College Hot Sheet: 20 College Baseball Standouts From The Past Week (5/2/23)
Welcome to the College Hot Sheet! Like our pro hot sheets, the College Hot Sheet recognizes some of the top performers around the country in college baseball after each weekend of play. Carlos Collazo and Peter Flaherty contributed to the College Hot Sheet this week.
Related:
- College Top 25
- Top 2023 Draft Prospects
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Top 2024 Draft Prospects
1. Matt Shaw, SS, Maryland
Class: 2023
What He Did: 12-for-23 (.522), 4 HR, 5 2B, 12 R, 8 RBIShaw has been on a tour de force over the last month, and he went ballistic last week with four multi-hit games out of five games played, and he finished a three-game series against Indiana with a four-game home run streak. That is the second such streak of Shaw’s career, and he has a chance to break the record if he hits a home run Tuesday against Mount St. Mary’s. Shaw leads Maryland with 18 home runs and is looking at career-best numbers in all triple-slash categories with a .359/.482/.751 line and has a chance to top the 22 home runs he tallied in 2022. He also became Maryland’s program leader with 44 home runs during the weekend, breaking the record previously held by Paul Schager. –CC
2. Jake Shirk, RHP, Wright State
Class: 2023
What He Did: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 14 KShirk struck out a career-high 14 batters against Oakland last Saturday in a complete game shutout where he allowed just one hit and no walks. That was the first time Shirk has managed double-digit strikeouts this season. After an infield single in the bottom of the first, he retired the next 25 batters straight. He lowered his ERA from 5.53 to 4.74 in the process. –CC
3. Mac Horvath, OF, North Carolina
Class: 2023
What He Did: 9-for-16 (.563), 5 HR, 1 2B, 7 R, 19 RBIHorvath had a torrid five-game stretch last week, starting with a two-homer, eight-RBI game against UNC Wilmington in the middle of the week, before adding three more home runs in a three-game set against Virginia Tech. The Tar Heel third baseman boosted his average from .292 to .316 throughout the week and he’s now just one home run, two doubles and a stolen bases away from a 20-20-20 season. –CC
4. Jack Wenninger, RHP, Illinois
Class: 2023
What He Did: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 KWenninger threw a complete game shutout against Ohio State on Saturday, and became the first Illini pitcher since Ty Weber in 2018 to throw a complete game. He retired the final 21 batters he saw in the outing and sat 93-94 mph with his fastball while getting up to 97 at peak velocity. He paired a 12-to-6 curveball and a low-to-mid-80s changeup with arm-side diving action with the fastball in this outing—the change in particular looked solid. –CC
5. Jake Bloss, RHP, Georgetown
Class: 2023
What He Did: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 KBloss has been close to lights out for Georgetown this spring, and had arguably his most dominant start last Saturday against St. John’s. The 6-foot-2 righthander struck out a season-high 12 batters and allowed just a single hit and walk over his seven innings, lowering his ERA from 2.42 to 2.14 in the process. He now leads the Big East with 71 strikeouts on the season. –CC
6. Jeremiah Jenkins, 1B, Maine
Class: 2024
What He Did: 11-for-18 (.611), 3 HR, 3 2B, 7 R, 11 RBIJenkins continued to establish himself as one of the best mid-major bats in the country with an 11-for-18 week in which he recorded four-straight multi-hit games. The 6-foot-4 first baseman started his week with a bang by going 4-for-5 with a double, two home runs and six RBIs against Merrimack. In the series finale against Massachusetts-Lowell, Jenkins went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs, an effort that helped propel Maine to a key conference win. On the season, Jenkins is hitting .404 with 11 doubles and 17 home runs, while his 65 RBIs are tied for sixth nationally. -PF
7. Caden Grice, LHP/1B, Clemson
Class: 2023
What He Did: 8 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, | 7-for-16 (.438), 2 HR, 3 2B, 4 R, 10 RBIIn his Saturday start, Grice set new career highs in both innings pitched with eight and strikeouts with nine. After logging just 16 total innings across his freshman and sophomore seasons, Grice has come into his own this season as a member of Clemson’s weekend rotation. He will run his fastball up to 95 mph and supplement it with a slurvy slider that flashes above-average, as well as a changeup with sharp downward bite. Through 43.2 innings, Grice has pitched his way to a 3.50 ERA with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 57-to-23. Grice also went 7-for-16 at the plate with three doubles and two home runs, raising his season average to .312 in the process. -PF
8. Blake Evans, SS, Georgia Southern
Class: 2023
What He Did: 8-for-13 (.615), 2 HR, 2 2B, 4 R, 9 RBIEvans landed on this week’s Hot Sheet due in large part to a 5-for-6 outburst on Saturday in which he doubled, hit two home runs and had five RBIs. Georgia Southern scored a program-record 35 runs in the game so there was plenty of offense to go around, but Evans’ performance particularly stood out. To cap off the weekend, Evans hit another double and drove in two more runs. He is now hitting .323 with seven doubles, six home runs and 31 RBIs in 43 games played. -PF
9. Garrett Yawn, RHP, Long Island
Class: 2023
What He Did: 9 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 11 KThe 2023 season had been a bit of a struggle for Yawn entering play last weekend. He rebounded with a career day against Delaware State, though, and struck out 11 batters in a complete game effort where he scattered four hits and a single earned run. His 11 strikeouts topped his previous season high by four and he lowered his ERA more than a full run, from 7.78 to 6.52. -CC
10. Matt Duffy, RHP, Canisius
Class: 2023
What He Did: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 14 KDuffy punched out a career-high 14 batters against Saint Peter’s last Friday, and he moved into the No. 2 all-time spot on Canisius’ strikeout leaderboard—with 238. Duffy sat just 89-91 with his fastball and touched 93, but he overwhelmed the opposing lineup with that heater and racked up 15 swings and misses with the pitch. Duffy now has a 34.7% strikeout rate on the season, which is the best mark he’s had in his career. –CC
11. Tanner Hall, RHP, Southern Mississippi
Class: 2023
What He Did: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 15 KHall’s season got off to a rocky start, but since about mid-March he’s been locked in and last Friday he struck out a career-high 15 batters against Arkansas State. His pitch plot from the game is a thing of beauty for anyone who appreciates keeping the ball down, and he generated 12 whiffs with his 89-92 mph fastball and 15 with his mid-80s changeup. Hall hasn’t been quite as dominant as his 2022 season, but he now has a 2.77 ERA that is just a tick below his 2.81 mark from a year ago. –CC
12. Jeron Williams, SS, Toledo
Class: 2023
What He Did: 11-for-22 (.500), 2 HR, 4 2B, 8 R, 4 RBI, 4-4 SBWilliams has hit safely in 39 of 44 games this spring, and last week he put together a pair of three-hit games and two more two-hit games. He’s now the No. 2 hitter in the Mid-American Conference with a .395 average, but perhaps more impressive is the fact that he’s leading the country with 39 stolen bases—six clear of No. 2 Cameron Jones of Georgia State. Williams went 23-for-24 (95.8%) in stolen base attempts in 2022 and he is currently 39-for-43 (90.1%) this season. –CC
13. Kevin Keister, 2B, Maryland
Class: 2023
What He Did: 11-for-21 (.524), 4 HR, 3 2B, 10 R, 15 RBITwo Maryland hitters on this week’s Hot Sheet should tell you a little bit about how the program’s week went overall. Keister had multi-hit efforts in all five games last week, highlighted by back-to-back two-homer games against Maryland-Baltimore County and Georgetown in midweek matchups. –CC
14. Tyler Davis, 1B/RHP, Sam Houston State
Class: 2023
What He Did: 11-for-19 (.579), 2 HR, 5 2B, 9 R, 10 RBIDavis had an incredibly productive four-game week, notching multiple hits in each of his games played. Most impressively, Davis went 5-for-7 with two doubles, a home run and four RBIs on Friday. What might be most fascinating about Davis is that coming into this season he had logged just 20 collegiate at-bats across three seasons. In his first year as an everyday member of the lineup, he’s proven to be a star with a .453 average to go along with 17 doubles, five home runs and 44 RBIs. -PF
15. J.J Wetherholt, 2B, West Virginia
Class: 2024
What He Did: 9-for-17 (.529), 3 HR, 1 3B, 8 R, 9 RBIFollowing a Freshman All-American campaign in 2022 that saw Wetherholt slash .308/.411/.471, the sophomore second baseman has cemented himself as one of the top hitters in all of college baseball in 2023. Last week was nothing out of the ordinary for Wetherholt, who went 9-for-17 with three home runs. In the Mountaineers’ midweek game against Penn State Wetherholt went 2-for-3 with a home run and five RBIs before collecting three hits in each of the last two games of West Virginia’s weekend series with Baylor. Wetherholt’s .463 average ranks third nationally, while he also has 17 doubles and 11 home runs. He is a plus runner, and his 31 stolen bases are tied for the third-highest total in the country. It is hard to find a more well-rounded player than Wetherholt in college baseball, and he is well on his way to hearing his name called quite early in the 2024 draft. -PF
16. Jay Thomason, 3B, Air Force
Class: 2023
What He Did: 10-for-15 (.667), 3 HR, 2 2B, 7 R, 12 RBIThomason made waves in early April by hitting a 523-foot home run, but he has been Air Force’s most productive hitter all season. Although the Falcons played just three games for the week, Thomason made the most of it by collecting 10 hits. He had the best individual performance of any hitter in the country on Sunday by going 6-for-6 with a double, two home runs and 10 RBIs. Thomason has 17 of Air Force’s 45 total home runs, and is also hitting .320 with 54 RBIs. -PF
17. Luke Keaschall, 2B, Arizona State
Class: 2023
What He Did: 11-for-21 (.524), 4 HR, 4 2B, 9 R, 7 RBIKeaschall had an excellent week overall, but two particularly strong performances were where the majority of the week’s production stemmed from. The first came last Tuesday against Cal State Fullerton in which he went 5-for-5 with two doubles, a home run and two RBIs. The next was a 3-for-3 day with a double and two home runs in Arizona State’s second game against No. 17 Oregon. The junior second baseman has been one of college baseball’s best hitters this season to the tune of a .375 average with 14 home runs, and his 23 doubles rank first nationally. -PF
18. Brock Vradenburg, 1B, Michigan State
Class: 2023
What He Did: 8-for-14 (.571), 2 HR, 5 2B, 8 R, 11 RBIThe towering 6-foot-7 first baseman mashed his way to another productive week in which he had at least one extra-base hit in each of his four games. Vradenburg laced multiple hits in three of his four games, but it was a week highlighted by a 3-for-3, two-home run, four-RBI effort in Michigan State’s series-clinching victory on Saturday over Northwestern. Vradenburg’s .442 average ranks fifth nationally, but he also has 18 doubles and 12 home runs to go along with a walk-to-strikeout ratio of 28-to-20. -PF
19. Anthony Arguelles, RHP, Virginia Tech
Class: 2023
What He Did: 7.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 KArguelles was masterful in Virginia Tech’s lone win over North Carolina this past weekend. Against a strong Tar Heels lineup, the Miami transfer spun 7.1 shutout innings and punched out seven. He sequenced his pitches extremely well, which kept UNC hitters off balance all afternoon. Arguelles’ fastball topped out at 93 mph and he pitched comfortably in the 90-92 range for the entirety of his outing. His most effective pitch was a tight-spinning slider that was similar in shape to a cutter with slight horizontal bite, but it generated eight of Arguelles’ 17 swings and misses on the day. Arguelles lowered his ERA from 5.97 to 5.00 and has 43 strikeouts in 45 innings pitched this season. -PF
20. Keaton Anthony, DH, Iowa
Class: 2023
What He Did: 7-for-9 (.778), 1 HR, 1 2B, 6 R, 4 RBIsAnthony only made two outs in three games last week, which included a 5-for-6 game against Penn State where he homered, doubled and drove in four runs. Anthony has been the Hawkeyes’ best hitter this season and is hitting .396 with 22 doubles, nine home runs and 38 RBIs in 42 games. He has a physical build and with a combination of advanced feel for the barrel and quick hands, is able to spray the ball all over the field with authority. -PF
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