Pedro Alvarez of Vanderbilt has been named the Pre-Season National Player of the Year for the 2008 season by Louisville Slugger.
Joining Alvarez on the first team are Pitchers Jacob Thompson (UVA), Preston Guilmet (Arizona), Anthony Shawler (ODU), Brian Matusz (USD), Josh Satow (ASU), Scott Gorgon (UCI) and Reliever AJ Griffin (USD). Rounding out the infield are Brett Wallace (1B, ASU), Blake Stouffer (2B, TAMU), Johnny Giavotella (2B, UNO), Alex Buchholz (SS, Delaware) and Buster Posey (C, FSU). In the outfield are Dominic De la Osa (Vanderbilt), Kyle Russell (Texas) and Brad McElroy (Charlotte). Josh Romanski of San Diego made the first team as a Utility player.
For those who are wondering: Yes, Ryan Flaherty earned 2nd team honors at SS, though I’m wondering how Vanderbilt’s Mikie Minor was not deemed among the twenty-nine pitchers selected to the three team All-America list which can be read here.
8 comments
NY,
Merry Christmas to you!
But are you going to tell me that this kid from Delaware is better than Flaherty.
Again Preston Clark is getting no mention as a 3rd teamer or a 2nd teamer.I do not have a problem with Buster Posey but come on.
Interesting listing, though I think they tried too hard to include players from smaller schools and much weaker conferences (at the expense of several better quality players). I still don’t understand this man-crush on Dominquez of Louisville. Yes, I know he was a consensus high school all-american and he has outstanding power, but…he is an absolute butcher defensively at 3B, has no plate discipline whatsoever, led the country (by a wide margin) in strikeouts with over 100 for the season, and he doesn’t hit for much of an AVG. I just don’t understand how he gets the 3rd team nod over fellow soph Diego Seastrunk of Rice. In fact, don’t be surprised if Seastrunk makes several 3rd team all-american honors following the 2008 season (behind only Alverez and Darnell at 3B).
The kid from Delaware is a very good player and deserves the recognition as he hit .387 with 11 homers and 63 RBI. He also had 27 doubles.
Brian, I think it’s great that this listing is giving a much higher profile to deserving players from some of the smaller schools and conferences. However, somewhere along the lines you’ve got to factor in the relative quality of the competition faced. For example, based on stats alone, Witchita State may have 3 of the best pitchers in the country…but do you really think the two guys who made 2nd team all-america are better than someone like Crow of Mizzou, who was relagated to 3rd team designation? I certainly don’t. Similarly, what do you think Flaherty’s stats would be if he played against the quality of pitching that Delaware faces (as opposed to Vandy opponents)?
You have to say that Old Dominion and UNC-Wilmington are respectable teams in the CAA. Northeastern had a first round pick a few years ago that was lights out in the conference.
Buchholz was also named to the third team by the NCBWA.
What about this guy,
Bobby Verbick produced a .370 batting average, playing in all 64 games. He led the team with 23 doubles, five triples, 14 home runs, and 81 runs batted in. Verbick had 30 multiple hit games and led the Bearkats with 21 multiple RBI contests.
He was a first Team selection last year and then this year Nothing!!
Agreed. Verbick is one of the most underrated players in the country, bar none. Kiko Vasquez, 1B at UCF is another.
We can play this game all day guys…I hope everyone had a great holiday and back to work for me on Boxing Day!
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