The Braves have quite a few players coming off big springs, particularly some highly touted freshmen.
Five to Watch
1. Braden Shewmake
2. Jared Triolo
3. Daniel Cabrera
4. Heston Kjerstad
5. Zach Peek
Pitchers
Trey Benton – East Carolina – Successful starter and reliever for Pirates had 3.13 ERA, 68 Ks in 69 IP
Greer Holston – Ole Miss – Shined in 24 relief outings, posting 3.27 ERA, 35 Ks in 33 IP
Casey Legumina – Gonzaga – Starred as Bulldogs’ closer with 2.77 ERA, 13 saves, 52 Ks in 48.2 IP
Kyle Martin – Fordham – Another standout closer, saved 10 games with 1.62 ERA, 56 Ks in 39 IP
Michael McAvene – Louisville – Made 11 relief appearances for Cardinals with 5.23 ERA
Davis Moore – Fresno State – Splitting time as starter and reliever, had 4.50 ERA with 40 KS in 48 IP
Nick Morreale – Georgetown – Pitching mostly in relief, struck out 59 in 48 IP with a pair of saves
Zach Peek – Winthrop – After pitching in swing role last year, emerged as ace this season with 3.74 ERA, 99 Ks in 89 IP
Austin Pollock – Florida State – Started 10 games, relieved in five and had 5.28 ERA with 49 Ks
Harrison Rutkowski – Rutgers – Weekend started led team with 54 Ks in 64 IP, while ERA rose to 5.34
Andrew Saalfrank – Indiana – Logged 3.79 ERA while pitching mostly out of the bullpen, with 43 Ks in 52.1 IP
Jacob Wallace – UConn – Standout reliever struck out 63 in 43.1 IP with 3.95 ERA
Gavin Williams – East Carolina – Made 15 relief appearances in freshman year and finished second on team with 1.15 ERA
Catchers
Hunter Coleman – Texas A&M – Hit .247/.357/.414 with five homers in sophomore season
Cooper Johnson – Ole Miss – Hit .235 with a pair of homers while starting 20 games for Rebels
Lyle Lin – Arizona State – Solid contributor for Bourne last year hit .312 with two homers in return to Tempe
Infielders
Spencer Brickhouse – East Carolina – Played 16 games with Braves last summer, hit .298 with 10 homers this spring
Tyler Fitzgerald – Louisville – Second-year Brave hit .264 with three homers as sophomore with Cardinals
Gabe Holt – Texas Tech – Freshman batting .352 with six homers for Omaha-bound Red Raiders
Spencer Horwitz – Radford – After strong freshman year, hit .288 with seven homers, team-high 43 RBI this spring
Grae Kessinger – Ole Miss – Started every game and batted an even .300 to go with eight home runs
Anthony Prato – UConn – Late addition to Bourne roster last year hit .324 with two homers and stole 18 bases this spring
Oscar Serratos – Georgia Tech – 14th-round pick last year batted .311 with three homers in first season with Tech
Braden Shewmake – Texas A&M – National Freshman of the Year in 2017 cooled a bit this year but still went .327/.395/.453 with five homers
Jared Triolo – Houston – Returning Brave led Cougars with .344 AVG and added five home runs
Alika Williams – Arizona State – Freshman jumped right into starting lineup and hit .280 in debut
Outfielders
Daniel Cabrera – LSU – Finished second on team in hitting with .315 AVG and tied for team lead with eight homers as a freshman
Kyle Jacobsen – South Carolina – 33rd round pick last year played in 27 games and hit .158 in first season
Heston Kjerstad – Arkansas – One of top hitters for powerful Omaha squad as a freshman, batting .340 with 14 homers, team-best 54 RBI
Danny Oriente – Louisville – After missing most of freshman year with injury, returned with .331 AVG, 1 home run as regular starter