The Oregon State Beavers will open the college baseball season ranked No. 7, have been picked by Pac-12 coaches to win the conference and boast multiple preseason all-conference selections.
Insiders are predicting a special, championship-caliber season, thanks to a roster that could be the best and deepest in coach Mitch Canham’s five years as coach.
But how good is it?
Well, according to D1Baseball, the Beavers boast some of the best players in the country at their respective positions.
The college baseball website, which covers the sport nationally as comprehensively as any in the country, compiled a list of the best players at every position and Oregon State’s roster was featured prominently.
Seven of the Beavers’ nine everyday starters and two of their three projected weekend starters were ranked on the various lists.
One player — Golden Spikes Award candidate Travis Bazzana — is the No. 1 overall player at his position (second base) and four more starters were ranked among the top 20 players nationally at their positions.
Here’s a look at the Beavers listed in the rankings. (Click the links to visit D1Baseball’s complete breakdown):
FIRST BASE
Junior Mason Guerra is ranked No. 15 on the list of the top 50 first basemen.
SECOND BASE
Junior Travis Bazzana is ranked first on the list of top 50 second basemen.
SHORTSTOP
Junior Elijah Hainline is ranked No. 16 on the list of top 50 shortstops.
THIRD BASE
Freshman Trent Caraway is ranked No. 15 on the list of top 50 third basemen.
OUTFIELD
Sophomore Gavin Turley is ranked No. 20, senior Micah McDowell is ranked No. 77 and senior Brady Kasper is ranked No. 85 on the list of the top 100 outfielders.
STARTING PITCHERS
Right-hander Aiden May is ranked No. 36 and right-hander Jacob Kmatz is ranked No. 106 on the list of the top 150 starting pitchers.
*D1baseball did not rank an Oregon State player on its list of the top 50 catchers or top 50 relief pitchers.
— Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.