2021 Texas A&M Baseball Preview

2020 record (RPI): 15-3 (15)

2019 record (RPI): 39-23-1, 16-13-1 SEC (18)

Coach: Rob Childress (16th season at Texas A&M, 593-309-3)

Rank in preseason polls: 26 (Collegiate Baseball), 33 (NCBWA), RV - 36th (USA Today Coaches Poll)

Rank in conference forecasts: 6th in SEC West (D1Baseball)

Last NCAA Tournament appearance: 2019 (No. 2 seed, runner-up in Morgantown Regional)

Home field: Blue Bell Park (6,100)

Left: 330, left center: 375, center: 400, right center: 375, right: 330

With a dominant 1-2 punch at the top of its weekend rotation, Texas A&M figured to not only be a factor in the SEC race, but also potentially make some noise in the postseason.

Led by Asa Lacy and Christian Roa, the Aggies had a sub-3.00 ERA as a team and were averaging a whopping 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings, which ranked second nationally. Although Roa struggled in his last two outings, Lacy was as good as advertised, posting a 0.75 ERA with 46 strikeouts in 24 innings across four starts.

Texas A&M was also off to a hot start at the plate. Led by Zach DeLoach, the Aggies were slashing .296/.418/.468 as a team - all three of which ranked among the top 32 nationally - with 19 home runs in 18 games.

That combination helped Texas A&M breeze through its first 10 games without a loss, but then it ran into some problems against some good competition at the Frisco Classic. The Aggies dropped a 1-0 pitcher’s duel to Illinois, got blown out by UCLA and lost a heartbreaker to Oklahoma State.

They did bounce back with five straight wins before the start of SEC play, but that’s when the season was called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.

As it turns the page to 2021, Texas A&M will be without Lacy, its highest draft pick in school history at fourth overall, as well as Roa and DeLoach, both of whom were second-round picks.

Much like the rest of the SEC, though, the Aggies returned several players unexpectedly because of the shortened MLB Draft and the universal eligibility relief granted by the NCAA. On paper, they seem to be deeper offensive and on the mound, but it’s hard to judge them because so is everyone else.

With the season on the horizon, there are still quite a few intriguing position battles that Childress will have to sort through. There is no shortage of talent, with most of those fighting for spots having extensive experience in college - either in College Station, at the JUCO level or with another college.

The good news is Texas A&M has 19 non-conference games - highlighted by a tough slate at the Round Rock Classic - before it enters SEC play, including a pair of midweek games each of the first three weeks that should give Childress a look at all of his options.

Although the Aggies aren’t in the top 25 of any of the major preseason polls, they are just outside in most of them and figure to once again be in the conversation as a fringe regional host or tough No. 2 seed.

Between traditional transfers, JUCO transfers, incoming freshmen and returners, Texas A&M has a lot players who will find themselves on the bench this year but are talented enough to start on previous versions of the Aggies in recent years.

There are competitions at virtually every spot despite not losing much from last year’s team, but it seems as though the speedy Ray Alejo - who is in his sixth year of college baseball - has locked down the job in center field after hitting .300 during the shortened 2020 campaign.

Elsewhere in the outfield, Logan Britt is likely the frontrunner to replace DeLoach in right field. With a 96 mph fastball, he could pitch some, but that’s still a project. On the other side of Alejo, we went with Logan Sartori in left field, but Bryan Sturges and Jordan Thompson are another two options if Sartori ends up in the infield. Sturges and Thompson are both proven hitters at the collegiate level - Sturges at Howard C.C. and UTSA and Thompson at Incarnate Word and Grayson C.C.

Thompson is actually one of two players to take the Incarnate Word to Grayson C.C. to Texas A&M path, as that’s exactly what his best friend, Taylor Smith, has done. Smith could potentially unseat fifth-year senior Mikey Hoehner behind the plate at catcher, but his bat is good enough - as evidenced by his 16 homers as a freshman - to keep him in the lineup as the designated hitter, which is what we projected.

Smith is even capable of playing first base, but there’s no shortage of options there. During the shortened season, Hunter Coleman (who can also catch) and Will Frizzell had nearly identical stat lines, each hitting three homers with 12 RBIs and having batting averages separated by just five points. Coleman hit cleanup on the 2017 team that made it to Omaha has the better glove, but Frizzell - at 6-foot-3, 235 pounds - is the more physical presence at the plate and has power to all fields.

The heart and soul of the Aggies is Bryce Blaum. A natural leadoff hitter, his natural gifts may not be as good as others at second base, but the Ole Miss transfer is productive and has a high motor.

On the left side of the infield, Taylor Werner - who can also pitch, but more on that later - is transitioning from shortstop to third base, where his 6-foot-3, 220-pound frame is more of a fit. He could also play first, but seems to have beaten out Sartori at third.

Sartori hit .364 in 16 games in 2020, his first at Texas A&M after transferring in from Hutchinson C.C., though, and is swinging the bat so well that he’ll find a spot in the lineup. He could edge out Werner or Blaum in the infield, or start at designated hitter, but we’ve penciled him in to start in left.

Another reason behind Werner’s move to third is to make room for Kalae Harrison, an incoming freshman from Hawaii and the younger brother of former Oregon State standout KJ Harrison. He’s a smooth defender and the frontrunner at shortstop, but fellow incoming freshman Cade Merka has a better bat and is pushing him for that spot.

A few other guys to keep an eye on who could push for playing time either in the field or as a designated hitter include JUCO transfers Austin Bost, Rody Barker and Zane Schmidt.

Lacy and Roa may be gone, but the Aggies still have a really nice balance of righties and lefties at their disposal. In fact, they have enough high-end southpaws that they could go with an all-lefty rotation like they did in 2019.

However, it’s expected that Bryce Miller will make the transition from key bullpen arm to Friday night starter for Texas A&M this year. The right-hander likely would have been selected had last summer’s MLB Draft been 10 rounds, but instead, he will be back as a fourth-year junior.

Not only has Miller touched 97 mph with his fastball, but he’s developed a third pitch and is working on a fourth. That’s one reason he’s been limited to the bullpen in the past. He did well as a starter in summer ball and has continued progressing since returning to College Station.

There’s a good chance that the two starters after him in the weekend rotation are southpaws, though.

The order could change, but it seems like Chris Weber and Dustin Saenz are the frontrunners to pitch on Saturday and Sunday.

Weber has been a semi-mainstay in the rotation while also coming out of the bullpen. He’s averaged 11.0 strikeouts per nine innings over the past two seasons. Saenz has always had the talent and has even started nine games over his first three years with the Aggies, but he hasn’t quite been able to put it all together. It seemed to click last season before the shutdown and he’s made a strong push for the rotation this preseason.

Another intriguing option to star is Jonathan Childress (no relation to head coach Rob Childress). He was the No. 35 overall player in the country back in the Class of 2018, according to Perfect Game, but went undrafted because of signability concerns. With the Aggies, he needed Tommy John surgery after just three starts as a freshman in 2019 and made only four starts before the shutdown last year. In those seven games, he has a 1.98 ERA.

Although he’s been a starter before, Chandler Jozwiak appears to be a bridge guy for Texas A&M this season. He’s always been really good the first time through the lineup before getting roughed up the second and third time through the order. The left-hander doesn’t have overwhelming stuff, but knows how to pitch, which makes him a key bullpen arm.

Texas A&M could have a right-left duo in the closer role this year. With a fastball that sits 96-98 mph and touches triple digits, right-hander Trevor Werner could come into the game in any high-leverage situation in the final three innings of a game. If the Aggies need a lefty, Joseph Menefee - a Freshman All-SEC selection in 2019 - could close out a game. He was a top-100 prospect coming out of high school, but Tommy John surgery led to him making it to campus..

There are a few other right-handers who could see a lot of action out of the bullpen. Two of them were freshmen last year, in Mason Ornelas and Alex Magers. Granted it was a small sample size, but both were very good in 2020.

Ornelas used wipeout changeup to post a 1.08 ERA with 13 strikeouts and only one walk in 8 1/3 innings, which earned him Freshman All-America accolades from Collegiate Baseball, while Magers posted a 1.69 ERA in 5 1/3 innings.

Two newcomers to watch are Chris Farrell and Wyatt Tucker.

Farrell is a graduate transfer from William & Mary who has struggled with command throughout his career, but still been effective at the Division I level. Even the last two seasons, when he had a 1.81 ERA and held opponents to a .198 batting average, he had 40 walks and 12 wild pitches in 59 1/3 innings.

Among the true freshman, Tucker seems to have the best shot at contributing, as he was just outside of Perfect Game’s top 300 prospects in the 2020 class.