Ranking The 25 Biggest Holes To Fill On College Baseball Rosters In 2021

1. Arizona State’s infield

Spencer Torkelson is the headliner among the players ASU lost to the draft, but the Sun  Devils also lost the left side of their infield in third baseman Gage Workman and shortstop Alika Williams. That contributed quite a bit to the Torkelson-led offense, but they were also both elite defensive players. Drew Swift, a three-year starter at second base, returns and figures to man one of the positions up the middle. Arizona State’s incoming class also provides reinforcements in shortstop Hunter Haas, third baseman Ethan Long and first baseman Jack Moss.

2. New Mexico State shortstop Nick Gonzales

The best player in New Mexico State history, Gonzales did a little bit of everything for the Aggies, including hitting for average and power, stealing bases and manning both middle infield positions. The Aggies hit the transfer portal for redshirt sophomore Brandon Dieter, who spent the last two years at Stanford, and he figures to step in at shortstop for Gonzales. It’ll be a tough task, however, and while NMSU might find other impact players, it’s hard to imagine any one player replacing Nick Gonzales in Las Cruces. 

3. Oklahoma’s rotation

Oklahoma’s 2020 rotation of righthanders Cade Cavalli and Dane Acker, and lefthander Levi Prater showed well in four weeks of baseball earlier this year, which had a hand in all three being drafted this summer before the Sooners were able to fully reap the rewards of building a rotation that stout. In 2021, they’ll be starting fresh. Redshirt freshman lefthander Jake Bennett, the Sooners’ midweek starter in 2020, and redshirt sophomore righthander Wyatt Olds, who this spring struck out 29 batters in 19 innings, give Oklahoma some strong building blocks.

4. Georgia’s rotation

Georgia came into the 2020 season as a potential national title contender, largely based on confidence in a weekend rotation fronted by righthanders Emerson Hancock and Cole Wilcox. With Hancock and Wilcox drafted and now in pro baseball, the Bulldogs now begin the process of rebuilding the rotation. Replacing Hancock and Wilcox won’t be easy, but the Bulldogs still have a wealth of arms to work with. Redshirt junior lefthander C.J. Smith, who served as the team’s Sunday starter in 2020 and has made 18 career starts, returns, as does redshirt freshman righthander Garrett Brown, who made four midweek starts in 2020. Redshirt junior lefthander Ryan Webb has established himself as a bullpen ace, but his stuff would play in the rotation. Redshirt freshmen righthanders Jonathan Cannon and Will Childers have premium stuff, and the Bulldogs’ incoming freshman class is not short on pitching with lefthanders Luke Wagner and Jaden Woods best positioned to step into the rotation. 

5. Louisville’s rotation

Lefthander Reid Detmers masterfully fronted the Louisville rotation in 2019, and in 2020, it appeared that righthander Bobby Miller was prepared to make the jump from being an excellent arm to becoming an excellent pitcher. The shortened season kept that from playing out fully, and now, the Cardinals will look to build a rotation around returning senior righthander Luke Smith. They will also get back righthander Jack Perkins, who missed this spring due to Tommy John surgery, and can move redshirt freshman lefthander Micheal Prosecky into the weekend rotation after he served as the team’s midweek starter in 2020.

6. Vanderbilt center fielder Austin Martin

Even at a program that reloads as well as Vanderbilt does, the loss of a player of Martin’s quality will be felt. Players who can hit over .400 against SEC pitching and who happen to be skilled enough to handle center field, third base and second base don’t come around all that often. Vanderbilt has no shortage of talent and incoming freshman Enrique Bradfield’s elite speed can play right away in center field, but there’s no easy way to replace the most dynamic player in the country. 

7. Minnesota righthander/DH Max Meyer

As long as Minnesota had Max Meyer in the rotation, you knew the team had a chance to win every series and had the potential to be a dangerous squad if it could reach the postseason. The latter didn’t happen after Meyer’s freshman season as a closer, and now, the Gophers will be looking for a pitcher to give them that type of confidence on Fridays. Meyer, an excellent athlete, doubled as the team’s DH, but it’s on the mound that his loss will be felt the most. The pitcher with the biggest impact potential on Minnesota’s roster is redshirt sophomore righthander JP Massey, but he’s thrown just 44.1 innings for the Gophers and replacing the No. 3 overall pick in the draft would be a big ask.

8. Miami’s rotation

With a rotation of Chris McMahon, Slade Cecconi and Brian Van Belle, the Hurricanes were perhaps poised for a deep postseason run. The canceled season ended those hopes early, and now, after McMahon and Cecconi were drafted and Van Belle signed as a free agent, Miami will be starting from scratch. Perhaps that presents an opportunity for UM’s standout recruiting class to shine. Righthanders Victor Mederos, Alejandro Rosario and Jake Smith were all ranked inside the top 150 on the BA 500 ahead of the draft but went undrafted. Smith, as an accomplished junior college pitcher, appears to be a ready-made rotation option for the Hurricanes. 

9. Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad

A few years down the line, Kjerstad might end up being the player most associated with this current run of success for Arkansas, arguably the best stretch in program history. The outfielder started hitting as soon as he stepped on campus and never stopped, ending his career with a .343/.421/.590 slash line. Christian Franklin, one of the most dynamic players in the country, will help make up for Kjerstad’s missing production in the outfield, and a lineup built around Franklin and second baseman Robert Moore is still one that has a lot of potential. 

10. Texas A&M’s rotation

There’s no doubt that Texas A&M will miss lefthander Asa Lacy, the latest in a long line of productive A&M staff aces who have moved on to pro baseball. After a season as a reliever and a season as the Saturday starter behind John Doxakis, Lacy took over on Fridays in 2020 and thrived, striking out 46 in 24 innings. Also losing righthander Christian Roa, as the Aggies did, makes rebuilding the rotation a bit tougher, but they always have quality arms on staff. Lefthander Jonathan Childress, who had a 1.84 ERA in his four starts in 2020, is one such quality arm. 

11. North Carolina first baseman Aaron Sabato

With six home runs in his final six games, Sabato had to be as disappointed as any that the 2020 season was canceled when it was. With 25 career home runs in just 83 career games for the slugging first baseman, it won’t be easy for North Carolina to find middle-of-the-order power like Sabato’s. Going into 2020, there were plenty of questions about where Sabato’s lineup support would come from. Outfielder Dylan Harris was off to a hot start and might have been that guy, but he signed as a free agent with the Orioles this summer. Now, the Tar Heels have lost the only two players who hit more than two home runs this spring. Finding a power threat for 2021 will be key.

12. North Carolina State catcher Patrick Bailey

When Patrick Bailey arrived on campus, NC State knew it was getting an elite defensive catcher, but it wasn’t sure what to expect offensively. In the end, they got an outstanding player in both regards, with Bailey providing a high level of defense and hitting .302/.411/.568 with 29 homers in his career. Luca Tresh is an intriguing option to succeed Bailey, particularly offensively, given his impressive power. He hammered six home runs in fewer than 100 plate appearances in 2019 and already had three homers in 11 games in 2020 at the time the season ended. 

13. Mississippi State’s middle infield

Middle infield tandems don’t come much more productive than the Mississippi State combination of second baseman Justin Foscue and shortstop Jordan Westburg. After the pair combined for 65 extra-base hits in 2019, both had better than .300/.400/.500 slash lines in 2020. The Bulldogs will have options to replace the pair defensively, but it’s unlikely that their new double play combination will provide as much offense as Foscue and Westburg. They’ll need some other parts of the lineup to step up in that regard.

14. Arizona catchers Austin Wells and Matthew Dyer

Arizona went into the season with two players, Austin Wells and Matthew Dyer, who were proven mashers that could also handle the catcher position. The Wildcats will now go into 2021 with neither of them in the fold after Wells was a first-round pick of the Yankees and Dyer went in the fifth round to the Mets. The innings behind the plate might now be turned over to freshman Daniel Susac, who was ranked No. 118 on the BA 500. Offensively, the Wildcats should still have plenty of firepower thanks to the return of outfielders Ryan Holgate, Mac Bingham and Donta Williams, first baseman Brandon Boissiere and shortstop Jacob Blas. 

15. Duke righthander Bryce Jarvis

Even in the small sample size of four weeks, Bryce Jarvis announced himself as one of the elite arms in college baseball in 2020, throwing a perfect game against Cornell on the way to putting up a 0.67 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 27 innings. His spot will be tough to fill in the Duke rotation. The Blue Devils have done an extremely good job of developing pitchers throughout their careers, so it stands to reason that someone will fill this void, even if they aren’t quite as dominant as Jarvis was in 2020. Righthander Cooper Stinson, who was nearly as good as Jarvis by some measures this past season, would seem to be the best bet. 

16. Florida State’s rotation

What Florida State could count on going into the offseason was losing its Friday night starter, righthander C.J. Van Eyk, to the draft. That happened when Van Eyk was taken by the Blue Jays. What the Seminoles might not have predicted is losing lefthanders Shane Drohan and Antonio Velez, the former as a Red Sox draftee and the latter as a free agent signing of the Marlins. Had they come back in 2021, those two likely would have been a big part of a rotation without Van Eyk, and without them, FSU will have more question marks in that regard. The void may present an opportunity for freshman righthander Carson Montgomery. At No. 36 in the BA 500, Montgomery is the highest-ranked player from this class to make it to college. 

17. Clemson’s rotation

Clemson went into the 2020 season in need of an ace to front the rotation, and lefthander Sam Weatherly provided that, striking out 43 and limiting opponents to a .096 batting average in 22.2 innings, with a 0.79 ERA to show for it. In 2021, the Tigers will need someone to step up all over again. The most obvious candidate among returning pitchers is righthander Davis Sharpe, who is also a key piece of the Clemson lineup. Sharpe has now had parts of two seasons as a steady member of the weekend rotation, but he hasn’t yet made the jump to being the dominant Friday arm that Weatherly developed into in 2020. To make things tougher, Clemson also lost righthander Spencer Strider, the third member of its rotation, in the fourth round to the Braves. The Tigers will need redshirt freshman righthander Mack Anglin to improve on his debut performance.

18. Mississippi’s infield

Third baseman Tyler Keenan and shortstop Anthony Servideo were off to scalding starts in 2020, which was a continuation of what Keenan has done his entire career and a breakout for Servideo. Replacing one of those guys in a given offseason would be a tall enough task, but the Rebels will be replacing both. Perhaps these departures make Mississippi less of an offensive team next year, but that might not be such a bad thing with the program welcoming back a fully intact weekend rotation of lefthander Doug Nikhazy and righthanders Gunnar Hoglund and Derek Diamond. 

19. UCLA center fielder Garrett Mitchell

Mitchell did a lot of heavy lifting for UCLA. He hit at the top of the order, putting up a career .327/.393/.478 slash line, and used his speed to steal bases (28 in his career) and to patrol center field. Those in the program will also tell you that there is raw power there that could have made Mitchell a middle-of-the-order slugger if that had been his role. His departure into pro baseball leaves holes at a key defensive position and in the lineup. Offensively, with the return of shortstop Matt McLain, versatile infielder Mikey Perez, first baseman J.T. Schwartz, second baseman/outfielder Michael Curialle and catcher Noah Cardenas, the Bruins should be fine. The void defensively may be harder to fill, with Mitchell and McLain the only two players to have played center field the last two seasons, with McLain unlikely to now move off of shortstop. 

20. Auburn righthander Tanner Burns

Tanner Burns wasn’t the same level of prospect as Emerson Hancock or Asa Lacy, but he was every bit of a traditional workhorse starting pitcher for Auburn. In 188.2 career innings, he had a 2.86 ERA and 210 strikeouts, and in 2019, helped the Tigers to their first College World Series appearance since 1997. Auburn has had an unquestioned ace throughout the Butch Thompson era, from Keegan Thompson to Casey Mize and, most recently, Burns. Lefthander Jack Owen would appear to be best positioned to take that mantle thanks to his track record, but he doesn’t have dynamic stuff. The Tigers have the makings of another strong pitching staff, but will need to sort out how it lines up.

21. San Diego State third baseman/closer Casey Schmitt

Perhaps the most productive two-way player in the country over the last three years, Schmitt had an excellent career at San Diego State. Not only was he the Aztecs’ closer for three years, saving 23 games and sporting a 2.48 ERA in 87 innings, but he also hit .295/.366/.408 as a key piece in the SDSU lineup. It would be tough for any program to replace those pieces individually, much less with one player. Redshirt sophomore David Alamillo covered third base when Schmitt went on the mound and redshirt junior righthander Tre Brown was the only other Aztec to earn a save in 2020. 

22. UC Davis shortstop Tanner Murray

Tucked away at UC Davis, Tanner Murray has been one of the most talented shortstops in the country over the last couple of years. Murray flashed an outstanding hit tool in his Aggies career, putting up a career .343 average on campus, including a .364 batting average as a sophomore in 2019. The highest-drafted UC Davis player since 2008, Murray will be tough to replace at the plate, on the field—where he showed great instincts at shortstop and an above average arm—and in leadership ability, for which he has been lauded as the type of player who keeps the team loose and fun. 

23. Baylor shortstop Nick Loftin

There were flashier players and players who put up gaudier numbers in college baseball, but there’s a lot to be said about what Loftin provided for Baylor in his career. He hit .313/.371/.481 with 34 doubles and 14 home runs, all while handling the shortstop position. With Loftin having played just about every game at shortstop in 2019 and 2020, Baylor will have to open up the competition at the position ahead of the 2021 season. The good news for the Bears is that, outside of Loftin and outfielder Mack Mueller, who signed a free agent deal with the Blue Jays, they will be able to run it back in 2021 with most of the roster intact from a team that got off to a good start last season. 

24. Wake Forest lefthander Jared Shuster

Shuster’s apparent breakout season in 2020, with a 43-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 26.1 innings, was a great sign at the time for a Wake Forest team that needed consistency in the starting rotation. Now, it will have to find that again elsewhere. Perhaps that pitcher is righthander Ryan Cusick, who is enjoying a standout summer in the Coastal Plain League, and in 2021, will look to make a similar jump to the one Shuster made during the 2020 season. 

25. Arkansas-Little Rock catcher Kale Emshoff

The numbers Emshoff put up in just four weeks in 2020 are out of this world. He hit .417/.527/.800 with seven home runs in just 60 at-bats, all coming after missing all of the 2019 season due to injury. A great story of a player just continually getting better throughout his career, Emshoff’s breakout 2020 came after a solid 2018 season that saw him hit .273/.377/.415 and a tough freshman season in which he hit just .214. His departure after signing as a free agent with the Royals leaves a massive void for Little Rock. Currently, the Trojans have just one catcher listed on the early 2021 roster, double-redshirt junior John Michael Russ who saw action in a handful of games in 2020. Whether the bulk of the innings behind the plate go to Russ or a newcomer, it will be all but impossible for them to replace what Emshoff brought to the table.