*Photo from Stanford Athletics*
Since we remain in the midst of the MLB lockout, and there is no sign there will be a conclusion soon, I put up a poll on the Strikeout Central twitter page, asking the followers if they would like to see college baseball game recaps if there is a delay to the MLB season. The majority said yes, so I figured that if there would be college baseball game recaps, I should do some season previews.
It's time to wrap up the power 5 conference season previews for the 2022. Last, but not least, it's time to take a look at the Pac 12, the west coast boys. How is this group shaping up this season?
Stanford Cardinal
Coming off their first college world series berth since 2008, Stanford has a high chance of winning the Pac 12 this season. All American outfielder Brock Jones leads the lineup for another season, who is also a member of USA Baseball's collegiate national team. Manager David Esquer has his work cut out for him this year, and it's to succeed.
Oregon State Beavers
The Beavers are looking for their first conference title since 2017, at the direction of manager Mitch Canham. They are nationally ranked entering the season by USA Today, so they have some pretty lofty expectations. Cooper Hjerpe, the leader of the rotation, will help the Beavers get closer to Omaha as they look to win their first title since 2018.
Arizona Wildcats
Preseason All-American Daniel Susac leads the Wildcats into battle this year, ironically as a game leader himself, as he is a catcher. Chip Hale is taking over the squad as a first year coach, hoping to lead Arizona to Omaha in back to back years, which hasn't been done since Hale was a player for the Wildcats in the mid 1980's.
UCLA Bruins
After being picked as favorites last season, UCLA has not gotten that again. But they do have some talent. Max Rajcic, who was a true freshman closer last season, is transitioning him and his electric stuff to the rotation this year as a likely weekend starter. He'll be a player to watch as they try to get back to Omaha for the first time since 2013.
Oregon Ducks
Losing Aaron Zavala to the draft is going to hurt. The Ducks don't have a whole lot of impact players that are known nationally. They are hoping they can find a diamond in the rough this season to try and make up for the loss of Zavala. The USA today poll likes them, but they have some work to do.
The rest of the conference
- California Golden Bears
- USC Trojans
- Arizona State Sun Devils
- Washington State Cougars
- Utah Utes
- Washington Huskies
Comments
Post a Comment