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Wednesday (6/11) News Links

LJS: Husker recruit Reetz, second baseman Kelly to take pro offers

Nebraska's top two hitters and four of the top six pitchers are not returning, and the top two Husker recruits are also turning pro.

"We have Plans B, C, D and E for seeing kids go pro early and seeing kids sign out of high school," NU coach Darin Erstad said Tuesday. "This is what we signed up for and the only way to avoid this problem is to not recruit good players."

Nebraska junior Pat Kelly, who started the last 135 games and led Nebraska in hits and RBIs, said Tuesday he will sign a contract with the Minnesota Twins. Husker recruit Jakson Reetz of Norris told his high school coach that he will sign with the Washington Nationals, who picked him in the third round of the Major League Draft.

Reetz, a two-time Journal Star Super State co-captain, is expected to receive much more than the typical third-round signing bonus of about $600,000 because the Nats had some money left over from signing their top two picks in the draft.

Kelly, the cleanup hitter and one of the top defensive second basemen in college baseball, said through a release from Nebraska, he enjoyed his time at Nebraska and appreciated the help from the coaching staff.

"My last three years at Nebraska have been some of the best years of my life, but after talking with my family I have decided that it is time to pursue my dream of playing Major League Baseball," Kelly said, a three-time All-Big Ten performer. "I can't say enough about the coaching staff at Nebraska. I'm going to miss playing in front of the greatest fans in college baseball."

Reetz, one of the top Husker recruits this spring, will not speak to the media until he signs with Washington. According to Norris High School coach Jason Cullison, Reetz will fly to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday and eventually sign before heading to St. Petersburg, Fla., to play in the Gulf Coast League.

The Huskers will also lose Aaron Bummer, a junior left-hander, who signed with the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.

NU football and baseball recruit Monte Harrison signed with the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday for $1.8 million after he was taken in the second round of last weekend's draft.

Erstad is allowed to replace the players who signed letters of intent and decided to turn pro. NCAA baseball limits Division I teams to 11.7 scholarships. The Big Ten limits were raised from one to two on the oversigning allowance this year. The NCAA does not limit the number of players a team can sign to a national letter of intent.

"We have a little more flexibility to oversign two players, and if they turn pro, we can split up the scholarships in any manner we want," he said.

With Kelly leaving a year early and the exhaustion of eligibility of left fielder Michael Pritchard, the Huskers lose their top two hitters. Add in the graduation of Christian DeLeon, Zach Hirsch, Bob Greco and Bummer leaving a year early, the Huskers lose four of their top six pitchers.

The Huskers have had back-to-back outstanding recruiting classes, ranked 26th in 2013 and 11th in 2014. Among the recruits from last year were center fielder Ryan Boldt, who turned down more than $1 million from the Boston Red Sox last year, and junior college catcher Tanner Lubach, who became the starter this year.

Wes Edrington of that class played shortstop last year and redshirted this year. Ben Miller also pitched and batted at designated hitter, and Christian Cox filled many roles for NU. Pitchers Michael Klein, Burkamper and Max Leuty are expected to contribute next year.

This year's recruiting class includes Super-State pitcher Byron Hood of Norris; lefty Jake McSteen of Great Falls, Va.; Super-State pitcher Jake Meyers of Omaha Westside; Zach Engelken of Overland Park, Kan.; Reece Eddins of Blue Springs South, Mo.; and outfielder Elijah Dilday of St. Charles, Mo.

The class also includes Luis Alvarado of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, a 33rd-round pick of the Red Sox, and Garett King of Anaheim, Calif., 36th-round pick of the Mets. They have until July 18 to decide if they wish to turn pro.

LJS: Reetz, Kelly to take pro offers
 
BA: Cajuns, Beavers, Hoosiers lead BA All-America teams

Baseball America 2014 College Player of the Year A.J. Reed, who led the nation in home runs and led the Southeastern Conference in wins as Kentucky's Friday starter, headlines the BA College All-America team. Reed is one of six members of BA's preseason All-America first team to earn first-team honors in the postseason, joining Kyle Schwarber, Casey Gillaspie, Trea Turner, Michael Conforto and Bradley Zimmer.

Louisiana State righthander Aaron Nola is the only 2013 first-teamer to repeat as a first-team All-American in 2014. Three other members of last year's team?Indiana's Kyle Schwarber (a second-teamer last year) and Dustin DeMuth (third team), and North Carolina State's Trea Turner (third team)?moved up to the first team this year. Cal State Fullerton's Thomas Eshelman was a first-teamer last year and a second-teamer this year.

Three national seeds?Oregon State, Indiana and Louisiana-Lafayette?lead all programs with three All-Americans apiece, including two first-teamers apiece. The SEC leads all conferences with six All-Americans and three-first teamers. The ACC and Big 12 have five All-Americans apiece, followed by the Pac-12 and Big West with four apiece.

The teams are dominated by upperclassmen, with just eight sophomores and no freshmen on the three teams. The first team features eight players who were drafted in the first round last week. Twelve first-rounders made the three teams overall. Sixteen members of Baseball America's preseason All-America teams (which are voted on by major league scouting directors) made the postseason teams. That is up from 13 last year, 11 in 2012 and 12 in 2011.

The staff of Baseball America selected the All-America teams after the NCAA regionals. Statistics are through super regional play.

FIRST TEAM

Pos. Name Year AVG OBP SLG AB R H HR RBI BB SO SB
C Max Pentecost, Kennesaw State Jr. .418 .480 .624 263 59 110 9 58 30 26 17
1B Casey Gillaspie, Wichita State Jr. .389 .520 .682 211 50 82 15 50 58 28 8
2B Jace Conrad, Louisiana-Lafayette Jr. .364 .438 .564 264 63 96 9 65 18 27 22
3B Dustin DeMuth, Indiana Sr. .374 .449 .531 211 40 79 5 40 20 40 4
SS Trea Turner, N.C. State Jr. .321 .418 .516 215 65 69 8 36 37 25 26
OF Caleb Adams, Louisiana-Lafayette Jr. .381 .502 .673 223 67 85 11 42 46 60 7
OF Michael Conforto, Oregon State Jr. .345 .504 .547 203 52 70 7 56 55 38 4
OF Bradley Zimmer, San Francisco Jr. .368 .461 .573 220 42 81 7 31 31 34 21
DH Kyle Schwarber, Indiana Jr. .358 .464 .659 232 66 83 14 48 44 30 10
UT A.J. Reed, Kentucky Jr. .336 .476 .735 223 60 75 23 73 49 48 0
Year W L ERA G CG SV IP H BB SO AVG
SP Kyle Freeland, Evansville Jr. 10 2 1.90 14 2 0 100 79 13 128 .214
SP Nathan Kirby, Virginia So. 9 2 1.73 16 1 0 104 65 25 104 .182
SP Aaron Nola, Louisiana State Jr. 11 1 1.47 16 2 0 116 69 27 134 .172
SP Ben Wetzler, Oregon State Sr. 12 1 0.78 14 4 0 104 49 31 83 .143
RP Jacob Lindgren, Mississippi State Jr. 6 1 0.81 26 0 3 55 23 25 100 .124
UT A.J. Reed, Kentucky Jr. 12 2 2.09 16 1 0 112 98 29 71 .236
SECOND TEAM

Pos. Name Year AVG OBP SLG AB R H HR RBI BB SO SB
C Grayson Greiner, South Carolina Jr. .311 .389 .486 212 35 82 5 38 22 28 2
1B Sam Travis, Indiana Jr. .347 .415 .576 245 55 85 12 58 25 26 8
2B Mark Mathias, Cal Poly So. .286 .455 .490 210 48 81 2 39 23 18 12
3B Alex Blandino, Stanford Jr. .310 .397 .531 226 49 70 12 44 30 33 2
SS Blake Trahan, Louisiana-Lafayette So. .355 .465 .455 256 58 91 4 49 44 37 15
OF Jordan Luplow, Fresno State Jr. .377 .475 .609 215 40 81 9 48 36 22 10
OF D.J. Stewart, Florida State So. .351 .472 .557 194 45 68 7 50 40 30 4
OF Drew Weeks, North Florida Jr. .430 .478 .606 221 52 95 6 38 18 20 10
DH Michael Katz, William & Mary Jr. .363 .445 .646 240 64 87 14 75 32 43 0
UT Aaron Brown, Pepperdine Jr. .314 .354 .554 244 44 76 13 49 9 52 5
Year W L ERA G CG SV IP H BB SO AVG
SP Thomas Eshelman, Cal State Fullerton So. 8 3 1.89 16 5 0 124 100 8 99 .222
SP Jace Fry, Oregon State Jr. 11 2 1.8 16 4 0 120 83 30 98 .196
SP Andrew Morales, UC Irvine Sr. 11 2 1.53 18 3 0 130 83 30 136 .182
SP Preston Morrison, Texas Christian Jr. 9 4 1.32 17 5 0 122 85 19 85 .197
RP Brendan McCurry, Oklahoma State Sr. 5 0 0.38 35 0 19 47 29 8 54 .178
UT Aaron Brown, Pepperdine Jr. 13 1 1.95 17 1 0 116 84 40 104 .212
THIRD TEAM

Pos. Name Year AVG OBP SLG AB R H HR RBI BB SO SB
C Brett Austin, N.C. State Jr. .344 .414 .516 215 42 74 5 31 27 29 8
1B Connor Joe, San Diego Jr. .367 .462 .606 218 59 80 9 51 32 24 3
2B Dansby Swanson, Vanderbilt So. .335 .414 .482 251 58 84 3 32 34 45 18
3B Matt Chapman, Cal State Fullerton Jr. .312 .412 .498 205 37 64 6 48 27 26 6
SS Michael Russell, North Carolina Jr. .339 .424 .496 230 43 78 4 32 29 27 13
OF Auston Bousfield, Mississippi Jr. .349 .395 .495 275 58 96 6 50 16 25 17
OF Zach Fish, Oklahoma State Jr. .308 .390 .517 240 41 74 11 48 32 56 4
OF Mark Payton, Texas Sr. .326 .467 .464 224 32 73 2 38 55 22 19
DH Ty France, San Diego State So. .356 .450 .498 233 55 83 5 45 28 25 3
UT Louie Lechich, San Diego Sr. .342 .396 .542 225 45 77 7 46 16 30 3
Year W L ERA G CG SV IP H BB SO AVG
SP Brandon Finnegan, Texas Christian Jr. 9 3 2.12 16 1 0 98 70 27 129 .202
SP Kyle Funkhouser, Louisville So. 13 2 1.68 16 0 0 107 76 54 110 .201
SP Sean Newcomb, Hartford Jr. 8 2 1.25 14 1 0 93 51 38 106 .162
SP Josh Prevost, Seton Hall Sr. 12 2 1.62 15 6 0 116 64 20 111 .158
RP Ryan Thompson, Campbell Sr. 7 2 1.33 39 0 17 88 71 29 87 .219
UT Louie Lechich, San Diego Sr. 8 3 1.51 13 1 0 82 82 21 50 .265

BA: Cajuns, Beavers, Hoosiers lead BA A-A teams
 
BA - College Player Of The Year: Kentucky's Reed Starred At Plate, On Mound

Not since John Olerud has a college baseball player had the kind of two-way impact A.J. Reed did for Kentucky this year.

Kentucky junior A.J. Reed overwhelmed SEC competition at the plate (23 home runs) and on the mound (12-2, 2.09 record)
Kentucky junior A.J. Reed overwhelmed SEC competition at the plate (23 home runs) and on the mound (12-2, 2.09 record)
Olerud, the 1988 Baseball America College Player of the Year for Washington State, has been the gold standard for two-way brilliance since hitting .464 with 23 homers and going 15-0, 2.49 on the mound 26 years ago. But in a number of ways, Reed raised the bar this spring, earning him the 2014 BA Player of the Year Award.

Using deadened BBCOR bats, Reed smacked 23 home runs as well, matching Olerud's total with supercharged bats. Reed led the nation in homers, slugging percentage (.735) and OPS (1.211), while ranking second in total bases (164) and third in RBIs (73). He hit .336 with a .476 on-base percentage, walking (49) more than he struck out (48).

That offensive season alone would make him worthy of the Player of the Year award, but Reed also went 12-2, 2.09 in 112 innings as Kentucky's Friday night ace in the rugged Southeastern Conference. He ranks just one win shy of the national lead and tops the SEC.

We featured Reed along with teammate Austin Cousino this season, and we wrote more about Reed when we tabbed him Player of the First Half in April. We covered his final collegiate weekend, writing about his complete game and crucial RBI double to lead Kentucky past Kansas in a regional elimination game. Now it's time to let others do the talking. Reed's coach, and those who coached against him, weigh in on his season.

Coaches' Take

"A.J. is a genuine kid. He's smart, he's got great baseball instincts, he treats people well, he's got a good sense of humor, he's a very good student, he's a hard worker, he's done a great job of doing everything we've asked him to do.

"He's grown up through the three years he's been with us, which is awesome to see. He and I had some real heart-to-hearts in August. You illustrate the path that they need to travel in order to get better, and he bought in.

See also: Baseball America's All-Americans

I'm saying, 'You've got to lose 25 pounds and you've got to start looking at yourself as a real guy. You've got to take the steps necessary to do that.' What's that mean, what's that entail? That's not a five-minute conversation; it's not a one-time conversation either.

Go back and look at what he did at Harwich (in the Cape Cod League) over the summer offensively; (he hit .218 in) 55 at-bats or something. He didn't get to hit. So you have the conversations that you have with kids, and some of them are pretty pointed. And the relationships are close. When you have those conversations with kids, they either buy in or not, make the adjustments or not. Kids don't always make the right adjustments. But he did.

"I just think it speaks volume to the type of person he is, what he was able to do, and what happens to you when you get yourself in shape. All of a sudden now you can carry yourself down the mound 110 times as opposed to 85. And all of a sudden that barrel is consistently out in front, and you can turn a single into a double. Your body works at a higher rate. The guy made a commitment to become great, he really did. And I'm just really proud of him."

Gary Henderson, Kentucky

"He is a threat every time he comes to the plate. He handles himself very well. He does everything that you want your National Player of the Year to do. He reminds me of (College Baseball Hall of Famer) Brad Wilkerson that was at Florida; he reminds me of (1993 BA Player of the Year) Brooks Kieschnick that was at Texas?great two-way players in this game."

Scott Stricklin, Georgia

"The numbers he's put up in this conference, it's unbelievable to be honest with you. And not only what he's done at the plate, but what he's done on the mound . . . I think he should walk away with almost all the awards, except for the just pure pitching awards. You don't put up those type of numbers in what I feel like is the best conference in America, especially in today's era where the bats have changed."

Dave Serrano, Tennessee

"I don't think there's any question as to who the national Player of the Year is. It's A.J. Reed. When you consider him doing both (pitching and hitting?in this league, at the highest level, and being consistent week in and week out, offensively and on the mound, it was unbelievable. And to watch him take BP and to watch him in the games, a lot of different teams played the shift on him and tried a lot of different things and obviously pitched around him every chance they got?I know we did?and it didn't matter. He still made a difference in each and every game. Just special."

Rob Childress, Texas A&M

"First, I've been in this league now around 15 years as an assistant and a head coach, and he's having as impressive a year as we've seen in a very long time on both sides. And then on the mound, he's a great competitor and has just been dominant for them on Friday night. On the offensive end, it just speaks for itself what he's been able to do with obviously the home runs, but he's really made himself a dynamic player. When you can do that in this league, which is considered the No. 1 league in America, I think that just speaks of the talent he has.

"I think he's a guy we're going to cut the TV on here soon in big league games and be watching him. I think the interesting part is just going to be which direction they go with him. I think offensively, he's as good of a power-type guy as there is in the country right now with his numbers?but he's about equally as good on the mound. So I think that's the only question, which direction you go with him."

Mitch Gaspard, Alabama

"You certainly have to look at his numbers and you're astonished by them. I mean, even two-way players like John Olerud didn't put up those types of numbers?and put up those types of numbers in this league. I think he's an outstanding player; he really is in a lot of ways. He's got a good way about him. He's got great presence. The skill is obviously seeable, how valuable he is to Gary and those kids. It would be understated if you said anything. So I think he has to be seen as one of those guys who could be the Player of the Year in a lot of people's eyes."

Tim Corbin, Vanderbilt

"Oh, I think he's the national Player of the Year. I don't think there's any doubt about it, at least from me. I mean, that's crazy what he's done, leading the conference in home runs and being a Friday night starter. I don't think anybody's come close to doing the things on the field that he's done, and I'm sure he's obviously the most important player to Kentucky's team."

Chad Holbrook, South Carolina

BA - College Player Of The Year
 
Re: BA - College Player Of The Year: Kentucky's Reed Starred At Plate, On Mound


Originally posted by HuskerFan31:

Olerud, the 1988 Baseball America College Player of the Year for Washington State, has been the gold standard for two-way brilliance since hitting .464 with 23 homers and going 15-0, 2.49 on the mound 26 years ago. But in a number of ways, Reed raised the bar this spring, earning him the 2014 BA Player of the Year Award.

Using deadened BBCOR bats, Reed smacked 23 home runs as well, matching Olerud's total with supercharged bats. Reed led the nation in homers, slugging percentage (.735) and OPS (1.211), while ranking second in total bases (164) and third in RBIs (73). He hit .336 with a .476 on-base percentage, walking (49) more than he struck out (48).

That offensive season alone would make him worthy of the Player of the Year award, but Reed also went 12-2, 2.09 in 112 innings as Kentucky's Friday night ace in the rugged Southeastern Conference. He ranks just one win shy of the national lead and tops the SEC.
Jeebus.
 
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