Top 20 College Players

Doing a good season preview is painstaking and laborious; I will only do a preseason top 25 and a list of the best players in the nation. The various college baseball sites out in the interwebs do a magnificent job putting out the preview content anyway. In particular, check out Baseball America, College Baseball Today, and Rivals for the lowdown on the 2010 season. Without any regard to draft status or professional future, here's my list of the best D-1 college players for 2010. (Keep in mind that this is an inexact overview of the college landscape, and there is a preponderance of great players beyond this list.)

Anthony Rendon, 3B, Rice

Sophomore is capable of hitting .400/.500/.800 with 20+ homers and solid defense.

Anthony Ranaudo, rhp, LSU

Top draft prospect with excellent size and stuff.

Christian Colon, ss, Cal State Fullerton

Gamer embodies Titan baseball, is dangerous on both sides of the ball.

Bryce Brentz, of, Middle Tennessee State

Hit an astonishing .465/.535/.930 with 28 homers last season.

Deck McGuire, rhp, Georgia Tech

Proven ACC ace with plus stuff.

Josh Spence, lhp, Arizona State

Crafty Aussie toys with batters and will be crucial for ASU this season.

Drew Pomeranz, lhp, Ole Miss

Has devastating fastball-curve combo, was great in the postseason in '09.

Chris Sale, lhp, Florida Gulf Coast

Talented lefty could help FGCU take the Atlantic Sun title.

Daniel Bibona, lhp, UC Irvine

The Anteaters are thrilled their dependable ace is back for his senior season.

Tyler Holt, of, Florida State

Leadoff man compiled .520 OBP and 34 SBs last season.

Jarrett Parker, of, Virginia

Lacks control of the strike zone, but is an all-around beast at the college level.

Daniel Renken, rhp, Cal State Fullerton

Steady righthander will be a key cog in Fullerton's weekend rotation for the third year in a row.

Danny Hultzen, lhp, Virginia

Primed to build on his phenomenal freshman season. Three solid pitches, nifty first baseman on the side.

Alex Wimmers, rhp, Ohio State

K machine with plus curveball. Watch out for the Buckeyes.

Trevor Bauer, rhp, UCLA

Long-toss freak with nasty stuff, deception.

Gerrit Cole, rhp, UCLA

Now that Stephen Strasburg has moved on to bigger and better things, Cole has the most electric arm in the nation.

Taylor Jungmann, rhp, Texas

Showed in Omaha last year why many think he's on the verge of superstardom.

Tony Thompson, 3B, Kansas

Will miss first several weeks of '10 with injury, but hit .389/.442/.753 with 21 bombs last season.

Zack Cox, 3B, Arkansas

Big-time power from the left side, strong arm suits him well at third and in the bullpen.

Sleepers

B.A. Vollmuth, ss, Southern Miss

Levi Michael, 3B, North Carolina

Preston Tucker, 1B, Florida

Sam Gaviglio, rhp, Oregon State

Todd Cunningham, of, Jacksonville State

Sonny Gray, rhp, Vanderbilt

Robert "Bullet Bob" Morey, rhp, Virginia

Mike McGee, of/rhp, Florida State

Gary Brown, of, Cal State Fullerton

Sammy Solis, lhp, San Diego

Who else do you think deserves a spot?

ASU, Arkansas Stave Off Elimination

ASU and Arkansas will both live to play another day. The Sun Devils just got done taking care of North Carolina, while the Razorbacks outlasted Virginia last night in the most riveting game of the CWS so far.

Arkansas freshman lefty Drew Smyly got the ball last night against a fellow southpaw, freshman sensation Danny Hultzen. Hultzen turned in a gem (6.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K) to solidify a spot on the Frosh All-American Team. 1B John Hicks and OF Dan Grovatt both went deep, and the Cavaliers held a 3-1 lead in the 9th. RHP Kevin Arico, usually a reliable closer, had the Hogs down to their last strike with nobody on base. 3B Zack Cox singled up the middle to keep it alive, and then CF Brett Eibner launched an absolute moonshot to left. Eibner was hitting .220, but it was definitely not a soft .220. The sophomore has incredible tools, and the homer was his 11th.

The Cavaliers still had plenty of chances to redeem themselves. They had the bases loaded with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th, but Hultzen grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. (To be fair, he did hit the ball sharply.) In the 10th, Virginia runners got to 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Jarrett Parker and Hicks both struck out to end that rally. The Cavs also loaded the bases in the 11th and got a leadoff double in the 12th to no avail. Credit LHP Dallas Keuchel, the Razorbacks' ace, for getting through 4 pressure-packed innings performing numerous escape jobs. OF Andrew Darr hit a go-ahead double in the top of the 12th to join Eibner as an offensive hero. Last night's game was definitely Virginia's to lose, and, boy, did they ever lose it.

Tonight's ASU/UNC rematch was really a tale of two games. Carolina led 4-0 in the middle of the 5th inning. Sun Devil OF Kole Calhoun (a breakout star of this year's CWS) blasted a game-tying grand slam to tie it in the 5th, then ASU poured on 8 more in a crazy 7th inning to run away with the "W". Josh Spence (7 IP, 3 ER) was spectacular on short rest. Calhoun, 2B Zack MacPhee, C Carlos Ramirez, and OF Jason Kipnis all had good offensive games, but UNC's normally-stellar pitching was the real culprit. Matt Harvey walked 5 and gave up 3 runs in an abbreviated start; Colin Bates, Patrick Johnson, and Nate Striz all gave up multiple runs; and Brian Moran surrendered the grand slam. It has to be incredibly disappointing for UNC to get knocked out again after being so close. The Tar Heels made it to Omaha 4 years in a row (with college baseball's best hitter and an All-American pitcher for the last 3 of those), but they still haven't captured the national championship. That just goes to show how elusive the title is.

ASU's Seth Blair and Mike Leake will be counted on to beat Texas the next two days. Meanwhile, Arkansas will be a longshot against LSU, which hasn't lost since May 20 in the opener of the SEC Tournament. The Razorbacks have burned their 3 weekend starters, plus T.J. Forrest and Mike Bolsinger in the bullpen. Dave Van Horn will have to cobble together some pitching if his team wants to have a prayer against a rested Tigers team.

Brett Eibner was super-pumped after his 9th-inning bomb knotted the score at 3

*Photo courtesy of collegebaseballtoday.com