So college baseball season’s coming up right? I keep seeing folks arguing online about who’s gonna be top players this year. Figured hey, why not actually go look at the numbers myself instead of just guessing? Grabbed my big coffee mug this morning and got ready to dig in. No fancy tools needed here, just my laptop and some stubbornness.
First Try Was A Mess
Honestly? I jumped straight into those fancy “Preseason All-American” lists everyone’s talking about. Opened like five tabs at once. Big mistake. My browser started wheezing after two minutes. Too many graphs, too many opinions from folks wearing different colored glasses (team bias is REAL), and honestly? Half the stats they mentioned I couldn’t even figure out where they pulled ’em from yet. Felt like trying to watch three games at the same time – pointless. Closed all that noise. Needed clean data.
My Own Spreadsheet Jail
Alright, started over. Opened a new spreadsheet. Just basic stuff: Player name, school, position. Then started adding stats from last season that actually mean something – hitting average, RBIs, home runs for the big swingers, ERA and strikeouts for the pitchers. Sounds easy? It was not. Found myself digging through so many official school athletics pages and stats sites. Ever try finding a specific player’s stats on a website designed in 2005? Yeah. Took forever. My coffee got cold.
Big Problem Hit Me
Got maybe fifteen top names logged? Boom. Remembered the transfer portal is basically a college baseball tornado now. That starter you liked from State U? He’s wearing a different uniform now. Had to backtrack on like four players I had already listed, checking where they landed this year. Massive timesink. Felt like cleaning up after a messy roommate.
- J.D. Drewkins? Thought he was still crushing balls at Coastal Tech. Nope. Transferred to Sun State.
- Lefty pitcher Miguel Santos? That “lockdown closer” tag followed him… all the way to East Mountain College now.
- Had to constantly cross-check eligibility lists too. Is Junior Year dude even playing this year?
Putting It Together (Finally)
After hours and a lunch break (seriously, this stuff eats time), my messy spreadsheet finally had maybe thirty names that actually seemed legit. Not just hype. Then I went back and peeked at a couple of those Preseason lists again. Some names matched mine? Cool, felt a bit smart. Saw a couple names that made me go “Really? Based on what?” That guy struggled late last season, you sure about that pick? Makes you wonder how much weight those lists put on pure potential versus proven numbers. It’s always a mix.
My biggest takeaway? Doing your own homework matters way more than just swallowing someone else’s top 10 list. The real work is filtering through the noise, the transfers, the stats that actually matter for their position. Now? I actually got some players I’ll be watching extra close when the season kicks off. Was it painful? Yeah. But way better than just nodding along.