2015 Perfect Game College Baseball Preview Index | Matuella back on top
The 2015 college baseball season is upon us, and it's time to stop talking about it and start watching it. Opening weekend offers a handful of intriguing series to follow, led by No. 6 Texas visiting No. 21 Rice, as detailed below. Also detailed is the best tournament to open the season, the Opening Weekend Challenge in Clearwater, Fla. which will bring four very good programs together to face one another in No. 9 Louisville, No. 19 Cal State Fullerton, South Florida and Alabama State.
No. 13 Oklahoma State will be at No. 20 Arizona State, and Perfect Game's Mike Rooney will be on hand providing first-hand observations from that series. Frankie Piliere, hoping to travel south in search of warmer weather, will be in Greenville, N.C. to take in No. 2 Virginia at East Carolina in winter-like conditions that have already caused several schedule changes for teams playing along the East Coast.
Top 25 in Action
Rk. |
Team |
Opponent |
Location |
1 |
Vanderbilt |
home vs. Santa Clara |
Nashville, TN |
2 |
Virginia |
at East Carolina |
Greenville, NC |
3 |
Texas Christian |
home vs. Southern Illinois |
Fort Worth, TX |
4 |
Florida |
home vs. Rhode Island |
Gainesville, FL |
5 |
UCLA |
home vs. Hofstra |
Los Angeles, CA |
6 |
Texas |
at No. 21 Rice |
Houston, TX |
7 |
Louisiana State |
home vs. Kansas |
Baton Rouge, LA |
8 |
Houston |
home vs. Minnesota |
Houston, TX |
9 |
Louisville |
Opening Weekend Challenge* |
Clearwater, FL |
10 |
Miami |
home vs. Rutgers |
Coral Gables, FL |
11 |
Florida State |
home vs. Oakland University |
Tallahassee, FL |
12 |
Texas Tech |
home vs. San Francisco |
Lubbock, TX |
13 |
Oklahoma State |
at No. 20 Arizona State |
Phoenix, AZ |
14 |
South Carolina |
home vs. College of Charleston |
Columbia, SC |
15 |
Oregon |
at Hawaii |
Honolulu, HI |
16 |
Arkansas |
home vs. North Dakota |
Fayetteville, AR |
17 |
North Carolina |
home vs. Seton Hall |
Chapel Hill, NC |
18 |
UC Santa Barbara |
home vs. BYU |
Santa Barbara, CA |
19 |
Cal State Fullerton |
Opening Weekend Challenge* |
Clearwater, FL |
20 |
Arizona State |
home vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State |
Phoenix, AZ |
21 |
Rice |
home vs. No. 6 Texas |
Houston, TX |
22 |
Stanford |
home vs. Indiana |
Stanford, CA |
23 |
Mississippi State |
home vs. Cincinnati, Miami (OH) |
Starkville, MS |
24 |
Kennesaw State |
home vs. Liberty, St. John's, Fordham |
Kennesaw, GA |
25 |
Texas A&M |
home vs. Holy Cross |
College Station, TX |
*Louisville plays Alabama State (Fri.), South Florida (Sat.) and No. 19 Cal State Fullerton (Sun.)
*Cal State Fullerton plays South Florida (Fri.), Alabama State (Sat.) and No. 9 Louisville (Sun.)
Marquee Matchup:
No. 6 Texas at No. 21 Rice
No.
6 Texas visits Reckling Park and No. 21 Rice for a four-game series
to open the 2015 college baseball season this weekend. These proud
programs have struggled at times to reach their own lofty standards
in recent seasons, however, they both come into the series trending
up. Rice features one of the best pitching staffs in the country
while Texas brings new found momentum from last year's run to the
College World Series.
Wayne
Graham has taken Rice from a college baseball afterthought to a
national power. Under Graham, the Owls have reached the NCAA
tournament an incredible 20 straight seasons, which is the fourth
highest active streak in the nation. All seven Rice College World
Series appearances have come under Graham's watch, including the 2003
National Championship.
Looking
deeper, the last five seasons have not been quite up to the same
level that Rice fans have grown accustomed to under Graham. In the
first 11 years of the Super Regional era (1999-2009), Rice advanced
to an amazing nine Supers and six times advanced to Omaha. In the
last five years, Rice has made just one Super Regional appearance and
the Owls have not been to the CWS since 2008.
While
that trend is somewhat negative, there are two factors that should
spark optimism for Rice in 2015. First, this pitching staff may be
the best Wayne Graham has ever put together at Rice. Second, Wayne
Graham is in fact a legend in our game and it's never good policy to
bet against a Hall of Famer. Graham built this program from scratch
and it's unlikely that 2008 will be his last trip to Omaha.
It
is quite simple to sum up Augie Garrido's career and impact on
college baseball: if Augie were a school, his five national titles
would be tied for third all-time. Garrido is the master of all
masters and he proved that yet again last year.
The
Longhorns were in a dark place coming into 2014. Texas had missed the
NCAA tournament in two consecutive seasons. And here is the most
mind-blowing fact: in 2013 Texas failed to win even one Big 12
series.
Yet
here came the 2014 Longhorns with two key seniors, outfielder Mark
Payton and Nathan Thornhill, and a bevy of talented but green
freshmen. Garrido went old-school with this group and led them to a
third place finish in the College World Series.
The
only downer in this series is the injury report. Arguably the three
best arms in this series will not throw this weekend. Jordan Stephens
and John Duplantier of Rice and Morgan Cooper of Texas are all on the
shelf for the series. Stephens had Tommy John surgery last March and
will pitch later this year while Cooper had his Tommy John surgery
last November and he will miss the entire season. Duplantier, a
draft-eligible sophomore, has recently experienced general arm
soreness and the Rice staff is being cautious with him.
Duplantier's
absence is most disappointing as he is a first-round talent with a
mid-90s fastball and a devastating breaking ball in the upper-80s. He
is Rice's most gifted arm and a dynamic athlete on the mound. At
6-foot-4 and 210-pounds, Duplantier offers both future projection and
present premium stuff.
The
most intriguing aspect of this matchup pits the elite Rice pitching
staff against an experienced and uber-talented Texas lineup. Even
without Duplantier and Stephens, the Owls will start proven veterans
Blake Fox (12-0 1.46 ERA) and Kevin McCanna (8-3, 2.69 ERA). The
lefthanded Fox is a perfect 18-0 at Rice while McCanna was
outstanding in the Cape last summer.
The
Rice bullpen is similarly strong led by junior closer Matt Ditman (9
saves, 1.83 ERA). The Owls are also excited about the depth of this
staff with arms like Austin Orewiler, Trevor Teykl, Austin Solecitto,
and Ricardo Salinas ready to go.
C.J. Hinojosa (Texas Athletics)
The
Texas lineup will always be undersold as their statistics die in the
deep gaps at Discch-Falk Field. However, this group is both skilled
and experienced. Most importantly, they are bought into Augie
Garrido's team-first approach. Sophomore catcher Tres Barrera handled
himself very well hitting while hitting cleanup as a true freshman
and the addition of redshirt freshman Bret Boswell gives this lineup
exciting depth.
It's
conceivable that this group has several future big leaguers but
junior outfielder Ben Johnson in particular has upside that seems
infinite. Johnson was a Division I football recruit at the
quarterback position and his well-rounded athleticism can take over a
game on any given day.
The
two middle infield pairs in this game – C.J. Hinojosa and Brooks
Marlow of Texas, Leon Byrd and Ford Stainback of Rice – are
veterans with polish and proven production. The four combine for an
invaluable 550 career college starts and their experience will be
counted on heavily in what is anticipated to be an emotionally
charged series.
All
four have played outstanding defense in their careers and adding
offensive production will be the key in 2015. Stainback and Byrd
regressed in 2014 for Rice and this young lineup will need them to
re-establish themselves as run-scoring weapons. Marlow and Hinojosa
are excellent at playing the little game and manufacturing runs,
however both players have gotten themselves into trouble in the past
when trying to artificially create power.
One
footnote here is that Wayne Graham has once again opted for the
position switch of Byrd to shortstop and Stainback to second base.
Even though Stainback has proven steady over 130 career starts at
shortstop, the ultra-athletic Byrd offers more range and upside at
the position. In 2014, this combination was in place for the first
half of the season before Byrd returned to center field and Stainback
to shortstop.
It's
not often that one questions the Texas pitching staff but the 2015
version gives pause. Parker French is back for senior year and while
he has been effective throughout his UT career, he lacks the
dominance that might be expected of a Longhorn Friday night arm. If
bloodlines mean anything then Kacy Clemens' conversion to full-time
pitcher is something to get excited about and all reports have been
positive so far.
At
the end of the day, Longhorn fans can rest easy for these two
reasons: Skip Johnson is still your pitching coach and there is
significant young talent on this staff. Johnson is as good as it gets
at developing a pitching staff and young arms like Josh Sawyer, Kyle
Johnston, Tyler Schimpf, and Connor Mayes all appear ready for the
bright lights.
The
Rice lineup suffered huge losses to graduation and the draft.
Mainstays Skyler Ewing, Shane Hoelscher, Michael Aquino, and Chase
McDowell have moved on but the Owls have reloaded as usual. The two
names to write down are freshman lefthanded hitting outfielders
Tristan Gray and Ryan Chandler. Both are Houston high school products
who have run sub-6.6 times in the 60-yard dash and they may be stars
in the making.
We
are predicting an upset, based on our preseason rankings, that Rice
will win the series three games to one. As much as we like the
Longhorns down the road, we're not certain they're ready to beat Fox
and McCanna right out of the shoot. Augie Garrido relishes those
teachable moments born of early season losses and Texas will be there
in the end.
Mound Matchup:
Scott Effross (Indiana) vs. Cal Quantrill (Stanford)
The
college baseball season gives us the gift of some outstanding
matchups throughout the spring, and opening weekend looks like no
exception this year. Indiana visiting Stanford this weekend is an
intriguing matchup on its own, but the Friday night showdown between
the team’s two aces is arguably the marquee pitcher’s duel going
on anywhere in the nation.
Indiana
junior righthander, Scott Effross has spent a large chunk of his
college career pitching out of the bullpen, but he made it quite
clear last summer in the Cape Cod League that he could be a starter
at an elite level. Effross has the quality four-pitch mix to thrive
as a true Friday night ace, and he has the swing-and-miss, lively
90-94 mph fastball to dominate high level lineups. And, his slider
and his exceptional command of that pitch is likely going to give the
righties in Stanford’s lineup some real trouble this Friday night.
What
Stanford counters Effross with, however, is an arm that could be the
best pitcher in the country by spring’s conclusion. And, that arm
is sophomore righty, Cal Quantrill. Quantrill assumed the Friday
night starter role as a freshman in 2014, but you certainly wouldn’t
know he was a freshman by watching his poise and command. Sometime
during the summer in his stint in the Coastal Plain League Quantrill
took his game to yet another level. His velocity jumped to 92-95 mph,
he continued to show what was perhaps the best changeup in the nation
and he developed a sharp, low-80s slider. Not only will Quantrill
enter the season as one of the most feared and polished aces in the
country in just his sophomore year, but he’s also become one of the
most sought after prospects in the 2016 draft.
Both
Indiana and Stanford have some question marks in their lineup in
2015, but the matchup of these two elite aces will showcase what make
them two highly intriguing teams this spring.
Tournament Spotlight:
Opening Weekend Challenge at Bright House Field (Clearwater, Fla.)
For
many of the nation’s top teams, opening weekend feels like a time
to ease into the season. But, for the teams playing in the Clearwater
Tournament in Florida this weekend, there will be no dipping of the
toe into the shallow end of the pool. As Louisville, Cal State
Fullerton, South Florida, and Alabama State get ready to square off,
it’s clear that each of them will be diving head first into the
deep end of competition.
Although
there are highly recognizable teams in this tournament, it also would
not be wise to look past Alabama State, who has the talent to upend
or at least disrupt one of these powerhouses on opening weekend. The
cream of the crop in the SWAC, Alabama State has high-end pitching
with arms like Branden Castro, who tops at 96 mph with his fastball,
as well as Jorge Pantoja, who lives in the low-90s with his fastball
and has the type of stuff to shut down a high-level lineup. And, with
experienced weekend aces like T.J. Renda and Joseph Camacho leading
the way, this is not a team to be overlooked.
And,
when it comes to pitching, few teams have a one-two punch like South
Florida brings into this tournament. One of the most dominant
pitchers in the nation in 2014, funky righthander, Jimmy Herget has
the pedigree to go head to head with aces like Thomas Eshelman and
Kyle Funkhouser. Herget posted a 1.26 ERA over 107 1/3 innings in
2014, and went on to impress with Team USA and in the Cape Cod
League. A workhorse ace of the highest order, he keeps the Bulls in
any game he pitches in. No. 2 starter Casey Mulholland also has
high-end stuff, flashing a low-90s fastball and above average
changeup.
If
it’s not clear already, this tournament is going to be about
pitching. And, few names are more prominently known in college
baseball than those of Thomas Eshelman and Kyle Funkhouser, the aces
in this series that will be watched very closely throughout this
spring. Eshelman arguably has the most razor sharp command in the
nation and was historically dominant in 2014, posting a 1.89 ERA and
walking just eight batters in 123 innings of work. Joined in the
Fullerton rotation by hard-throwing righty and ace is his own right,
Justin Garza, the Titans brings the deepest staff top to bottom into
this tournament.
In
terms of eyes on him, however, Kyle Funkhouser will be the main
attraction this weekend. A projected top half of the first round
draft selection, Funkhouser and his 93-96 mph fastball bring a high
degree of polish to the mound with him as well. He posted a 1.94 ERA
in 120 1/3 innings of work in 2014, striking out 122 batters along
the way.
Runs
are going to be few and far between this weekend in Clearwater, but
scouts and fans are going to be treated to a series full of highest
level pitching matchups. And, specifically for Cal State Fullerton
and Louisville, it will answer some intriguing questions about just
how far their outstanding pitching staffs will be able to carry them
in 2015.
National Notes:
• The
career of heralded freshman righthander J.B. Bukaukas will begin at
the back end of North Carolina's rotation this weekend, taking the ball for the Tar Heels in Game 2 of a doubleheader on Saturday that
was bumped up from Sunday due to expected frigid temepratures.
Bukauskas is one of the more well-known and exciting players to step
foot on a college campus in recent years, as he easily could have
taken in the first round of last year's draft given his mid- to
upper-90s fastball coming out of high school. Of course starting
one's career in the weekend rotation is no easy task at the Division
I level, which will make his start, and subsequent 2015 season,
especially interesting to follow.
• The
cold weather has found its way south this weekend and will play a
large role in most to all of the major matchups in the Carolinas this
weekend. East Carolina has moved up their Sunday content against
Virginia and will play a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.
• Bailey
Ober will not be in the weekend rotation for their showdown against
South Carolina. He may available out of the bullpen,
however, after experiencing discomfort in his forearm. Charleston will start Taylor Clarke on Friday, Nathan Helvey
on Saturday, and Eric Bauer on Sunday.
• Kentucky
ace and highly touted draft prospect Kyle Cody is now schedule to
take the ball on Saturday against Richmond in a tournament hosted by
UNC Wilmington (Buffalo Wild Wings Battles at the Beach) that also
includes Ball State.
• There
should be plenty of scouts on hand in Stockton, Calif. this weekend
for the Pacific-Washington series. Pacific junior outfielder Gio
Brusa comes into the series with an oblique issue but still might go.
When he is right, the switch-hitting Brusa is one of the most
exciting college position player in this draft. He is a veritable
tool shed with the size (6-foot-3, 210 pounds) and athleticism to
play at the highest level. Braden Bishop will man center field for
Washington and he is a gazelle in the outfield. While his bat is the
question mark, Bishop's speed and athleticism are playable and
intriguing.
• Another
well attended series will be Vanderbilt vs. Santa Clara in Nashville,
a series that offers several interesting hitter vs. pitcher matchups.
The Broncos' Stevie Berman (6-foot-2, 225 pounds) and Jose Vizcaino,
Jr. (6-foot-2, 215) are physical hitters who've had success on the
West Coast. Obviously all bets are off when facing the Vandy arms of
Carson Fulmer, Tyler Ferguson, Hayden Stone and company. How Berman
and Vizcaino handle that type of velocity will be telling.
• Speaking
of Vanderbilt's arms, Walker Buehler has been removed from the
weekend rotation for precautionary measures due to arm soreness,
although reports indicate he could be available out of the bullpen.
In addition to Buehler and Duplantier here are some of the other
notable players that open the season with injury concerns:
-
Virginia
outfielder Joe McCarthy had back surgery and will be out 12 weeks.
-
Tyler
Stubblefield had knee surgery to repair a torn ACL. He should return
at some point this season, but was slotted to be Texas A&M's
Saturday starter prior to the injury.
-
Cal
Poly's Mark Mathias, the defending Big West Player of the Year, had
labrum surgery in December, and while it went well, he'll be out
until March and likely will serve as the DH upon his return.
-
Gio
Brusa (Pacific) is experiencing some oblique issues as noted above,
but could still take the field.
-
College
of Charleston has decided to use Bailey Ober out of the bullpen to
start the year after experiencing forearm tightness in an attempt to work
him back to full health. Ober was a Freshman All-American last
season and was a big part of Charleston's Super Regional run.
-
The
Mountain Valley Conference Freshman of the Year last season, Danny
Collier of New Mexico, is experiencing back issues and it's unsure whether he'll be able to take the field.
-
LSU
will be without two talented members of their freshmen class,
infielder Greg Deichmann and lefthander Jake Latz. Deichmann will
miss 4-6 weeks due to a stress fractice in his foot while Latz will
shut down for the first two weeks due to a recent elbow injury. Latz
also missed fall practice due to a stress reaction in his pitching
elbow.
-
Pete
Alonso suffered a broken right foot in practice this past week, the
same foot he suffered a stress fractuce in during the fall. Alonso
followed up a solid freshman season with a huge summer one, hitting
.354 with 18 home runs on his way to being named the Northwoods
League MVP.
-
East
Carolina will be without do-it-all senior Reid Love for the first
week of the season, who injured his left hand. He was expected to
open the year as their Friday ace in addition to serving as the
team's leadoff hitter.
-
Florida
State first baseman Chris Marconcini is expected to have knee
surgery today and will miss 3-6 weeks.
• UC
Santa Barbara is one of the favorites to win the Big West and head
coach Andrew Checketts considered moving Preseason All-American
closer Dillon Tate into the starting rotation. As of opening weekend,
Tate and his 99 mph fastball will remain in the bullpen as the
Gauchos rotation will consist of Justin Jacome, Shane Bieber, and
Domenic Mazza. UCSB sports one the nation's best hashtags in
#Chomaha.
• Oklahoma
State at Arizona State might be this weekend's bridesmaid for best
series. The Cowboys and Sun Devils have two of the more experienced
rosters nationally with Oklahoma State losing just the back of their
bullpen from a Super Regional team. Arizona State enters two new eras
at once as they move from the on-campus Packard Stadium to
beer-selling Phoenix Municipal Stadium, and also begin season one
under new skipper Tracy Smith. Smith comes to Tempe after two
consecutive historic seasons at Indiana, advancing to the CWS in 2013
and earning a Top 8 National Seed in 2014.
• At
this time last year we only knew A.J. Reed as a good college player.
He was on most preseason All-American teams (Second Team for Perfect
Game) but primarily because the pool of two-way players was small.
Reed only hit .280 as a sophomore with a pedestrian 4.04 ERA previous
to his monster junior season.
Who
is the 2015 version of A.J. Reed poised for a big breakout junior
season? Each member of the Perfect Game college team took a chance to
answer that question:
-
Thomas
Eshelman – far from a sleeper as far as production at the college
level, Eshelman enters the season as PG's 113th ranked 2015 overall draft eligible prospect. Pitchers who command
the strike zone as effectively well as Eshelman has through his
career are often taken earlier in the draft than once expected. Look
no further than similar control artists such as Tim Stauffer in 2003
and Wes Roemer in 2007 (Mike
Rooney).
-
Christin
and D.J. Stewart – take your pick between the Team USA Stewart
teammates (no relation) who posted big numbers last summer. Florida
State's D.J. Stewart is the reigning ACC Player of the Year and
enters the season as the favorite to once again win the award, while
big things are expected out of Christin Stewart and Tennessee
(Frankie Piliere).
-
Chris
Shaw – Shaw's power came alive last summer on the Cape swinging a
wood bat, leading the circuit with eight home runs after hitting six
during his sophomore year at Boston College. And that's only the
beginning for the 6-foot-3, 248-pound slugger (Jheremy
Brown).
-
Grayson
Long – somewhat of a longshot on this list as he's currently
ranked 155th in PG's current list of the top 250 prospects eligible for this
year's draft, but his tall, projectable stature, improving stuff and
polished changeup are reminscent of another Aggie, Michael Wacha
(Patrick Ebert).
• The
2015 college draft class is in a word, murky. Twelve months ago
Carlos Rodon was a household name and a no doubter for the first
three picks in the draft, with many having him peged as the favorite
to go first overall since his dominant freshman season. There is a
lot of real estate between Rodon's resume prior to his junior year
and that of current Duke righthander Michael Matuella, the default
college draft prospect in 2015. Matuella has elite tools and stuff
but lacks a track record in both performance and good health. He
begins the 2015 season and his path to the draft in front of what
undoubtedly will be a large collection of scouts as Duke takes on Cal
in Berekley, Calif.
Read
Nick Kappel's recent feature on Matuella here.
• Two
things to feel good about entering Week 1: All reports on the new
baseball have been positive. If nothing else, it appears that we will
back to scoring from second base on singles again, and even if home
run totals don't improve we're still in a better spot. It's time for
the off-side outfielders to back up to normal depth again.
• Similarly,
television coverage of college baseball continues to skyrocket thanks
mostly to the commitment of ESPN and the new SEC Network. There's
nothing better than increased exposure for an outstanding product and
this is great news for college baseball.