Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2021 i Baseball America

Baseball America founding editor Allan Simpson had a specific vision for his magazine when it launched 40 years ago this month. On Page 2 of the February 1981 issue, under the header “What you can expect to see in All-America Baseball News,” Simpson spelled out his intention to cover all levels of baseball, “whether it be the major leagues, the minor leagues, college baseball or the amateur ranks.” The magazine was “designed to cover ALL the BASEBALL NEWS in AMERICA.” So it only made sense that its title was later shortened to Baseball America. But one page before his mission statement for BA, Simpson’s vision manifested in a different way. Longtime readers are familiar with the first BA cover. The 1981 College Preview issue features a hand-drawn illustration of Arkansas…

With the demise of the draft-and-follow rule, the golden age of junior college baseball ended in 2007. Thanks to a combination of factors, the 2020s have a chance to be a second golden age for junior college baseball. The draft-and-follow rule allowed players selected out of high school and junior college to head to junior college for one season, while the drafting team retained the player’s rights up until a week before the following draft. When Major League Baseball implemented a hard-and-fast signing deadline for the 2007 draft, it eliminated draft-and-follows—and a source of talent heading to junior colleges dried up. A year after college baseball shut down in mid March because of the coronavirus pandemic, the game returned to action on Jan. 22 with the beginning of the 2021…

Perseverance pays off for a Tigers area scout Tigers Pacific Northwest area scout Dave Dangler is a baseball lifer. He coached Curt Schilling at Yavapai (Ariz.) JC in the 1980s and has also been the head coach at Linn-Benton (Ore.) JC and Portland State. He was also the pitching coach at Washington and is one of just two coaches to take two different teams to the JUCO World Series. Dangler has scouted for multiple big league teams and is credited as the signing scout for Tigers lefthander Tarik Skubal, whom Detroit drafted in the ninth round in 2018 out of Seattle University. Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser caught up with Dangler last summer, just before Skubal made his big league debut on Aug. 18. For the full conversation, use your favorite…

Opening Day is annually a time of renewal in the game. Never before has college baseball needed that more than it does this spring. On March 12, 2020, when the NCAA canceled the College World Series, there was a sense of confusion and of loss. The season, once so promising, was halted a month after it began. In the weeks and months to follow, as the coronavirus pandemic swept around the world, much more than a season was lost. Since that day in March, sports have returned. They’re still anything but normal, but what is? Now, after its longest offseason ever, college baseball is back and has a chance to be better than ever. There is more talent in the sport because of the shortened draft and an extra year…

ADRIAN DEL CASTILLO, C MIAM Del Castillo came to campus with a reputation for hitting. He lived up to that billing, hitting .331 with 78 hits, 22 doubles and 72 RBIs—all team-bests for the Hurricanes in his 2019 freshman season. Now perceived as the best pure hitter in the 2021 draft class, Del Castillo combines exceptional barrel accuracy with strike zone discipline (43 walks, 32 strikeouts) but has defensive questions. ALEX TORAL, 1B MIAMI Toral struggled against college pitching initially at Miami, posting just a .559 OPS in 33 games as a freshman in 2018. After getting less pull-oriented and less steep in his bat path, Toral cut down his strikeouts and tapped into his massive raw power. In the shortened 2020 season, he hit .296/.435/.593 with five home runs…

TEAM TO BEAT: UCLA UCLA should be a national title contender in 2021. Pitching is the Bruins’ bread and butter again with the return of weekend starters in fourth-year junior righthander Zach Pettway (3-0, 1.05) and third-year sophomore righthanders Nick Nastrini (2-1, 4.60) and Jesse Bergin (4-0, 1.27). The bullpen should once again be a strength, with fifth-year senior righthander Kyle Mora (0.96, 9.1 IP) and fourth-year junior righthander Michael Townsend (0.00, 12 IP) back, as well as third-year sophomore righthander Sean Mullen (0.93, 9.2 IP). The UCLA lineup will be led by third-year sophomore shortstop Matt McLain (.397/.422/.621), who should be one of the most dynamic players in college baseball. Second-year freshman first baseman J.T. Schwartz (.328/.380/.391) was an impact hitter right away last season. The same can be…

National League ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS AJ Vukovich has high expectations for himself—and his experience at instructional league managed to both validate those expectations and help him realize what he needs to do to reach them. Vukovich, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound third baseman, turned in a strong performance at instructs, showing power to all fields and an impressive ability to square up balls with consistency. In the eyes of coaches and executives, Vukovich looked far more advanced as a hitter than would be expected from the 2020 fourth-rounder from East Troy (Wis.) High who had never taken a professional at-bat. “I was confident going into it because I know how much I prepared and have worked to get to that point,” Vukovich said. “I was…

Your dynasty league’s first-year player draft will not be business as usual this year. For the first time in MLB draft history, not a single draftee appeared in a minor league game in his draft year. Those players’ pro debuts were casualties of the coronavirus pandemic, which wiped away the 2020 minor league season. The lone exception was White Sox lefthander Garrett Crochet, the 11th overall pick out of Tennessee who made his major league debut in September and even appeared in one postseason game. The lack of performance data for 2020 draft picks won’t affect much at the top of 2021 dynasty draft boards. Position players drafted in the top half of the first round, such as Spencer Torkelson, Heston Kjerstad, Austin Martin, Nick Gonzales, Robert Hassell, Zac Veen…

When the Pirates selected South Alabama outfielder Travis Swaggerty 10th overall in 2018, it was just the second time in 27 years that a Jaguar was drafted among the top 10 picks in the draft. But luckily for the South Alabama program, it won’t have to wait that long again. That’s because third-year sophomore outfielder Ethan Wilson projects as a top 10 overall pick this summer if he continues his current trajectory. The pandemic may have cost him most of last season and a summer showcase opportunity in the Cape Cod League or with USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team, but it has barely put a dent in Wilson’s draft stock. Thanks to his loud offensive tools, he was voted a Preseason All-American by major league scouting directors and enters the…

As recently as four years ago, Boston College’s baseball facilities were as far from major league as any school in the Atlantic Coast Conference—and arguably of any school in a major conference. The Eagles played at Shea Field, one of oldest athletic facilities on campus. It had no bells or whistles and only a couple of batting cages. Shea Field was also next door to Alumni Stadium, the football team’s home. During the fall, it doubled as a tailgate lot for football games. A full-season parking pass cost as much as $5,000. Because of its dual use, the baseball team had to make certain accommodations. The outfield fence was temporary. Any rain on a football weekend rendered the field unusable for baseball for a week. Portable toilets were brought in…

TEAM TO BEAT: VIRGINIA While Virginia hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2017, the Cavaliers opened up the 2020 season strong (14-4) and boast a tremendous talent base entering the 2021 season. The team has done an excellent job getting high-profile prep talents to campus in recent years—most notably righthander Mike Vasil, lefthander Nate Savino and outfielder Chris Newell—and pairs that group with a number of proven veterans like third baseman Zack Gelof, lefthander Andrew Abbott and righthander Griff McGarry. With Gelof and shortstop Nic Kent, the Cavaliers have arguably the best left side of the infield in the ACC. Abbott has been an accomplished bullpen arm for Virginia since 2018 and likely would have been drafted in a typical year, but will now get a chance to transition…

American League BALTIMORE ORIOLES The Orioles scouted righthander Garrett Stallings while he was the Friday night starter at Tennessee. The 23-year-old was on their radar long before he joined the organization. Stallings followed the Orioles as a kid living in Virginia, attending games at Triple-A Norfolk and Camden Yards. His interest dates back even further. The pairing came to fruition when the Orioles traded shortstop Jose Iglesias to the Angels on Dec. 2 for Stallings and 19-year-old Venezuelan righthander Jean Pinto. “I was very excited when I was informed I was going to Baltimore,” Stallings said. “I played a few games there in high school. Being a little kid, I couldn’t believe how fast those pitchers were throwing. Getting a chance to play there…

Even at a time when the College World Series is the NCAA’s second-most profitable event, baseball programs are still trying to find ways to consistently generate revenue at the school level. This has been true since the first issue of Baseball America was published in 1981. At the time, Miami was one of the most successful programs in the nation but had seen its budget slashed by 40%. Hurricanes coach Ron Fraser, who would go on to win national championships in 1982 and ’85, found that a little ingenuity went a long way. The following excerpt is taken from the February 1981 issue of BA. The headline read “Miami’s Fraser finds way to counter budget slash,” and the story was written by Mike Smith of the Miami News. In college…

HANK AARON, the Hall of Fame outfielder and former home run king who hit 755 home runs and made 25 all-star teams in his 23-year career spent with the Braves and Brewers, died Jan. 22. He was 86. Aaron captured three Gold Glove awards, two batting titles, and in 1957 won both the NL MVP and the World Series. He finished his historic career with a .305/.374/.555 slash line and is second all-time in home runs, first in RBIs (2,297), first in total bases (6,856) and third in hits (3,771). On April 8, 1974, he hit his 715th career homer, breaking Babe Ruth’s all-time record. DALE CARTIER, who played in the minor leagues from 1954-56, died Dec. 6. He was 85. TOM GANSAUER, a lefthander who pitched in the minor…