USA Baseball Announces 2019 College National Team Roster

Image credit: Spencer Torkelson (Photo Courtesy of USA Baseball)

USA Baseball announced the 2019 roster for the College National Team (CNT) Monday night, just ahead of the eighth annual series against the Cuban National Team.

Three members of the 2019 CNT return from the 2018 roster, including Arizona State first baseman Spencer Torkelson, North Carolina State catcher Patrick Bailey and Minnesota righthander Max Meyer.

The roster also includes six of the top 10 college players in the 2020 draft class, including Torkelson (No. 1), Bailey (4), Georgia righthander Cole Wilcox (5), Texas A&M lefthander Asa Lacy (6), Louisville lefthander Reid Detmers (8) and Vanderbilt shortstop Austin Martin (9).

2019 All-America members included on the team include Martin (first team), Torkelson (second team) and Mississippi State second baseman Justin Foscue (third team).

USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team will play a five-game series against Cuba from July 2 through July 6 in various ballparks in North Carolina before heading to Taiwan for a five-game series against Chinese Taipei (July 9-July 12). Team USA will then head to Japan for a five-game series against the Japanese National Team (July 16-July 21) to complete its summer schedule.

While winning games is the obvious goal for the club, the CNT also serves as a preview for the top of next year’s college class. The 2018 CNT featured seven players who went on to be selected in the first round—Adley Rutschman, Andrew Vaughn, Josh Jung, Shea Langeliers, Bryson Stott, Will Wilson, Braden Shewmake—and the 2019 group looks to be stronger than last year’s crop in terms of pitching talent. It’s likely that several of the players listed below will go on to be first-round picks next June.

The full roster is listed below: