College Baseball Daily continues our countdown to the start of the 2013 college baseball season by checking in on the Top 100 Players in the country. We will be adding players day-by-day until we get to number one!
Number 43 on our Top 100 Countdown is South Carolina’s Tanner English. The 5’7 outfielder from Murrells Inlet, South Carolina was a 13th-round draft pick in 2011 by the Rays.
During his freshman season in 2012, English appeared in all 69 games for the Gamecocks, starting 68. Throughout the season, he hit .298 with 43 runs, 23 RBI, six doubles and four triples. English was also 12-15 in stolen base attempts and he posted a fielding percentage of .985 on the season. His success earned him the honor of being named to the 2012 SEC All-Freshman Team.
English enters the 2013 season with the highest returning batting average and the most stolen bases among returning players. Since the conclusion of the 2012 season, English has been working on transitioning into more of a switch hitter to both take advantage of his speed and to minimize strikeouts. As his strikeouts go down and his on base percentage rises, you can expect his draft stock to rise as well. The more that he is able to put the ball in the play, the more success he will experience both at the plate and on the base paths. With that one dramatic change, English has the potential to be an extremely efficient and exciting player this season, making him one of the top players to watch for in 2013.
You can check out the rest of our Top 100 by clicking here.
