After a disappointing end against Florida in the Super Regionals this past June, the Tigers welcome some new faces in effort to get right back where they were just a few months ago. October marks the time of year when teams across the country begin to gear up for the upcoming season and begin their rigorous Fall practice routines.
As for head coach Butch Thompson (entering his 4th season with Auburn), he knows this is the time where his guys separate will themselves from the competition. Pitchers begin throwing, position guys begin hitting, and the team once again gets acclimated to what is in store for them in the coming months.
To start things off, Auburn's recruiting class is one of the best ranked at no. 14 in the country by Collegiate Baseball. The Tigers 18 new additions to the team include 13 High School prospects along with 5 junior college transfers cover the field adding depth at every position.
Headlining the newest roster additions include 4 guys who were selected to the 2018 MLB First Year Player Draft but declined their contracts to come play baseball at Auburn University. Kason Howell, Devin Warner, Ryan Bliss, and Garrett Wade are the guys to look out for this season and expected to see some action early on in their Auburn career.
Wade especially, who in fact was named the 2018 Gatorade Player of the Year joining guys like Clint Frasier, Clayton Kershaw, and Justin Upton who had won the award back in their Senior year of High School. Another interesting statistic to note, 13 of the Tigers 18 recruits ranked among the Top 500 High School Baseball players in the country.
The future looks bright for this Auburn squad despite losing Senior and 1st Overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft Casey Mize. As for the returning Tigers, five of them finished the 2018 season with a batting average of .300 or higher and double-digit homeruns.
Opening a lot of eyes last season was the freshman Edouard Julien who ended the year with a .275 BA and hitting 17 home runs. This year looks no different for Edouard as coaches and players expect him to continue his great work at the plate and be a cornerstone for the team this season.
With a great outlook for the team in 2019, coach Thompson does not want to compare his team this year to last. His theory behind this way of thinking is so that the team does not become at all complacent about where they currently stand.
Expecting the team to back up last years performance is not going to be easy, so it is imperative for the team’s future success to stay on the grind and work even harder. "With this ball club and 18 new players, we basically need to focus on the task at hand, the present of this fall and see how good we can get individually and collectively" Thompson said.
The Tigers are set to host Western Carolina on the October 27th and Samford on November 2nd where admission is free.
