2021 D1Baseball Third-Team Preseason All-Americans
Season Preview
D1Baseball’s editors and national writers select the preseason All-America teams with one guiding principle in mind: to identify the best and most valuable college baseball players for the 2021 season. Past performance and future potential factor into the deliberations, but the goal is neither to identify the best future major leaguers nor to reward the players who have put up the gaudiest numbers in past seasons (particularly since the level of competition varies significantly from one conference to another). The objective is to select the players who would provide the most value for a team that wanted to win the College World Series in 2021 — the players who are best equipped to perform against elite college competition this spring.
We begin today with a look at the third team, which features a pair of NC State teammates at shortstop (Joe Torres) and outfield (Tyler McDonough). Check back later today to see the second team and the first team.
Third-Team Preseason All-Americans
| Pos. | Name, School | Year | AVG/OBP/SLG | OPS | AB | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Michael Rothenberg, Duke | 4YR JR | .349/.551/.605 | 1.156 | 43 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 1 |
| 1B | Alex Toral, Miami | 4YR JR | .296/.435/.593 | 1.028 | 54 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 0 |
| 2B | Robert Moore, Arkansas | 2YR FR | .317/.403/.444 | .847 | 63 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 8 | 15 | 3 |
| 3B | Peyton Graham, Oklahoma | 2YR FR | .358/.457/.612 | 1.069 | 67 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 8 |
| SS | Jose Torres, NC State | 2YR FR | .333/.369/.533 | .902 | 60 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 20 | 2 |
| OF | Tyler McDonough, NC State | 3YR SO | .354/.457/.554 | 1.011 | 65 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 7 |
| OF | Grant Richardson, Indiana | 3YR SO | .424/.453/.797 | 1.250 | 59 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 4 | 16 | 1 |
| OF | Ethan Wilson, South Alabama | 3YR SO | .282/.329/.465 | .794 | 71 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 20 | 6 |
| DH | John Rhodes, Kentucky | 2YR FR | .426/.485/.672 | 1.157 | 61 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| UT | Kenyon Yovan, Oregon | 5YR JR | .429/.566/.714 | 1.280 | 56 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 15 | 9 | 0 |
| Pos. | Name, School | Year | W | L | ERA | G | SV | IP | BB | SO | OBA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP | Steven Hajjar, Michigan | 3YR FR | 3 | 0 | 2.70 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 11 | 24 | .240 |
| SP | Jaden Hill, LSU | 3YR SO | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 2 | 11.2 | 5 | 17 | .028 |
| SP | Christian MacLeod, Mississippi State | 3YR FR | 4 | 0 | 0.86 | 4 | 0 | 21 | 6 | 35 | .127 |
| SP | Michael McGreevy, UC Santa Barbara | 3YR SO | 2 | 0 | 0.99 | 4 | 0 | 27.1 | 7 | 26 | .190 |
| SP | Braden Olthoff, Tulane | 4YR JR | 4 | 0 | 0.32 | 4 | 0 | 28 | 3 | 47 | .128 |
| RP | Tyler Grauer, Indiana State | 5YR SR | 0 | 1 | 1.59 | 7 | 5 | 11.1 | 1 | 23 | .239 |
| RP | Stephen Schoch, Virginia | 5YR SR | 1 | 1 | 1.62 | 11 | 5 | 16.2 | 5 | 24 | .167 |
| UT | Kenyon Yovan, Oregon | 5YR JR | 0 | 0 | 20.25 | 2 | 0 | 1.1 | 3 | 0 | .571 |
Just for the sake of argument and not to take anything away from an incredible player and prospect, but based on your objective of wanting to identify impact players on teams in search of Omaha in 2021 that are equipped to perform against elite competition, could you talk about 2-yr freshman Robert Moore’s inclusion as 3rd team 2B over fellow SEC 2-yr freshman Peyton Chatagnier who had the better offensive year in the truncated 2020 season while being tasked with hitting much higher in the order from the outset in that season? Moore obviously has the defensive edge but only stats put forth for these lists are offensive which would suggest an edge for Chatangier early in their respective careers. Again, mostly for the sake of argument on a slow Monday.
How in the world is Connor Kokx from Long Beach State not a pre season All American?
How in the world is Kevin Abel not on one of these lists. You’ve got a 2nd year Sophomore I’ve never heard of on the 2nd team but not Abel who dominated Arkansas in the deciding NC game as a true Freshman.