No. 1 Texas A&M 2025 College Top 25 Preview
Image credit: Ryan Prager (Photo by Eddie Kelly)
- Last season: 53-15 (19-11 SEC); Finished as national runner up in College World Series
- Final 2024 ranking: No. 2
- Coach (record at school): Michael Earley (1st season)
You can find our complete 2025 preseason Top 25 ranking here.
The Good News
First-year Texas A&M head coach Michael Earley started winning before he even coached a game in College Station, as the 36-year-old kept the core of an impressive 2024 roster intact for 2025 despite a program-shaking coaching change that saw former skipper Jim Schlossnagle take the same job at rival Texas and many of the Aggies’ top talents subsequently enter the transfer portal. The Aggies return 2025 first-overall pick candidate Jace LaViolette, 2024 SEC freshman of the year Gavin Grahovac, budding shortstop Kaeden Kent, staff ace Ryan Prager and Saturday starter Justin Lamkin, among others. They also bolstered the group with several key additions from the transfer portal, including former Long Beach State southpaw Myles Patton (4-3, 3.26 ERA), former Penn infielder Wyatt Henseler (.360/.465/.755, 22 home runs) and former Texas Tech infielder Gavin Kash (.300/.365/.561, 15 home runs), all three of whom ranked among Baseball America’s top 25 transfer portal entrants this offseason. The Aggies are as stacked as any team in the country and poised to make another run at a national title.
The Bad News
There isn’t much “bad news” for the Aggies heading into 2025, at least none that wasn’t anticipated. They lost a handful of contributors from last year’s squad to the draft—including star outfielder Braden Montgomery, 2024 stopper of the year Evan Aschenbeck, shutdown setup man Chris Cortez and starting catcher Jackson Appel—but brought in a number of highly sought-after players from the high school ranks and transfer portal to fill those gaps. While discussing his team with Baseball America during the offseason, Earley didn’t shy away from the fact that there could be growing pains as a first-year head coach but expressed that his roster is talented enough to overcome those should they arise. Part of that will be reestablishing high-leverage bullpen roles in the early going of the season to ensure stability on the mound. The Aggies’ rotation and lineup have largely crystallized and have plenty of depth.
Player To Know
If not the frontrunner, Jace LaViolette is among the favorites to be selected with the first overall pick in the 2025 draft and is easily the Aggies’ most important player heading into the season. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound slugger produced an impressive 108.8 90th percentile exit velocity and limited his chase rate to just 17.2 percent as a sophomore in 2024 when he slashed .305/.449/.726 with 29 home runs, 78 RBIs and 64 walks against 81 strikeouts. LaViolette generates impressive impact and has double-plus raw power to all fields, which he gets to with ease in games. The Texas A&M center fielder should contend for this year’s Golden Spikes Award, which recognizes the nation’s top amateur baseball player.
Path To Omaha
Three of the last 10 national runners-up have returned to Omaha the following season, which is a pretty high success rate considering the difficulty of back-to-back top-eight finishes. Texas A&M is built to have a great chance to join that group with a star-studded lineup and experienced pitching staff, which blends impressive returning talent and a couple top transfers. Providing health and a hiccup-free first season at the helm for Earley, the Aggies appear well-positioned to make noise in a daunting SEC conference and in the postseason.
Projected 2025 Lineup
| Pos | Player | Year | AVG | OBP | SLG | AB | HR | RBI | Note |
| C | Bear Harrison* | So. | .332 | .410 | .541 | 146 | 8 | 35 | Saint Mary’s |
| 1B | Blake Binderup | R-So. | .231 | .367 | .359 | 39 | 1 | 7 | |
| 2B | Wyatt Henseler* | Sr. | .360 | .465 | .755 | 200 | 22 | 56 | Penn |
| 3B | Gavin Grahovac | So. | .298 | .390 | .597 | 285 | 23 | 66 | |
| SS | Kaeden Kent | Jr. | .327 | .414 | .491 | 110 | 4 | 28 | |
| OF | Gavin Kash* | Sr. | .300 | .365 | .561 | 237 | 15 | 51 | Texas Tech |
| OF | Jace LaViolette | Jr. | .305 | .449 | .726 | 259 | 29 | 78 | |
| OF | Caden Sorrell | So. | .275 | .369 | .555 | 182 | 11 | 43 | |
| DH | Hayden Schott | Sr. | .335 | .418 | .498 | 263 | 8 | 63 | |
| Pos | Player | Year | GS | IP | ERA | WHIP | SO | BB | Note |
| SP | Ryan Prager | R-Jr. | 19 | 97.2 | 2.95 | 1.06 | 124 | 20 | |
| SP | Justin Lamkin | Jr. | 16 | 65.2 | 5.21 | 1.31 | 88 | 22 | |
| SP | Myles Patton* | Jr. | 11 | 66.1 | 3.26 | 1.15 | 85 | 24 | Long Beach State |
| RP | Josh Stewart | Sr. | 0 | 31.2 | 4.26 | 1.26 | 39 | 9 | |
| RP | Clayton Freshcorn* | So. | 10 | 61 | 2.36 | 1.03 | 79 | McLennan Community College |
