The College World Series – What To Watch For
If you’re a baseball fan and haven’t tuned in to the College World Series before, now is a good time to start. The tournament is chock-full of college mainstays, and the round robin format typically generates a lot of surprises along the way, while the Omaha crowds always bring energy to the games.
The tournament this year is headlined by Texas, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee. Texas, a perennial powerhouse, features solid pitching, leading the Big 12 in ERA. While TCU won the Big 12 tournament, the Longhorns shared the regular season Big 12 title with the Horned Frogs. Head Coach David Pierce is looking for his first national championship, having made it to the College World Series with UT back in 2018. Vanderbilt is also a favorite as it is back again and looking to win its second straight national championship. Tennessee lost in the SEC finals but is looking to win its first ever baseball title.
What to watch for in College World Series
What do MLB fans have to look forward to as part of this year’s tourney? The CWS has featured a number of players who have gone on to have great success in the majors. Current players like Buster Posey (Florida St.), Alex Bregman and Aaron Nola (LSU), Walker Buehler (Vanderbilt), and Trevor Bauer and Gerrit Cole (both UCLA) all thrilled students and alumni before starring in the big leagues.
This year will likely be no different. There will be players who go on to greatness in the Majors, and maybe we’ll even get a moment like Warren Morris provided 25 years ago (Something now Red Sox manager Alex Cora got to see up close, playing for the U). With the CWS taking place in the middle of the MLB season, most fans need a compelling reason to break away from their favorite team’s games. Here are a few.
(Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)
College World Series performance will affect draft status
In recent years, the College World Series would be held prior to the MLB draft, so there weren’t any draft implications like you might have from the College Football Playoff or the NCAA basketball tourney.
Top players already knew where they were headed right after the Series was over. However, with Major League Baseball moving the draft back to the All Star Game weekend starting in 2021 (a good move that will likely bring some additional eyeballs and interest to the draft), teams now can use the CWS as an extra opportunity to evaluate some of the top players they may want to pick.
While there are only 8 teams in the CWS, some of baseball’s premier players have played in Omaha. How would baseball have been different in years gone by if teams had been able to take into account championship performance?
This year’s players will have that chance to make an impression on the big stage. What better way to show that you can deal with the pressure of playing in the majors?
Pitching Prospects Rule In Omaha
Vanderbilt has been at the top of the news cycle for college baseball in 2021, as many have discussed who would be likely to get picked at the top of this year’s draft between the pitching duo of Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter.
Both have had fantastic seasons. Leiter had a 2.16 ERA, to go with a SO/9 ratio of 14.6. Rocker had an impressive season as well, posting a 2.46 ERA along with a SO/9 of 13.2. Rocker’s home runs/9 was a little bit better at 0.6, compared to Leiter’s 1.1. Both are considered excellent prospects, so teams like the D-backs, Rockies, Orioles, Pirates, and Rangers are all going to be paying attention to the upcoming games. A good showing in the CWS could result in Leiter and Rocker going 1-2 in the upcoming draft.
There are a slew of other pitching prospects worth checking out as well. Tune in to Texas’ first game on Sunday against Mississippi St. as you might get to see All American Ty Madden, who is projected by MLB.com as the 9th best prospect in the 2021 draft.
Watch out for Mississippi State too as it has its own future pitching star in big righty Will Bednar.
Offensive Prospects To Watch
There are some powerful offensive teams in the CWS this year. Five of the top 20 teams for runs scored in 2021 made the final eight: Arizona, Tennessee, Mississippi St., Vanderbilt, and Texas. While many hitters enter the draft after graduating high school, there is still some stellar offensive talent in this year’s tournament.
Isaiah Thomas, OF, Vanderbilt – Ranked the No. 95 prospect by MLB, Thomas came up big against Georgia Tech in the final game of Vandy’s regional round, with three hits, including a grand slam.
Max Ferguson, 2B, Tennessee – The speedy Ferguson comes into the CWS looking to get his hitting back on track, as he went 3 for 17 during the regionals and super regionals.
Zack Gelof, 3B, Virginia – Gelof is a big bat for Virginia, one of the surprising teams in this year’s World Series, and led the team in total bases this year.
Ryan Holgate, OF, Arizona – Holgate had a huge game in Arizona’s clincher over Ole Miss, hitting a home run and collecting 3 hits. His .356 average for the season was top 10 in the Pac 12. To show how stacked Arizona’s offense is, that was only good enough for 3rd on his own team.
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Jose Torres, SS, NC State – Torres, who was drafted in the 24th round by the Brewers in 2019, hit three home runs in the super regional against Arkansas, helping NC State surprise the top team in the land.