FSU baseball: Noles checking in among preseason top 25 rankings

FSU baseball is under new leadership for the first time in most of our lifetimes but the name is familiar. The expectations are still the same though.

FSU baseball is in a familiar spot even though they are under new leadership in 2020. Mike Martin Jr. inherits a talented team that reached the College World Series  with another unexpected run last season.

They did lose some firepower in Mike Salvatore, Drew Mendoza and J.C. Flowers, but they return starting pitcher CJ Van Eyk who’s named a third team All-American by Perfect Game USA.

Conor Grady, Shane Drohan, Clayton Kwiatkowski, Antonio Velez and Jonah Scolaro all return to give the Noles a number of experienced arm on the mound.

The team checks in at No. 14 in Perfect Game USA’s preseason top 25 rankings and will look to continue their amazing streak of winning 40 or more games for the 43rd year.

Thoughts

As a former college baseball player I can’t wait to see the changes Mike Martin Jr. brings to the program. I’ve long thought some of the methods Mike Martin Sr. would employ were outdated.

I thought it would be better to be more aggressive on the base paths, putting more pressure on team’s defensively instead of relying so much on guys being bunted over or going from station to station.

The Noles have simply left too many runners on the base paths over the past few years. I’d liken it to football coaches who have been coaching since forever to understand it’s not smart to punt on fourth and 1 when you’re inside your opponent’s 40 yard line.

Martin Jr. has done well on the recruiting front since taking over with a slew of top players already committed for future classes.

They’ll begin their season Friday, February 14th at home with a three game weekend series against Niagara.