The Preseason Top 25 of 2023 is upon us and the LSU Tigers stand alone atop our proverbial mountain. Jay Johnson and staff have put together a Wardaddy lineup with a stable of arms the envy of the rest of college baseball. Outfielder Dylan Crews enters the season as our Preseason Player of they Year. He’s complimented by a myriad of premium arms in Paul Skenes, Thatcher Hurd, Grant Taylor, Ty Floyd, Blake Money, Christian Little and more. Pitching depth was an issue at times in 2022 for the Tigers. That doesn’t appear to be a problem in 2023.
Tennessee is our No. 2 overall ranked team and it’s a close second. The Volunteers are headlined by elite arms headlined by our Preseason Pitcher of the Year; Chase Dollander. Mix in guys like Chase Burns, Wyatt Evans and Drew Beam and they’ll be a headache for opposing lineups. Tennessee brings a ton of wallop into their lineup this season too.
Two teams we’re rather bullish on are the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (No. 3) and the Iowa Hawkeyes (No. 18). Both of these programs have more pitching than they know what to do with. Wake Forest also features some real offensive firepower in 1B/OF Nick Kurtz, supplemented by a stable of really nice hitters. Iowa doesn’t have quite as much thump in their lineup, but they do possess an anchor in 1B/OF Keaton Anthony. On the pitching side, Iowa may have the two pitchers with the best pure stuff in college baseball in RHP Marcus Morgan and RHP Brody Brecht. They’ve both struggled with command at times, but if they lock it in, the Hawkeyes may have two first rounders in 2024 there. True freshman Cade Obermueller has also been up to 96 this spring and has an argument to go really early next July too.
