D1Baseball Fall Report: Texas A&M

There’s setting the bar, and there’s doing it the way Texas A&M did last season in coach Jim Schlossnagle’s first season as head coach.

The Aggies entered the 2022 campaign picked to finish near the bottom of the Southeastern Conference’s West Division. And admittedly, the season didn’t exactly start out too grand after a home series loss to Pennsylvania and a rough showing at the Frisco College Classic. Things could have really cratered in year one. But the Aggies stayed together and persevered. Not only did they have a strong showing in conference play, but they were also one of the nation’s top teams, hosted a regional and super regional, and most importantly, they finished the year as a national semifinalist at the College World Series.

Accomplishing that in year one seemed like a pipe dream at one point early last season. Now, it’s the standard as the Aggies prepare for the 2023 campaign with a loaded roster and most of their key position players back in the fold.

“Obviously, we got our three biggest recruits back for another season — Brett Minnich, Austin Bost and Trevor Werner — they’re all back,” Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “Getting those guys back for another year is huge, not only from a production standpoint, but also from a leadership standpoint. You lose a guy like catcher Troy Claunch and there’s a vacuum to fill. He was to us last year what Bryan Holaday was to us at TCU back in 2010. Losing him is tough, but you get those three guys above back for another year and you return six of your top nine offensive players. You’ll take it.”

From an offensive and positional standpoint, the Aggies have most of their roles spoken for after fall workouts. Werner, Bost and hard-hitting first baseman Jack Moss will once again start in the infield, while right fielder Brett Minnich, who missed the fall but has put on some excellent weight as a result, is back in the outfield. One spot is for sure up for grabs in the outfield, and it’s a big one with the departure of hard-hitting left fielder Dylan Rock. Jordan Thompson, who played well at the end of last season, joins Minnich as another returning outfielder.

From a pitching standpoint, Schlossnagle said the floor with this pitching staff is much higher, but some questions remain. For instance, will Nathan Dettmer form into a true ace for the Aggies? He has a huge arm and a terrific prospect frame, but he needs to take a step forward. Meanwhile, Chris Cortez, who was up to 98-99 mph with his fastball this fall, has refined his secondary stuff. He will likely occupy another starting role in the spring. Other important roles are up for grabs.

“In general, the floor of our pitching staff has been raised immensely,” Schlossnagle said. “It’s just a matter of what is the high-end pitching going to look like? How high can it go relative to the rest of the good teams in our conference? That’s the question.

“There’s no doubt we’re better and deeper on the mound,” he added. “But are we elite? Of course, I say that, and I didn’t think we were elite last year, and we finished as a national semifinalist, so we’ll see.”

Let’s dive into the Aggies’ fall workouts.

POSITION PLAYERS

The Aggies will have one of the nation’s best position groups in 2023, and they’re looking for third baseman Trevor Werner to take a big step forward.

Werner has premier power, but injuries last season kept him from establishing consistency at the plate. The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder, has all the tools to be one of the better players and middle of the order hitters in the SEC. 

“I think he’s an SEC Player of the Year type of guys from a tools standpoint, but he’s always been hurt off and on. He stayed healthy this fall, so that has us feeling pretty good about his status.”

Going across the infield, the second base position will likely be occupied by Austin Bost, who hit double digit home runs and hit in the mid-300s last season — this after he missed the entire fall because of a broken bone in his back. Now that he has gone through a fall fully healthy, the Aggies expect even more production out of him moving forward. 

At first base, the Aggies will once again roll with veteran slugger Jack Moss. Moss moved to A&M from Arizona State last season and was a key cog as the season progressed — especially in the postseason. Moss has always had a penchant to hit, but the power continues to bud for the slugger. 

“A lot of people don’t realize that a guy like Bost missed the entire fall last year and wasn’t able to do much conditioning leading up to the season, so to have the season he had is pretty impressive,” he said. “If he’s healthy, I think he can hit around 20 homers. Part of our sales pitch to bring him back is that if he’s healthy, stronger and has an established position, he can really help himself.”

The most notable position battles in the infield are at shortstop and catcher.

At short, the Aggies have a pair of solid options in Arizona State transfer Hunter Haas and Kaeden Kent. Haas is a 6-foot, 175-pounder, who spent his summer at the Cape Cod League and impressed the day I caught the Aggies — hitting a pair of doubles and showing solid defensive actions in the field. Kent is a talented 6-foot-2, 190-pound freshman, who looks the part in the box from the left side. Kent isn’t quite as smooth of a defender as Haas, but he certainly has a strong offensive approach for a hitter his age. Even if Kent doesn’t start at short in the spring, he will factor heavily from an offensive standpoint.

The most glaring question mark with this team is the catcher position. The Aggies were expected to add Cincinnati transfer Joe Powell to their roster this fall, but the talented backstop decided to retire from baseball. That leaves the Aggies with a pair of options in junior college transfers JD Gregson and Hank Bard, while IMG product Max Kaufer will enroll early after the holiday break. None of those catchers are Troy Claunch in terms of potential production and leadership, but all three bring something to the table. Kaufer will be interesting to watch as he’s a 6-foot-1, 210-pounder, who’s considered a ‘throwback’ backstop. 

“Haas is going to be the better offensive player than a guy like Kole Kaler was for us last year. He’s the leader at shortstop right now, but Kent is a really, really good player, too,” he said. “No one has won the shortstop job just yet … Kent is just a real hitter who is super competitive and takes his walks, works the zone.

“I think both catchers will have a shot. Gregson is the better pure defender than Bard, but Hank has made some big strides, too,” he added. “I will say that anytime JD Gregson makes contact, it’s typically an extra-base hit. We’ll probably split time with all our catchers when the season arrives.

Hard-hitting Ryan Targac, who hit 15 homers and just shy of .300 last season, is back for another season, while Thompson and Minnich are two important returnees in the outfield. Thompson is a scrappy hitter who found his groove at the end of last season, while Minnich is a projectable 6-foot-5, 215-pounder, who has put on some good weight in the offseason. That should allow him to generate more power in the spring.

“Minnich was out the entire fall with a hip flexor issue, but that has allowed him to put on more weight — good weight — and he’s now 20 pounds heavier than he was last year,” he said. “To me, he looks like an older version of Jace LaViolette. He will look noticeably different in the batter’s box.”

Finally, keep a close eye on rising freshman slugger Jace LaViolette as the spring nears. LaViolette was one of those guys the Aggies were worried about in the MLB draft this past summer. However, his price tag was too big, and he ended up going to school. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound, lefthanded hitter has tweaked his swing a bit, and it looks more refined with big-time power. 

“He’s obviously a super advanced player in terms of his tools and physicality,” Schlossnagle said. “He’s not going to sneak up on anyone, that’s for sure. There are some things that he needs to mature on and get better at, but he’s big, powerful and can use the entire field. That can sometimes be rare for a freshman.”

PITCHING STAFF

The Aggies found a way to put together a solid pitching staff last season, but at least two key pieces from that staff are no longer around — weekend starter and righthanded pitcher Micah Dallas and All-American lefthanded relief pitcher Jacob Palisch.

The good news? The Aggies welcome back two premier righthanded pitchers and have more overall upside and talent on this year’s pitching staff. 

Junior righthanded pitcher Nathan Dettmer is expected to take a big step forward. Dettmer had his fair share of ups down last season, but the frame is excellent at 6-foot-4, 235 pounds and the stuff is elite at times. Dettmer was up to 98-99 mph with his fastball this fall but will pitch more comfortably in the low-to-mid 90s with the heater. He also continues to make strides with the changeup and the slider. Dettmer threw two variations of a breaking ball last season, and at times, the sharper low-80s breaker was a plus offering. It was not consistent, however. Dettmer still has some improvements to make, but if everything comes together, he could see himself rising the prospect ranks even more.

“Dettmer is much more physical right now. He’s crazy strong and he’s much more athletic right now. He spent a lot of time working on his body in the offseason. Body-wise, he kind of reminds me of Jake Arrieta at the same stage. He’s going through a growth process and he’s figuring out how to use his velocity without it taking away from his strength,” he said. “He is who he is when he’s sinking the fastball and throwing off that slider as well.

“My big question with Dettmer is can he take that step forward and be a Chase Dollander type of arm on a Friday night for us?,” he added. “He has the ability for sure.”

Sophomore righthanded pitcher Chris Cortez also is a safe bet to be in the starting rotation mix. Cortez, a 6-foot-1, 200-pounder, logged some high-leverage innings for the Aggies last season and has a big arm, getting up to 98-99 mph with his fastball at times last season. The big key for Cortez will be refining his secondary stuff moving forward. If he can do that, he should fit nicely into the weekend rotation.

“Every single pitch he’s throwing right now is better than it was last season. He just needs to be consistent,” Schlossnagle said. “His breaking ball is harder; his fastball command is better and he’s throwing as hard as he did last year. He’s got to have that secondary stuff rolling to keep hitters off his fastball. Good hitters eliminate pitches if you can’t throw them for strikes, so he just needs to make sure he does that.”

Two newcomers expected to be in the rotation mix are freshman lefthanded pitcher Justin Lamkin and Purdue transfer lefthanded pitcher Troy Wansing. Wansing is a 6-foot-4, 220-pounder, who looks the part physically and was up to 94-95 mph with his fastball during fall workouts. He works with an 83-85 mph slider and an 82-83 mph changeup. He’s ultra-competitive and threw a lot of strikes for the Aggies this fall. As for Lamkin, the Aggies are slowly working him back after his velocity ticked down in high school. However, he has a ton of upside with a fastball up to 93-94 mph from the left side, along with a sharp slider and good changeup.

“Wansing has good stuff and he’s super competitive. It will just be interesting to see how he makes the transition to facing SEC hitters,” Schlossnagle said. “As for Lamkin, he has good stuff and is a strike-throwing machine. I really like him.”

As we mentioned earlier, the Aggies have the tough chore of replacing guys like Palisch, along with hard-nosed lefthanded pitcher Moo Menefee. There is some added help on this staff, though. For instance, Sam Houston transfer lefthanded pitcher Matt Dillard has had trouble staying healthy at times in his career, but he’s ready to roll and was up to 93-94 mph with his fastball in the fall with the usual, strong breaking ball. Quinnipiac transfer lefthanded pitcher Brandyn Garcia is another arm to watch. Garcia tallied rough numbers for QU last season, but he has improved and there’s a lot of projection here. Garcia is a 6-foot-4, 225 pounder who has a fastball up to 95-96 mph. He also has a filthy slider. The big key for him? He needs to throw more strikes to have a big role for the Aggies. Another lefty, freshman Shane Sdao, is up to 92 mph with his fastball with good stuff, but will need to be more physical, while fastball/slider specialist Brad Rudis is back for another season. Two more arms to watch include USC transfer Carson Lambert and junior college transfer righthander Jaren Warwick. Lambert is a physical 6-foot-3, 220-pounder, who had his mechanics overhauled by pitching coach Nate Yeskie. He’s up to 93 and his breaking ball is making strides. As for Warwick, he made his first important showing of the fall the day I saw the Aggies. There, the 6-foot-2, 185-pounder, was up to 92-94 mph with his fastball along with a quality breaking ball. Warwick is still a work in progress, but the frame and stuff is there to be a surprise candidate.

One final name to watch is Washington transfer righthanded pitcher Max Debiec. Debiec had injury issues with the Huskies last season, but the 6-foot-7, 205-pounder, has major upside with a fastball into the mid-90s. He’s working his way back to full strength from a rehab standpoint.