College World Series Players to Watch

The College World Series (CWS) should be regarded as one of the premium events on the baseball calendar, and it is certainly the best single opportunity to see a lot of prospects in action. Until the last few years, the draft happened before the CWS, so it might have been the first opportunity people got to see a player their team had just drafted. The current draft calendar is better, particularly since great performances in the CWS can give players some helium, while poor performances could cause a player to drop, and of course teams do not have to worry about a player they just drafted getting injured (or throwing 120 pitches on three days of rest.)

As of this writing, the field is not completely set; Murray State and Duke will play later today to determine the final spot. But here is the field, along with top-500 prospects (per Baseball America) and a closer look at those who might be targets for the Diamondbacks.

Arizona: Brendan Summerhill (OF), Mason White (SS), Aaron Walton (OF), Adonys Guzman (C), Collin McKinney (RHP), Casey Hintz (RHP).

Photo by Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images

Summerhill is the top-rated prospect for the Wildcats, and will almost certainly be available for either of the Diamondbacks’ first two selections. He doesn’t have any outstanding tools, but is one of the more well-rounded players in the class. He projects to stick in center field, makes good and consistent contact, runs well, and has an average arm and power. White looks to be a late-bloomer; he’s gone from being listed at 5’9” to being listed at 5’11”, and has shown consistent power. There’s a bit more swing-and-miss than would be ideal, which is why he would be in the conversation for the third round or so. He’s slashing .332/.414/.692 this year, and has 19 home runs, the same number he hit last year. Walton is a big outfielder who has taken a big step forward this year; he’ll be in a corner going forward, but is showing some power and has the frame (6’3”, 219) to grow into more. Guzman might have the best arm in the draft; some give it an 80-grade, and while he’s been a defense-first catcher, the bat has come around this year, but his arm gives him a decent floor. McKinney has been starting and Hintz relieving, but Hintz has thrown almost as many innings and with more success. Hintz has been a two-way player, and was a shortstop in high school, and throws from an almost-sidearm slot more reminiscent of a shortstop than a pitcher.

White might be the most likely pick out of the bunch; he’s from Tucson, so the Diamondbacks might have the inside track to signing him at more of a discount. Also of interest: former Diamondbacks’ manager Chip Hale is the head coach of the Wildcats.

Arkansas: Wehiwa Aloy (SS), Zach Root (LHP), Charles Davalan (OF), Landon Beidelschies (LHP), Gage Wood (RHP), Brent Iredale (3B), Christian Foutch (RHP).

Aloy is in the conversation with former Diamondback draftee Aiva Arquette for being the best college shortstop in the class, and if he is available at 18, he won’t be at 29, and I don’t see the Diamondbacks taking him. It’s the pitching at Arkansas that is intriguing. Root transferred from East Carolina into the SEC, and increased his strikeout rate; whoever drafts him is looking for a starter, but his floor (given health) would be a solid reliever. Davalan is an undersized (5’9”, 190) outfielder who has also played second base; he’s a solid hitter who runs well, but doesn’t have a strong arm. Beidelschies transferred in from Ohio State and has been solid. Gage Wood missed two months due to injury (shoulder impingement) but has been excellent when healthy and has big helium. He has three pitches at least average, with his fastball well above-average. Iredale came over from Australia and tore up the JC circuit, and has done well in the SEC, slashing .289/455/.557 but his defense needs work. Foutch is a reliever who has struck out 12.5 per 9 this season.

Coastal Carolina: Caden Bodine (C), Jacob Morrison (RHP).

While Coastal doesn’t have the volume of top draft talent of Arizona or Arkansas, they do have one of the top catching prospects, and possibly the most well-rounded of the bunch. He’s a switch hitter who doesn’t swing and miss and makes good contact, albeit with little power. What power he has is mostly of the gap variety. But he’s above-average defensively both behind the dish and with his arm. Morrison is a giant (6’8”, 245) who has a 2.15 RA/9 and sub-1 WHIP this year, but did miss all of 2024 with Tommy John. Some teams will see it as a plus that he’s already had the surgery and come back better. He’ll likely get the start in the opener against Arizona, and will be looking to improve his record to 12-0. Bodine should be available at 18 but could very well be gone by 29; Morrison should be available for the first three or four picks.

Duke: David Boisvert (RHP), James Tallon (LHP), Owen Proksch (LHP), Tyler Albright (OF), Andrew Healy (LHP).

Boisvert has been injury plagued and hasn’t pitched since April; he’s probably out for the year. Tallon is a high-strikeout lefty reliever, Proksch is another high-strikeout lefty but he has moved into a starting role; his pitching is a large reason why the Blue Devils are at this point, as he’s pitched great against both Oklahoma State and Murray State thus far, and will likely start the first game for Duke if they reach the World Series. Albright is an outfielder who bats right handed but throws left, and has struggled with strikeouts but has also drawn a lot of walks this season. He has good speed, and has stolen 15 bases without being caught, but not a ton of power, although he does have 10 home runs this year. Healy is a big left-handed pitcher who has trended the wrong way throughout his career.

All of the Duke prospects are pretty low down the prospect lists, and probably Proksch is the only one who is pretty much a sure thing to be drafted.

Louisville: Patrick Forbes (RHP), Matt Klein (C), Tucker Biven (RHP).

Forbes is the biggest prospect of this group by far, a right-handed pitcher (formerly a two-way player) who possesses two plus pitches (fastball and slider) and has struck out 12.9 per 9 across his college career. He’s another pitcher with the floor of a good reliever if he stays healthy, and there is top-tier closer potential. Making it as a starter will likely depend on developing a good third pitch; his changeup is well below-average at this point. The Diamondbacks do have success drafting right handed pitchers from the state of Kentucky, but Forbes would seem to be a long-shot. Matt Klein showed out in the Cape last summer, and has carried that offensive performance over to this year, slashing .327/.456/.551 but he missed two months with injury. Biven is a reliever/mid-week starter who has taken a big step back this year, but put together good strikeout numbers without many walks as a sophomore. He also turned in a great performance against Vanderbilt to help the Cardinals to this point.

LSU: Kade Anderson (LHP), Anthony Eyanson (RHP), Daniel Dickinson (2B), Chase Shores (RHP), Jared Jones (1B), Jacob Mayers (RHP), Conner Ware (LHP), Zac Cowan (RHP).

Photo by Stephen Bayog/LSU/University Images via Getty Images

When the season started, there was a decent chance that Anderson would be available at 18. Now, he’s got a shot to be the first overall pick, and he’s definitely not going to be available. Eyanson also has a shot to be a first-round pick, as he throws strikes and has struck out 13 per 9 while moving from the Big West to the SEC. Dickinson transferred from Utah Valley and kept getting on base, although his average and slugging percentage dropped off some; he’s a solid hitter who is limited to second base due to the arm, but has the potential to be very good there. Chase Shores is wild but throws triple digits and is 6’8”, 250, meaning he’d be an imposing presence on the mound and has real closer potential if he can learn some control. Jones is limited to first base, which is likely why he went undrafted last year, but might have the best power of anyone in the class. Mayers is another high-strikeout reliever who transferred into LSU and struck out 15.1 per 9, but also walked 12.6 per 9. Ware has struggled and hasn’t pitched for a while; he may be injured. Cowan is another high-strikeout bullpen arm.

Murray State: No top-500 prospects.

Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

Oregon State: Aiva Arquette (SS), Gavin Turley (OF), Trent Caraway (3B), Nelson Keljo (LHP), Jacob Krieg (1B).

Arquette has a chance to be the first overall pick, although he’ll probably be taken somewhere in the 2-6 range. If by some miracle he makes it to 18, he’ll be the pick, but that’s not going to happen. Turley is an above-average outfielder with power, but he does struggle with chasing out of the zone. Caraway is a draft-eligible sophomore who has had a disappointing season; it would not be at all surprising if he elected to return to school. Keljo is a lefty who had a disappointing season while attempting to move from the bullpen to the rotation; he was still fine, but lacked the strikeout numbers and doubled his walk rate. He’ll still receive a lot of interest as a reliever. Krieg is a power-first first baseman with a ton of swing-and-miss. Essentially, he has been in college what Ivan Melendez has been in the pros, and while the power is substantial enough to be worth picking him, he shouldn’t be regarded as a major prospect.

UCLA: No top-500 prospects.

Just because neither Murray State nor UCLA has top-500 draft eligible prospects this year doesn’t mean they are devoid of talent. UCLA has the #9 rated prospect for the 2026 class, shortstop Roch Cholowsky. Murray State is a senior-heavy team that should have a few players selected on day three, with a couple possibly going on day two.

Pick to win: Arkansas

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LSU holds the record with 68,888 jello shots and one would expect them to challenge it, but with the Walmart fortune on the side of the Razorbacks, I think they can spring the upset.

Wait, on the field? Ok, Arkansas there, too.

The biggest part of winning the College World Series is having enough pitching. LSU might be seen to have the edge over Arkansas in that regard, but Arkansas’ pitchers have been performing better right now, and right now is the only time that matters. Coastal Carolina is a well-rounded team that has won 23 consecutive games and they can’t be overlooked. Arizona has a great core of position players. Oregon State is a wild-card; they have star power in Turley and Arquette, but because of their strange schedule it’s hard to gauge them. UCLA, Louisville, and especially whoever wins between Duke and Murray State would be extreme long shots, but the College World Series is the one championship where literally anything can happen.

As Arkansas knows, anything can happen even when you’re about to win it all, as in 2018 they found themselves an out away from a title before a pop-up fell in between three players and they lost that game and again the next day. This will be their third trip to Omaha since that day, and they’ve won just one game in their previous two trips, as well as being upset at home as the number one seed in 2021. This is their shot to exorcise those demons.

The Week That Was

The best performance of the week on a team level easily belonged to the Visalia Rawhide, who picked up a sweep over Inland Empire. It was the first six-game sweep in franchise history (and that’s a really long history, even though the six-game series hasn’t been around as long.) Amarillo won their series in Tulsa, 4-2 over the Dodgers’ affiliate. Hillsboro split in Spokane, holding serve in the race for the top spot in the Northwest League during the first half, but blew a late lead on Sunday to end the week on a sour note. Reno also split in Oklahoma City. But while none of the full season affiliates lost their series, there were plenty of missed opportunities. It remains to be seen whether or not the Hops will rue theirs.

Things were not as successful in the rookie leagues. The two teams in the Dominican Summer League both finished the week with losing records (2-3) and with the top prospects not performing as hoped, at least from a statistical perspective. The Pygmy Rattlers of Salt River (although these days, they’re more a full-time rehab squad) also went 2-3 on the week.

Hitters of the Week

This may have been one of the most difficult weeks to select any single player as the hitter of the week, so I’ve definitely fudged and selected multiple hitters.

Rookie League Hitters of the Week

Jorge Lara, DSL Arizona Black (16 PA, .455/.625/.727, 13 TTB)

Juan Alvarez, DSL Arizona Red (19 PA, .438/.444/.813, 14 TTB)

Just last week, I declared that Lara’s third year in the organization would be his final without showing progress. Early results are encouraging, as he’s been one of the best bats in the entire organization over the past week. His five hits include a double and a triple, and he’s walked four times without striking out. His 1.352 OPS was the highest of anyone with at least 15 plate appearances.

Alvarez has three doubles and a home run to his name, for an .813 slugging percentage which is the highest of anyone with at least 15 plate appearances. He’s also repeating the level; in 105 plate appearances last year he collected three extra base hits in total, so he’s already exceeded that number this year. The 19-year-old Cuban is limited to a corner, so he needs to show power to progress.

Full Season Hitters of the Week

Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Ryan Waldschmidt, Hillsboro (29 PA, .360/.448/.760, 23 TTB)

Jackson Feltner, Hillsboro (23 PA, .333/.478/.722, 18 TTB)

Tristin English, Reno (22 PA, .474/.500/.737, 16 TTB)

Two members of this trio have been among the top offensive performers at their respective levels throughout the season. Their presence among the top performers isn’t surprising in any way. But Feltner? Going into last week he was slashing .138/.281/.300 with ten walks against 36 strikeouts. And while he still struck out seven times, he walked four times, doubled, and homered twice. But it was the fact that he also managed three singles to go 6-for-18 on the week that really propelled him here.

Waldschmidt had been slumping (by his standards) through most of May. He hadn’t hit a home run since May 1, and in that period he’d slashed .211/.368/.289; quite respectable but not up to his standards. He hit three home runs in Spokane, giving him eight on the year, and he was back to mashing the ball. (His .250 BABIP from May 2-June 1 indicated that he was probably not hitting the ball as hard as he had been.)

It’s probably not reasonable to describe what Tristin English is doing as a breakout season; he’s 28 and he’s had good seasons before, such as 2023. But after a disappointing season last year, he’s torn the cover off the ball this year, including a .400/.424/.636 line since returning from injury. He collected nine hits, three of which were of the extra base variety, and tied for the week lead in RBI with eight. The only bad part of his week was allowing his first run as a pitcher and taking the loss in Saturday’s game, as the Aces were dreadfully short on pitching and he was called upon in a tied game in the ninth inning.

Starting Pitcher of the Week

Junior Sanchez, Visalia (6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K)

There were outings with more strikeouts (Daniel Eagen and Casey Anderson both fanned seven in their respective starts) but in a week without many quality starts, Sanchez turned in one for the Rawhide. The right-handed pitcher, who will not turn 20 until September, has moved through the ranks steadily thus far, spending a season each in the Dominican and the complex. He’s gained control and while the strikeouts are down a little bit this year, the walks have been cut almost in half and he’s also allowing fewer hits. He’s not appeared on prospect lists, but he might be someone to keep an eye on moving forward.

Relief Pitchers of the Week

Gregori Ramirez, DSL Arizona Red (4.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K)

This is the third season Ramirez has spent in the DSL, and with an injury interruption that caused him to miss all of last season, he’s old for the level, as he will be 21 in September. But in his first action since 2023, he struck out half of the batters he faced. Ramirez is a right-handed pitcher with what appears to be a pretty standard delivery, a fastball that sits low 91-92 and hit 95, and what looks like an excellent curve that induces some swing and miss and which he was able (in his first outing, the only one of which there is video) to throw for a strike in addition to getting hitters to miss. He also has what is probably a slider (hard to judge break from the camera angle) which is mid-80s and did not threaten the strike zone in the limited number of times I saw it. Three pitches sounds like a starter’s arsenal, but if Ramirez has a path forward, it is probably going to be from maximizing his fastball/curveball combo and working from the bullpen, where with a velo increase he could be sitting 95 and hitting 98.

Landon Sims, Amarillo (3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K)

Photo by John E. Moore III/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images

Sims had his season get off to a dismal start, allowing multiple runs in three of his first four appearances. Since then, though, he’s allowed four runs (three earned) in 16.2 innings. His 1.68 WHIP has still been high as he’s still walked too many and has carried a BABIP against of .390 during that time. But with bullpens shorthanded this week, Sims was lights-out, including a two inning save on Saturday where he struck out five. Part of that is not being at Hodgetown; batters have an .841 OPS against him at home versus .613 on the road, and he has not allowed an extra-base hit on the road while facing 60 batters (he’s allowed three at home while facing 46 batters.) The hope when Sims was drafted was that he could transition to being a starter; that ship has sailed, but he can still be a valuable bullpen piece. In fact, between Sims, Hayden Durke, and Jhosmer Alvarez, the Soddies might have three key pieces of the 2026 Diamondbacks’ bullpen.

Hellos and Goodbyes

Austin Pope (who had been out due to injury) and Andrew Saalfrank (out due to poor decisions) made their respective season debuts. Those two (along with René Pinto) are currently in the complex. Connor Kaiser is back from a stint on the IL. Augie Mojica, a 20-year-old from Florida, was signed and assigned to the complex; he was a high strikeout reliever for San Jacinto Junior College in Texas, and was most recently pitching for the Boise Hawks in the Pioneer League. His first outing on Saturday did not go well, but this is the sort of low-risk signing that teams make. Once in a while, it works out well.

Goodbye (for now) to Aramis Garcia, who has been one of the best hitters on the year at Reno, but due to roster constraints found himself designated for assignment. Even if he clears waivers, he can elect free agency rather than report back to Reno, and with Pinto and Adrian Del Castillo in process of returning, that might be the right decision for him. But for now, we can hold out hope that he will be back with the Aces.

Postseason Races

With the split-season format in the minor leagues, it’s getting close to the time where clubs have their first opportunity to clinch a postseason berth. While it’s a long-shot for most of the affiliates, here is what they need to do over the next couple of weeks.

Hillsboro has the best chance, as they hold onto first place in the Northwest League. The six-team league is the only one south of AAA that does not use a division format. It’s also currently jammed close between all six teams. Last place Tri-City is just 3.5 games back, and the top five teams are all within two games of one another. Prior to last week, the teams closest to the Hops were Spokane and Eugene; they held serve in Spokane and now return home to face Eugene, who is now in fifth place. The final series of the first half will see the Hops return to Pasco, WA, to take on Tri-City, who has been in last place most of the year. There’s no one out of it, and the Hops are missing Jansel Luis as well as getting pitchers called up to Amarillo.

Heading into the month, Visalia would have been regarded as well out of the race in the California League South Division. But first place Rancho Cucamonga has had a dismal start to the month. In fact, they have yet to win this month, and the Rawhide have taken advantage to move into second place and give themselves a chance. It’s not a very good chance, as the Quakes will get to play the Inland Empire 66ers, far and away the worst team in the league, but it is a chance. They sit four games behind entering the week, and will travel to Lake Elsinore before finishing the first half by hosting Fresno. They’ll have to keep winning; Rancho is at Inland Empire and then hosts Lake Elsinore, so it would be hard to see them doing worse than 6-6 over the final two series.

Reno and Amarillo are both essentially out of it. Reno is 8.5 games back and would have to overtake five teams, three of whom have a better run differential. Amarillo sits eight games back of Midland and would need to overtake three teams. They only play one of them, and the other two play each other this week, so it’s extremely unlikely. But Amarillo’s best shot at the postseason has always seemed to rely on getting reinforcements from Hillsboro and winning the second half.

Next Up

As noted, Visalia goes to Lake Elsinore and Hillsboro hosts Eugene. In addition, Amarillo hosts San Antonio and Reno hosts Sugar Land. Avery Short is in line to start twice this week for the Soddies, and Casey Kelly for the Aces, although given the state of the Diamondbacks’ pitching staff, it wouldn’t be out of the question for Kelly to get called up.