College Podcast: Breaking Down The Offseason Top 25

Image credit: Texas SS Trey Faltine (Photo by John Williamson)

On this episode of the Baseball America College Podcast, presented by Rapsodo, Teddy Cahill and Joe Healy discuss a whole host of topics in college baseball, including the first version of our offseason Top 25, breakout stars on the Cape, the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team and the news of Texas and Oklahoma heading to the SEC.

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Rankings discussion kicks the show off. Texas is the top team in the “never too early” version of the Top 25, as they bring back college baseball’s most well-rounded team on paper, led by Tanner Witt, Aaron Nixon, Pete Hansen and Tristan Stevens on the mound and Trey Faltine, Ivan Melendez, Eric Kennedy and Silas Ardoin in the lineup. In a year when it appears that established pitching staffs are going to be hard to come by, having those pitchers back could be a difference maker. 

Teddy gives a rundown of some of the breakout stars he saw in the Cape Cod League in July, including Arkansas outfielder Jace Bohrofen, Louisiana State righthander Eric Reyzelman, James Madison outfielder Chase DeLauter and Iowa righthander Adam Mazur. Sometimes, big-time success for a player on the Cape ends up not being indicative of anything but a player having a good summer, but more often than not, it’s a great preview of breakout stars for the following college season and prospects to watch in the next couple of drafts. 

Collegiate Team USA’s summer schedule was altered because of limitations on international travel, but in a series of scrimmages and a three-game series against the Olympic team, there was still plenty to see. Big takeaways include Cal Poly’s Brooks Lee being every bit the superstar that he’s been made out to be, and Air Force righthander Paul Skenes and Connecticut lefthander Reggie Crawford being breakout stars to watch on the mound in 2022. 

Finally, the hosts discuss the recent news of Texas and Oklahoma moving to the SEC in a decision clearly made with revenue in mind for the schools, for better or worse. Competitively, Texas is a team very much built to compete in the SEC, but Oklahoma will likely have some work to do, whether in building up its facilities or investing in other ways, in order to really be able to compete at the top of its new conference. Thankfully for the Sooners, there will be a couple of years to prepare before the switch becomes official.