Baseball roundup: preseason rankings, MLB Draft boards

Baseball season is around the corner with the Gamecocks already going through small workouts now with preseason scrimmages starting this month.

The Gamecocks come into the season with a lot of fanfare after bringing back a lot of pieces from last year's team and bringing the majority of their top-10 recruiting class to campus.

With the season approaching, it can be hard to keep track of all the preseason rankings, draft boards and the like in regards to the Gamecocks, so we put together a notebook recapping a few big news and notes from national media about the Gamecocks.

Gamecock preseason rankings, preseason All-SEC nod

--South Carolina is ranked in at least two preseason top 25 polls entering the season, including being a top 20 team in one poll. Collegiate Baseball, which came out first this offseason, ranked the Gamecocks No. 21 in the country while D1Baseball ranks South Carolina No. 18 in the polls.

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It's the first time under Mark Kingston the Gamecocks have been ranked in the top 25 entering a season, and the last time it happened in Columbia was before the 2017 season.

--PerfectGame released its SEC preview recently, including a preseason All-SEC team. Wes Clarke was included as the outlet's All-SEC first baseman. Clarke, after playing more toward the end of his freshman season, started all 16 games last year and slashed .286/.406/.714. Clarke finished tied for third in the country with eight home runs and was 16th nationally in runs batted in with 22.

Player rankings

--Since the season is just over a month away, national outlets are putting together lists of their top players in college baseball, and in the high school ranks with the draft a few short months away as well and plenty of Gamecock players and commits are on the list.

--The biggest names on the Gamecock roster currently are Thomas Farr, Julian Bosnic and Brannon Jordan, three pitchers expected to be in the weekend rotation and cracking top prospects lists across the country. Farr is considered the No. 23 draft eligible prospect in the SEC by PerfectGame while Bosnic is considered the No. 32 followed by Jordan at 34.

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--Baseball America has Jordan at 124 in their top 200 draft prospects list, Farr at 155 and does not list Bosnic. In PerfectGame's list of top 400 draft prospects, Farr is 120, Bosnic sits at 190 and Jordan is at 203. Also included on the list from the current roster: right-handed pitchers Andy Peters at 355 and CJ Wewins at 357.

--Gamecocks in PerfectGame's top 250 college players rankings: Farr, 68; Bosnic, 105; Jordan, 114; Peters, 201; Weins, 203; David Mendham, 243.

--As for signees in the 2021 class, the Gamecocks have a few scattered throughout preseason draft boards. In Baseball America's top 200 prospects, shortstop Michael Braswell is at 105, utility infielder Cooper Kinney is at 144 and outfielder Thad Ector checks in at 192.

--The 2021 class is also well represented in PerfectGame's top 400 as well: right-hander Hunter Parks is at 144, Braswell at 148, outfielder Elijah Lambros at 178, Ector at 225, Kinney at 331, corner infielder Vito Valincius at 351, catcher Cole Messina at 361 and right-hander Aidan Hunter at 369.

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--PerfectGame also ranks SEC prospects for the next two drafts as well (2022 and 2023). Three Gamecocks were listed for 2022: Brennan Milone at seven, Brett Thomas at 15 and Brandon Fields at 19. Two more—Mag Cotto at 13 and Will Sanders at 20—check in for the 2023 draft.