solid and Northwestern is no doubt improved, but has had the easiest slate so far. I like the talent Illinois and Ohio State have, but to this point it hasn’t manifested itself in wins. Ultimately, I expect the Wolverines and the Hoosiers to be the two teams dueling it out down the stretch.

Keegan (Nebraska):

 What does Creighton’s poor non-con showing mean for the Big East? Is it still possible for the conference to get two bids and does CU have a realistic chance at being one of them?

Teddy Cahill: None of the Big East teams has been particularly good to this point. UConn played an ultra-ambitious schedule and is 6-11. Creighton is 4-7. Seton Hall and Xavier are 5-8. Butler is 2-4. Villanova has the best record at 6-2, but the competition hasn’t been particularly good. St. John’s is 9-5, but got beat bad in a sweep at Western Carolina. Georgetown hasn’t played a game. So, no, I don’t see this as being a two-bid league this year. While I think it can be going forward, no one this year has done what they need to in non-conference play to build that kind of resume. The good news is that I think it should be a competitive conference race this spring.

dopt (ft worth):

 Is texas really that good outside of Madden? they dont seeem to hit very well and whilemthe bullpen may get alot of hype they seem average. where do you see texas settling in this year ? right now they are top 10

Teddy Cahill: I think Texas is rather good. The sweep of South Carolina is going to hold up as being a strong result all season. Madden is elite and Stevens and Kubicheck make for a solid rotation behind him. I think the bullpen runs deep. Is it the best in the country? No, but Witt, Southard, Quintanilla, Wenzel and Nixon are all talented. As always, Texas doesn’t have a high-powered lineup. What it does have though is a lot of speed, some veterans, probably just enough power and a lot of really good defenders. Texas has to play its game, but it will be able to do that more often than not. I expect it to be in the top 15 the rest of the season and host a regional. Beyond that, we’ll see how the Horns are playing come June.

HailState17 (Texas):

 Who do you like in the Arkansas/Mississippi State series this weekend? Think that Fristoe is the Sunday starter now?

Teddy Cahill: I’m really excited for this weekend’s showdown in Starkville. That will be a really fun series. My first read is I would favor Mississippi State. Its pitching staff is so deep and it has home-field advantage. But I look forward to digging into it more this week. I’ll have more thoughts later this week. As for the Sunday starter – they have good options. Cerantola has incredible upside, but is fighting it a bit right now. If they made the move, it would be understandable. But if they want to stick with him a bit longer, I would get that too. It’s still only March.

Teddy Cahill: Thanks for all your questions today. We’ll be back here again next week with plenty more to talk about, especially following that No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown in Starkville.