The 20th rounder that wasn't 

 

 

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/baylors-tyce-armstrong-makes-baseball-history-with-3-grand-slams-in-season-opener-055156843.html

 

Flora was very intriguing yesterday. Flukey didn't look great from what I saw.

Also I hate that we have a thread dedicated to Roch. The superstitious side of me makes me feel like it's super bad juju. 

Edited February 15Feb 15 by DirtySox

 

Or maybe referring to him as the best SS prospect since Troy Tulowitzki in 2007...?

He can’t behaving Justin LeBron getting all draft puffy. Baang.

Edited February 15Feb 15 by DirtySox

Lebron entered spring ball in Top 3-5 in most mock draft positionings.  fwiw

Looks like he has put on some added weight/strength.

Grady Emerson the clear #2.

 

Btw, which UCD starter against UCLA was their best, Fri or Sat guy?

 

Edited February 15Feb 15 by caulfield12

 

 

"I Want That To Be The Standard:" Omaha Looms Large Over Alabama's 2026 Season

Alabama baseball looks to redeem its regional failures and end a 27-year College World Series drought this spring.

Theodore Fernandez|Feb 13, 2026

 

 

"Lebron is arguably the best defensive player in the nation, a projected top-five MLB Draft pick in July who could leave campus as the most decorated player to ever call Sewell-Thomas Stadium home.

"He just does stuff that other people can't do," Lebron's roommate and teammate Zane Adams said. "You see it in practice, you see in the scrimmages, you'll see in the games coming up, he's just gifted, he's special."

The dominance Lebron has displayed on the diamond made him one of the most valuable players in the transfer portal over the summer. Despite having the ability to start at just about any program in the country, the junior did not even consider a move."

 

https://www.si.com/college/alabama/baseball/i-want-standard-omaha-looms-large-over-alabama-2026-season

Edited February 15Feb 15 by caulfield12

8 hours ago, DirtySox said:

Also I hate that we have a thread dedicated to Roch. The superstitious side of me makes me feel like it's super bad juju.

I’ll fully take the blame if he has a bad year.

On 2/13/2026 at 5:45 PM, Autumn Dreamin said:

The 20th rounder that wasn't 

 

Our drafting process is why I don’t mind so much if our GM doesn’t know much about players he’s trading for 

https://www.perfectgame.org/players/playerprofile.aspx?ID=537073

Grady Emerson 

Emerson with the slight advantage on pure speed but neither him nor Roch are classic burners.

Edited February 16Feb 16 by caulfield12

 

https://soxmachine.com/2026/02/2026-mlb-draft-report-college-baseball-opening-day

From BA's draft buzz piece from this morning. Picking out Emerson and Strosnider. Plenty of other great tidbits within the full article.

Quote

Grady Emerson, SS, Fort Worth Christian HS, North Richland Hills, Texas (BA Rank: 2)
Emerson looked as advertised in a doubleheader on Thursday. The top-ranked high school player in the class went 6-for-7 (.857) across two games with a triple, a pair of doubles and a pair of singles. 

Emerson is regarded as one of the most advanced and instinctual hitters in the class, and while his competition in both games wasn’t elite, he showed all the traits you’d expect of a top-of-the-class bat. Emerson has a balanced, level swing and an advanced approach at the plate with a great understanding of the strike zone. His barrel stays in the zone for a long time, and he always seems in control of his at-bats, something that is especially the case for him against his high school competition this spring. 

Emerson’s natural ability and willingness to use the entire field is obvious. In this look, he swung and missed just three times, mostly on pitches down. 

He has the tools for shortstop and looked solid at the position, converting all the routine plays he was given in this look. His arm is perhaps his loudest defensive tool. He throws across the diamond with good carry and accuracy. His hands and footwork are reliable, as well. Emerson is a solid runner but not a true burner. He does, however, take a solid first step, both in the field with the glove and on the bases, where he showed decent baserunning instincts. 

The Texas commit still looks like—and is being discussed as—one of the first players off the board.

Quote

Sawyer Strosnider, OF, TCU (BA Rank: 18)
Strosnider is an atypical contrast to Emerson. 

Both are native Texans, likely first-rounders and among the top three Texas prospects in the class (along with Texas A&M’s Chris Hacopian). However, while Emerson is well-rounded, polished and safe, Strosnider is a high-upside toolshed with plenty of 60s on the card but a decent amount of risk, too. It’s an inversion of the normal stereotypes for the high school and college hitting demographics. 

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound center fielder and lefthanded hitter got his season started with a bang, homering to the opposite field in his first plate appearance of the season against Vanderbilt righthander Connor Fennel. Down 0-1 in the count, Strosnider got an 81 mph changeup on the outer third and drove the pitch 104 mph the other way for an estimated 380 feet. In his three games against Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Oklahoma, Strosnider went 2-for-8 (.250) with a home run, four walks (one intentional) and four strikeouts. 

Strosnider takes big, aggressive swings with the intent to do damage at the plate. As such, there’s some natural swing-and-miss that might always be present in his game. He whiffed five times on 16 swings (a 31% miss rate) in this three-game series, but he also put together some competitive at-bats and generally stayed within the zone. He chased only twice this weekend, which is a good sign. His general plate discipline will be a key area for him to improve this spring after expanding the zone more than 30% of the time in 2025. 

Strosnider is a plus runner who moves well underway and showed both a quick first step and impressive closing speed in center field. His arm is another clear plus tool that will allow him to play any position in the outfield. He throws with excellent power and accuracy. 

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/mlb-draft-buzz-on-grady-emerson-sawyer-strosnider-19-other-prospects-to-know-for-2026/

Edited February 17Feb 17 by DirtySox

 

2 minutes ago, DirtySox said:

 

 

 

10 hours ago, DirtySox said:

From BA's draft buzz piece from this morning. Picking out Emerson and Strosnider. Plenty of other great tidbits within the full article.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/mlb-draft-buzz-on-grady-emerson-sawyer-strosnider-19-other-prospects-to-know-for-2026/

Who else in NCAA has Strosnider's raw tools that could potentially fall to the second round and be swayed with $$$?

Probably a short list.

 

ChatGPT

Quote

Roch Cholowsky

Highly regarded high school/college infield prospect

Strong defensive reputation

Considered a good prospect, but not a consensus top-5 overall talent in his draft class

Not viewed as a generational bat or lock high draft pick.

 

Edited February 18Feb 18 by joejoesox