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Rice Baseball: Way too early look at 2021 lineup

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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

  1. Braden Comeaux, 3B
  2. Bradley Gneiting, RF
  3. Trei Cruz, SS
  4. Austin Bulman, 1B
  5. Brayden Combs, DH
  6. Cade Edwards, 2B
  7. Justin Collins, C
  8. Tyler Larue, LF
  9. 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

  1. Braden Comeaux, 3B
  2. Cade Edwards, 2B
  3. Bradley Gneiting, RF
  4. Austin Bulman, 1B
  5. Justin Collins, C
  6. Connor Walsh, SS
  7. Brayden Combs, DH
  8. Aaron Beaulaurier, CF
  9. 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.

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Rice Baseball: Shortened draft a plus for Owls

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Rice baseball only lost one player to the 2020 MLB Draft. Aside from shortstop Trei Cruz, the Owls will return most of their roster next spring.

The Houston Astros selected Shay Whitcomb with the 160th pick of the 2020 MLB Draft, wrapping up a five-round affair in just two days. Rice baseball had only one current player selection, star shortstop Trei Cruz. He was picked by the Detroit Tigers in the third round with the 73rd overall selection.

Undrafted players can still sign with MLB teams, but signing bonuses for such players will be limited to $20,000. It’s expected that the vast majority of them will return to school, which means Rice baseball is unlikely to have any further draft-related losses.

Players like pitcher Roel Garcia and catcher Justin Collins both went undrafted. Garcia was selected in the 27th round last year despite missing the season prior with injuries.

Avoiding additional draft losses would have been less likely had 1,200+ players come off the board as happens in the more traditional years. Hard decisions of whether or not to return to school no longer have to be made. Bradley Gneiting, who briefly entered the Transfer Portal during the offseason, has announced his intention to return. For the most part, Rice should be getting most of their key pieces back.

Podcast: Former Rice Baseball star Anthony Rendon talks extended offseason

And then there’s the addition of Ole Miss transfer Connor Walsh. He didn’t play last year with the Rebels, sitting behind Anthony Servideo who was chosen the subsequent following Cruz in Thursday’s draft. Walsh will slide into Cruz’s vacated spot, giving the Owls a formidable roster despite the presumed departure of their top bat.

It’s a bit early to pen down an exact roster, but with the draft in the rearview mirror, the pieces are coming together.

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Rice Baseball: What to expect for the Owls in 2020 MLB Draft

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Rice Baseball should have at least one player selected in the 2020 MLB Draft. Here’s what to expect from the Owls and how to watch the draft this week.

The 2020 MLB Draft is going to be different in more ways than one. First, it’s typically aligned with the end of the college baseball season which came to a screeching halt in mid-March. Second, and most importantly, it’s only five rounds long. Rice baseball had six players selected in the 2019 Draft, but that came over the span of 40 rounds.

How to Watch the 2020 MLB Draft

Round 1

Dates: Wednesday, June 10
Times: 7 p.m. ET
TV: MLB Network / ESPN
Picks: 1-37

Rounds 2-5

Dates:  Thursday, June 11
Times: 5 p.m. ET
TV: MLB Network / ESPN2
Picks: 38-160

What to expect for Rice Baseball

The abridged nature of the draft makes it increasingly likely that few Owls, if any, will hear their names called this week. Standout shortstop Trei Cruz is the only player that most experts believe will be selected. D1 Baseball rated him as the No. 35 college prospect ($) in the draft. Most mock drafts in recent weeks have projected him as a Day 2 selection.

With so few selections, teams will be less inclined to gamble than they would have been in a 40 round draft. Less high school prospects will be taken with more pro-ready college players available. Players with injury concerns, like Rice pitcher Roel Garcia, will see their draft chances lessened from where they might have stood in a traditional year.

Listen: Anthony Rendon joins The Roost Podcast to talk delayed season and more

Players who aren’t drafted are allowed to sign for a reduced bonus. There will be a handful of prospects that opt to go that route, but many will choose to return to college for the upcoming season. That’s going to make the 2021 Draft class impressive.

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Rice Baseball: Owls making progress on the recruiting front

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Rice Baseball continues to score big wins on the recruiting front, turning an unexpected early offseason into a stepping stone toward future success.

The abrupt end to the 2020 Rice Baseball season came amidst a tough string of weeks, both in sports and in the country. Instead of spending his Friday evenings at the ballpark, he was at home like the rest of the country. But, just like he’s always done, he kept working.

“The positive is, from my standpoint, [is that we’re] still working, still trying to get better,” he said during a conversation this spring after the season had been cut short. “It’s not a ‘take a vacation for the next 30 days”, he continued. “There’s work to be done.”

Winning recruiting battles has been one of those advantages the Owls have found over the prolonged break from baseball. One need look no further than the social media feeds of assistant coaches Cory Barton and Paul Janish, who have chronicled the Owls’ ascent with Janish’s favorite #Hootem hashtag and Owl gif:

Some of the players in question have been made public, some have remained secret. But the latest addition turned heads on the national stage when it was announced by Kendall Rogers of D1 Baseball: former Ole Miss signee Connor Walsh will transfer to Rice.

Walsh was the No. 27 ranked player in the nation coming out of high school. His expectations at the collegiate level were, and remain, sky high. But his debut had to wait longer than expected. He didn’t see the field for the Rebels last season, but his absence from the lineup card wasn’t his doing. He was tucked away behind stud shortstop Anthony Servideo, who hit .390 during the 17-game season.

Podcast: Former Rice Baseball star Anthony Rendon talks extended offseason

Current shortstop Trei Cruz is seen as an obvious MLB Draft selection. Should he leave the program for the pros this offseason, Walsh would step in as his replacement. Adding Walsh is the latest in an extremely productive extended offseason. By the time Rice baseball returns to the diamond they’ll be in much better shape.

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BREAKING: Rice Baseball to host 2023 Conference USA Tournament

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BREAKING: Rice baseball will host the 2023 Conference USA Baseball Tournament as the tournament shifts from Biloxi to member campuses starting in 2021.

Scheduling is going to look different across the landscape of college sports in the wake of the COVID-19 financial crunch. Conference USA will not be immune from those changes, some of which have already been put into action. Cutting down travel expenses wherever possible has been at the forefront of conversations.

One of the initial changes impacts the Conference USA Baseball tournament, which has been hosted at MGM Park in Biloxi, MS from 2017 to 2019. The tournament was scheduled to be played their again in 2020 before COVID-19 forced the cancelation of the season. Instead of the neutral site, the tournament is moving to member campuses.

The Roost Podcast: Listen now to our Extended Offseason Interview Series

Rather than returning to Mississippi in 2021, the tournament will move to the newly renovated J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park. The home of the Louisiana State Bulldogs, Patterson Park was severely damaged in a tornado that passed through Ruston, LA in April of 2019. Southern Miss will host in 2022.

The Roost has confirmed Rice baseball will host in 2023. The Owls lasted hosted the conference tournament in 2013. Christian Stringer was named tournament MVP and the Owls punched their tickets to the postseason as tournament champions. Changing backdrops have been a good thing for Rice since then. Rice won the tournament when it shifted to Hattiesburg, MS in 2014 and again when it moved to Biloxi in 2017.

This is the first notable shift in scheduling that has come out in the wake of the pandemic. Further considerations including changes to Olympic sports and basketball scheduling could also be on the table. We will continue to provide updates on those as they come.

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