Arizona Baseball: A look at the 2018 Recruiting Class

The MLB Draft is over, but the recruiting doesn’t stop for Arizona Baseball, that’s why were bringing you a list of the current commitments for 2018.

Perhaps t o no one’s surprise, the Arizona Baseball team got hit pretty hard this year in the MLB Draft. After the end of 40 rounds, eight Wildcats were selected, with all signing pro deals.

Guys like Tylor Megill, Ryan Haug and Cal Stevenson wouldn’t be returning anyways, since they were seniors. However, Cody Deason, Alfonso Rivas, Michael Flynn, Cesar Salazar and Travis Moniot are all gone.

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In addition to that, highly regarded recruits Matthew Liberatore and Nolan Gorman were both selected in the Top 20. They too will not be coming to Arizona.

Since recruiting for college baseball can be rather tricky and difficult to track, these kind of situations are very fluid, and I’m sure make it a challenge for coaches like Jay Johnson who have to plan around the MLB Draft and players leaving early.

This past season was particularly frustrating, as the Wildcats seemingly had the talent, but just couldn’t put it all together consistently enough. Arizona finished the year at 34-22 (14-16), just missing the postseason.

While the Wildcats lose a lot of talent, we must note that they do return quite a bit of talent as well! Coming back are highly productive players like; Nick Quintana, Cameron Cannon, Jacob Blas, Matt Fraizer, Randy Labaut, Zach Sherman and Preston Price among others.

That also leaves a number of great opportunities for younger players to come in, produce and develop since they will likely be here a minimum of three years as per the MLB Draft rules.

As per Perfect Game, Inc. here is the list of current Wildcats committed for 2018. (* Indicates the player was drafted).

*LHP Matthew Liberatore – 6’5” 200lbs.- L/L (BT) – Mountain Ridge H.S. (Peoria, AZ)
- 1st Round – 16th Pick Overall by the Tampa Bay Rays (Signed)
*SS Nolan Gorman – 6’1” 210lbs.- L/R (BT) – Sanda Day O’Connor H.S. (Glendale, AZ)
- 1st Round – 19th Pick Overall by the St. Louis Cardinals (Signed)
*C Austin Wells – 6’2” 195lbs.- L/R (BT) – Bishop Gorman H.S. (Las Vegas, NV)
- 35th Round – 1,057th Pick Overall by the New York Yankees
*RHP Ian Mejia – 6’2” 180lbs.- R/R (BT) – Sahuarita H.S. (Tucson, AZ)
- 34th Round 1,040th Pick Overall by the New York Mets
LHP Randy Abshier – 6’5” 165lbs.- L/L (BT) – Otay Ranch H.S. (Chula Vista, CA)
3B Tony Bullard – 6’5” 195lbs.- R/R (BT) – John W. North H.S. (Riverside, CA)
LHP Blake Peyton – 6’1” 195lbs. – R/L (BT) – El Capitan H.S. (Santee, CA)
RHP Bryce Collins – 6’1” 175lbs. – R/R (BT) – Hart H.S. (Valencia, CA)
- 39th Round – 1,174th Pick Overall by the Minnesota Twins
RHP Conner Thurman – 6’1” 190lbs. – R/R (BT) – Red Mountain H.S. (Mesa, AZ)
3B Ryan Archibald – 6’2” 205lbs. – L/R (BT) – John Carroll H.S. (Churchville, MD)
SS Kyson Donahue – 6’3″ 185lbs. – L/R (BT) – Punahou H.S. (Honolulu, HI)
OF Tyler Casagrande – 6’0” 185lbs. – L/R (BT) – Riverside H.S. (Leesburg, VA)
OF Jacob Allred 5’11” 167lbs. – L/R (BT) – Cathedral Catholic H.S. (San Diego, CA)
RHP George Arias – 5’11” 165lbs. – R/R (BT) – Tucson Magnet H.S. (Tucson, AZ)
- 34th Round – 1,011th Pick Overall by the San Diego Padres
RHP Macel Bachelier – 5’9” 160lbs. – L/R (BT) – Nogales H.S. (Nogales, AZ)
SS Bryce Begell – 6’1” 175lbs. – R/R (BT) – Vacaville H.S. (Vacaville, CA)

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At Zona Zealots, we would like to welcome all the new, incoming Wildcats, and are curious if Johnson will bring in anyone else! Bear Down, Arizona!

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