Top 25 Chat (April 18)

Teddy Cahill: Welcome to this week’s college baseball chat. A bit of a new look to the Top 25 this week after an exciting weekend of games. So let’s get to your questions.

Brian (Atlanta): Regardless of rankings, would anyone actually pick Miami as the national champion over Florida?
Teddy Cahill: Let’s start at the top, where Miami remains at No. 1 and Florida moved up to No. 2. I’m sure you could find someone who would pick Miami. The Hurricanes have played really well this season. But the Gators did win that series, which was in Miami. A lot has happened in the almost two months since they played, but I would imagine that the majority of college baseball pundits would pick Florida. I will say that I would love to see those two teams meet in the finals in Omaha. That would be an outstanding series.

Steve (Georgia): I heard Senzel used to be a catcher, do you think scouts take this into consideration or is he only 3B for now?
Teddy Cahill: Senzel hasn’t caught at Tennessee and, as far as I know, there’s been no talk about trying him behind the plate. Generally, teams don’t try to convert elite college hitters to catching because that slows down their progress to the big leagues. Senzel is likely going to be a third baseman as a pro, though I don’t think its out of the question that he ends up in left field. Regardless, the expectation is that he will hit.

CollegeBball32 (Alabama): No love for Alabama baseball this weekend? Starting pitchers held Ole Miss hitters to 12 singles through the entire series. 45th ranked RPI and in the mix for post season play in the best conference in the country.
Teddy Cahill: It was a very nice series win for Alabama and it got the Crimson Tide back in the discussion for the Top 25. But we weren’t ready to bring Alabama back into the rankings this week. I am, however, very interested to see how Alabama’s pitching does against the red-hot Texas A&M offense this weekend. Should be a good series in College Station.

Brian (Philly): What do you think of the Big Ten and Michigan State in particular? Who are the top draft prospects out of the B1G?
Teddy Cahill: The Big Ten is a solid conference again this year. Michigan, Michigan State and Minnesota all look like regional type teams right now, and I wouldn’t bet against the conference getting a fourth team in the tournament. Maryland is hanging around with a decent RPI, Indiana is playing well after a disappointing start, Penn State started conference play well, and Nebraska is a good team, despite getting swept at Michigan this weekend. As for top prospects, I’d probably still say Nebraska CF Ryan Boldt. Illinois RHP Cody Sedlock has good stuff and Michigan lhp/1b Carmen Benedetti has been very good. Definitely a league worth watching.

Jordan (Hattiesburg): What are Southern Miss chances to host a regional still after a weekend loss to UAB? They have the schedule to work there way back up if they can win
Teddy Cahill: We talked about this a bit on the podcast today, which will be up later in the day. But Southern Mississippi should still be able to play its way into hosting. The next two weekends are huge for the Golden Eagles, with Rice coming this weekend and a visit to Florida Atlantic next weekend. Win those series and Southern Miss would be in the driver’s seat to win Conference USA and capture a hosting spot. But if they don’t get it done there, the Golden Eagles will probably be outside the hosting picture. Losing this weekend at Alabama-Birmingham wasn’t good, but it won’t torpedo their chances if they take care of business the next two weekends.

CBB16 (Ft. Myers, FL): What do you make of the ACC muddle in the middle? Can teams like ND, Duke, and Wake play themselves onto the bubble?
Teddy Cahill: It’s a mess. Theoretically, any of those teams could. But they’re going to have to win some tough series. Notre Dame probably has the toughest remaining schedule of those teams with visits to North Carolina and Florida State, as well as two midweek games against LSU, But the Fighting Irish are playing well now and are probably the most talented of those teams. So if I had to pick one, I’d say them, but all three have shown their capable of beating good teams.

Brian (Omaha): Settle this for me. All of the Husker homers here keep calling Ryan Boldt a first round pick. Maybe it's that I've seen him play too much. He doesn't hit for all that much power and seems to strike out quite a bit. He plays great defense and has a good average. He has speed, but gets caught stealing 33% of the time... Not horrible numbers, but it is Big Ten baseball. Has his stock dropped since high school, or can he still be a first rounder?
Teddy Cahill: Well, I may be the high man on Ryan Boldt, but I love that guy. I don’t think you’re giving him enough credit for his power, which is up this year with more in the tank. I think he’s a really good player, and, if you look at the reports, is pretty similar to what people were saying about AJ Pollock when he was coming out of Notre Dame. So, I think he could be a first rounder. He probably won’t be, however, because it seems like the majority opinion is not as bullish as I am. My guess is he goes in the second round, but we’ll see. Still a lot of time to go before the draft.

James (Maryland): The Terps can't seem to get it all together. Is this a team that ends up being on the outside of the final 64 when all is said and done?
Teddy Cahill: Maryland has been tough to figure out. The good news, is that the Big Ten schedule appears to lighten a bit here, with three of its next four conference series at home before closing at Michigan State. The bad news is that the Terps have had some trouble taking care of business this season and are running out of time to hit their stride. Maryland’s RPI will probably take a hit this week just for playing Purdue and it won’t have much of a showcase series until visiting Michigan State. So it’s quite possible the Terps end up on the wrong side of the bubble, but I think they’re destined to be bubblicious right down to the end.

John Ray (New York): Can you think of a player highly touted that was highly touted that started out slow and has picked it up and same question for a team on the move?
Teddy Cahill: I’m struggling to come up with an individual player, though I’m sure there’s someone obvious I’m missing. As for a team, Oregon has come on well the last couple weeks and finally seems to have its offense going. Rice wasn’t down as long, but after two rough weekends, the Owls have obviously been playing really well.

Teddy Cahill: Always enjoyable to talk college baseball, so thank you for all your questions today. And if I didn’t get to yours, just leave it in the comments and I’ll try to circle back to it there.