Arizona Wildcats Baseball Lands Seven Freshmen in Latest Fresh Arrivals Rankings
When the Arizona Wildcats begin fall workouts, they’ll have seven freshman who were recently ranked in the Perfect Game Top 500 Fresh Arrivals on Campus rankings.
Perfect Game locked in its rankings for the Class of 2024 before the MLB Draft. So these rankings take into account players that were drafted by MLB teams and opted to sign professional contracts as opposed to going to college.
These freshmen could be the backbone for the Wildcats’ success in the future.
Two of the players were ranked in the Top 100, led by Mason Russell, who was ranked No. 16. The left-handed pitcher, first baseman and outfield out of Queen Creek, Ariz., was drafted in the 20th round of the draft but didn’t sign.
The other was Smith Bailey, who was ranked No. 75. The right-handed pitcher and outfielder is also from Arizona, as he played his prep ball at Mountain Ridge High School in Peoria.
Just outside the Top 100 was Gunner Geile, who was ranked No. 105. The outfielder is from Tucson but he played his prep baseball at IMG Academy.
The other four players ranked in the Top 500 were Jackson Forbes (No. 229), who also played at Mountain Ridge in Peoria; Anthony Lira (No. 351), who played for Oakmont in Citrus Heights, Calif.; Jack Sharp (No. 398), who played for Rockwall-Heath High School in Heath, Texas; and Salvador Valenzuela (No. 431), who played at Nogales, Ariz.
Arizona has built its roster around transfers, too. Samford transfer Aaron Walton played in the New England Collegiate Baseball League and was named an honorable mention on its postseason team. He batted .311 with two home runs and 21 RBI. He also played alongside returning Wildcats Owen Kramkowski, Bryce McKnight and Zach Plasschaert.
Walton spent two seasons with Samford, where he belted 15 home runs with an on-base percentage of .380 and an OPS of .871. Last season he batted .286 with nine home runs, 36 RBI and 15 stolen bases.
Rutgers transfer Christian Coppola was the only Arizona player ranked in Baseball America’s Top 100 transfers, as he checked in at No. 51.
The right-hander from Galloway, N.J., went 4-5 for the Scarlet Knights with a 7.63 ERA. He posted those numbers in 23 fewer innings than his freshman season and saw his strikeout-to-walk ratio shrink to 47 strikeouts against 33 walks.
Earlier this year the Wildcats announced its fall exhibition schedule.
Arizona will play in the Mexican Baseball Fiesta in a doubleheader on Oct. 3 at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The Wildcats will also host two premier Arizona-based programs at Hi Corbett Field — Pima Community College on Oct. 12 and Central Arizona College on Oct. 18.
Arizona went 36-23 last season with a 20-10 record in the Pac-12, the program’s final year in the conference. The Wildcats will play in the Big 12 this season.
