A Royals fan’s guide to college baseball in 2025

The games have already begun at this level.

Spring is in the air. The Kansas City Royals, as well as 14 other major league teams, have descended upon the greater Phoenix metropolitan area to begin preparing for the 2025 MLB season. Spring Training games will begin this week as players battle it out for roster spots and roles with the big league club.

Alas, Spring Training always feels like something of a false start. Leaving aside the fact that it feels nowhere close to spring in Kansas City right now, Spring Training initially seems like a milestone. The football season is over. Basketball is in the doldrums of the regular season. It’s time for baseball to shine. But then you remember that the games don’t count, and you can’t even watch most of them. We’ll do this for six weeks by the way. By St. Patrick’s Day, it’ll feel like Spring Training has been dragging on forever and you just want regular season games to start.

There is another option to scratch your baseball itch. Last weekend, Division I teams all across the south began their baseball seasons, including some at Spring Training facilities. Northern teams traveled to places like Texas, Mississippi, and North Carolina to start their seasons until it warms up enough to play home games. There are no caveats here — these are real games that count.

For the uninitiated — welcome. A full-season preview would require an article that is far longer than I’m getting paid for (though I have a podcast series for that). Instead, I will bring you what you need to know to watch college baseball in 2025, whether you’re entering the sport in earnest or just need something to tide you over until the MLB season begins.

How is college baseball different from MLB?

The biggest difference is college baseball has much more scoring. The Los Angeles Dodgers led MLB in OPS in 2024 at .781. That is identical to what Binghamton produced in 2024, which was good for 209th out 305 D1 teams. There are many reasons why college baseball has so much more scoring, including:

• Pitchers are worse, particularly in terms of command.
• Defenses are worse, so balls in play are more likely to turn into hits.
• The players use metal bats, and the balls are (probably) juiced.
• Ballparks tend to be hitter-friendly.

Aside from the obvious effect of bigger numbers on the scoreboard, a more offensive league means comebacks are more likely. A 6-0 lead in the eighth inning of an MLB game is basically over — that same lead in a college game can evaporate rapidly, especially since most teams don’t have great bullpen depth.

There are some differences in rules as well. College baseball has implemented a pitch clock, but they have not followed MLB’s lead in banning the shift, implementing an automatic runner on second in extra innings, or enforcing a three-batter minimum for relievers. I like the shift and hate the extra-inning runner, but I think college baseball could use the three-batter minimum. Additionally, most conferences have a mercy rule that comes into effect if a team is up by at least ten runs after seven completed innings.

Another way that college baseball differs from MLB is that you’ll see a greater variety of playstyles. Obviously hitting for power is important — Tennessee slugged .606 and won the national title last year. Florida hit 136 homers, fifth-most in the country, but finished just one game over .500 in the regular season. Kentucky hit just 89, but they succeeded by putting the ball in play, causing havoc on the bases, and generally putting pressure on opposing defenses and pitchers. They rode this formula to the #2 overall seed in the tournament and a trip to Omaha. You’re much more likely to see things like squeeze plays and hit-and-runs at this level than in pro ball.

Finally, college baseball has a much different on-field vibe than MLB. Even as MLB has embraced a looser, more expressive aesthetic, it’s still much more buttoned-up than college ball. It’s not quite LIDOM, but Division I ball will give you dudes bat-flipping on opening weekend. Most of these guys aren’t getting paid for this, they’re just out having fun on the field and it shows.

Who are the teams to watch?

There are many ways to answer this question, but I’ll address it with the top five teams in the top 25.

1. Texas A&M

The Aggies were the national runners-up last year before a tumultuous offseason that saw their head coach depart to Texas shortly after the conclusion of the College World Series. Fortunately, most of their best players remained in the program. Ryan Prager, their ace last year, was drafted in the third round by the Angels but elected to return to campus for another year. All-American Jace LaViolette (who might be drafted first overall this summer) and freshman standout Gavin Grahovac did not follow the coach that recruited them to Austin. For the players that did leave in the draft, new head coach Michael Early was able to recruit some high-profile transfers, including Wyatt Henseler from Penn and Gavin Kash from Texas Tech. The Aggies returned most of a lineup that was a win away from a national title last year and enter this year looking to finish the job.

2. Virginia

The Hoos have reached the College World Series in three of the past four years but have gone just 1-6 there. They will look to make a deeper postseason run this year with a lineup that is perhaps the best in the country. Jacob Ference, Eric Becker, Henry Godbout, Harrison Didawick, and Henry Ford all posted an OPS north of 1.000 last season, with all but Ference doing so as underclassmen. The pitching isn’t quite as imposing but features quality arms like former UVa quarterback Jay Woolfolk, talented sophomore Bryson Moore, and workhorse lefty Evan Blanco. If things can come together on the mound this season, Virginia will be well-positioned to make another run to Omaha.

3. LSU

The 2023 national champions don’t have a Paul Skenes or Dylan Crews on the roster in 2025, but they could be nearly as good as that team. Jared Jones is one of the country’s premier power hitters. He’ll be joined by Steven Milam, who is following Alex Bregman in the tradition of undersized infielders from New Mexico playing at a high level in Baton Rouge, as well as some quality transfers including Luis Hernandez from Indiana State and Chris Stanfield from Auburn. It’s power arms galore on the mound, led by sophomores Kade Anderson and Chase Shores and UC San Diego transfer Anthony Eyanson. They also have William Schmidt, the highest-ranked draft prospect last summer to reach campus. The Tigers fell short of Omaha last season but are more than talented enough to get back there this year.

4. Tennessee

The defending national champions lost a ton of talent to the draft last summer, including staff ace Drew Beam being selected by the Royals in the third round. Head coach Tony Vitello responded by getting some of the best players available in the transfer portal, including Gavin Kilen from Louisville and Andrew Fischer from Ole Miss. They will join Hunter Ensley and Dean Curley, two talented up-the-middle players returning from last year’s team. The pitching is a bit more unsettled, with Ole Miss transfer Liam Doyle at the top followed by Marcus Phillips and Nate Snead, who are making the jump from the bullpen to the rotation this season. The last three national champions have all taken significant steps back in the following season, so the Vols will be looking to buck the trend.

5. Arkansas

The Razorbacks have been one of the most successful programs in the country in recent years but have struggled to cap strong regular seasons with deep postseason runs. Despite losing Hagen Smith to the draft, this could still be the best pitching staff in the country. Ultra-talented sophomore Gabe Gaeckle headlines the unit, and he’s followed by veteran transfers in Zach Root from East Carolina and Landon Beidelschies from Ohio State. The offense has been what’s held this team back in recent years and will have much to prove this year. Wehiwa Aloy is the headliner as a potential top-five draft pick this summer. He’s joined by Juco transfer Brent Iredale and Florida Gulf Coast transfer Charles Davalan. Runs will be tough to come by against this squad, but can they score enough themselves?

What about my school?

Here are some brief thoughts on teams that I would consider somewhat local to the Kansas City area.

Kansas

The Jayhawks haven’t had much success on the diamond over the last decade, but they’ve been trending in the right direction under head coach Dan Fitzgerald. Dominic Voegele is the reigning Big XII freshman of the year and should be one of the best starting pitchers in the conference. We’ll see if they can hit enough to back what should be a solid pitching staff. Kansas is a sleeper team in the Big XII this season.

Kansas State

The Wildcats had their best season in over a decade last year, reaching a Super Regional in the tournament (meaning they were one of the last 16 teams standing). They will almost certainly regress as they lost a ton of talent to the draft and didn’t do much to replace it. 2025 will likely be a tough year for baseball in Manhattan.

Wichita State

The Shockers have a lot of history as a program, but they haven’t had much success in recent years despite playing in a weak AAC. They should finish in the top half of that league.

Missouri

The Tigers would likely be a solid program in almost every conference besides the one they’re in. The reality is they will always be behind the eight-ball playing in the SEC, largely due to geographical disadvantages. They get picked to finish last in the conference every season but usually manage to avoid that ignominious fate. We’ll see if they can manage the same in the new-look SEC.

Missouri State

This has been a quality mid-major program for a long time and the Bears are the favorites to win the Missouri Valley in 2025. This team can flat out hit, led by sophomore center fielder Caden Bogenpohl. The pitching is more of a question as they had very little depth on the mound last season. This team reached the tournament as recently as 2022 and could find their way there this season.

Iowa

The Hawkeyes were a preseason top 25 team in 2024 that fell well short of expectations, largely due to strike-throwing issues by their staff. They have a legit ace at the top in Cade Obermueller, but it remains to be seen how the rest of the pieces fall into place. The Big Ten isn’t a great baseball conference even with the new schools they’ve added, so Iowa should at least finish in the top half of the league.

Iowa State

The Cyclones are one of two Big XII schools that does not sponsor baseball. Get with the program!

Nebraska

The Huskers are the only team here that was ranked entering 2025, coming in at #23. It’s a well-balanced roster led by junior ace and Topeka native Mason McConnaughey. Oregon has the best roster in the Big Ten, but Nebraska is not that far behind, and these two schools on paper seem to be a cut above the rest of the league. Nebraska should reach the tournament for a second straight season this year.

How do I watch these games?

The majority of games can be streamed on ESPN’s interface. A cable sign-in will get you access to all SEC and ACC games. Most other conferences, including the Big XII, have their games available on ESPN+. There are a few exceptions to this. The Big Ten streams all their games on B1G+, which as far as I can tell requires a subscription. FloBaseball also exists as a subscription service, streaming games from the CAA as well as a number of early season tournaments featuring high-end power conference programs. There are also a few similar tournaments held at MLB ballparks and Spring Training sites that are streamed for free by MLB.

There are some games that are broadcast on linear television as well. The SEC Network and ACC Network will regularly broadcast games during the regular season. ESPN and ESPN2 will sporadically show regular season games as well. These are typically SEC matchups. Conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament get national broadcasts, with College World Series games showing on ESPN.

What about draft prospects?

We will cover many potential targets for the Royals throughout the spring as we get closer to the draft. Stay tuned!