The 2021 Rice baseball lineup will look different without Trei Cruz. Here’s a first pass at what players might trot out for the Owls on opening weekend next season.
Rice baseball hasn’t played many games since we last projected the starting lineup. Even still, so much has happened with the canceled season at the forefront of many of the developments.
Most notably, Trei Cruz was recently drafted by the Detroit Tigers. He has since signed. Rodrigo Duluc and Tyler LaRue intend to transfer. Those are the notable changes to the roster as of mid-June.
Earlier in the spring, the NCAA announced seniors in spring sports would be granted an additional year of eligibility. How that plays out from a scholarship situation will be handled on a case-by-case basis. To that end, we don’t have a definitive answer on which seniors will (or won’t) return in 2021. For the purposes of this exercise, we’ll assume they will come back.
With that in mind. Here’s what our lineup projection looked like entering the 2020 season.
Starting lineup projection as of Jan 31
- Braden Comeaux, 3B
- Bradley Gneiting, RF
- Trei Cruz, SS
- Austin Bulman, 1B
- Brayden Combs, DH
- Cade Edwards, 2B
- Justin Collins, C
- Tyler Larue, LF
- Aaron Beaulaurier, CF
And here’s our projection in mid-June, taking into account the losses of Trei Cruz and Tyler LaRue.
2021 starting lineup projection
- Braden Comeaux, 3B
- Cade Edwards, 2B
- Bradley Gneiting, RF
- Austin Bulman, 1B
- Justin Collins, C
- Connor Walsh, SS
- Brayden Combs, DH
- Aaron Beaulaurier, CF
- Antonio Cruz, LF
The most important new addition is Ole Miss transfer Connor Walsh. His commitment in early June was huge for the Owls. He’s the likely replacement behind Trei Cruz. The third outfield spot is a mystery at this point. Antonio Cruz, Justin Dunlap and Dominic Cox are the front runners by seniority, but nobody seized the job this past spring. Incoming freshman Guy Garibay Jr is a name to watch.
What are your thoughts? Share your guesses as to who suits up for the Owls in 2021 in the comments.
