Clemson Tigers Star Freshman Ranked Among Country’s Top Baseball Players

The Clemson Tigers have a player ranked among the Top 25 freshmen in the country by Baseball America.

Nov 1, 2022; Mesa, Arizona, USA; USA Team USA player Talan Bell during a 17U baseball game at Gene Autry Park. / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Clemson Tigers nailed down an impressive recruiting class for their baseball team last year. One of those recruits is considered one of the Top 25 freshmen in the nation.

Talan Bell, a left-handed pitcher, was ranked No. 15 by Baseball America as is previewed the 2025 college season.

The publication noted that Bell spent part of the fall dealing with an injury but is expected to have a significant role in the spring. Their scouts graded his fastball in the high-80s-to-low 90s as a high school player but noted that it’s moved up to the mid-90s since he arrived at Clemson.

He also has a change-up Baseball America grades as “above average,” along with a slider and curveball. He’s considered an advanced strike thrower.

Bell was ranked No. 33 in the country and No. 5 among left-handed pitchers by Perfect Game before he signed with Clemson. Perfect Game also ranked him as the No. 164 MLB draft prospect before last year’s draft.

The Oviedo, Fla., product played at Hagerty High School, where he was Perfect Game’s No. 6 player and No. 2 left-handed pitcher in the state. He was also named the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state and was named his conference’s player of the year.

In his final season at Hagerty he went 7-1 with a 0.99 ERA and 78 strikeouts. He also batted .379 with 28 RBI.

It’s already been an eventful ramp-up to the regular season, which starts next month.

This week, both Perfect Game and Baseball America published early Top 25 rankings, with Perfect Game ranking the Tigers No. 8 and Baseball America ranking them No. 4.

Both are quite high on the Tigers, after they went 44-16 with a 20-10 record in the ACC last year. Clemson also reached the super regionals.

The Tigers haven’t been to the Men’s College World Series since 2010, and coach Erik Bakich is hoping to change that.

Clemson returns outfielder Cam Cannarella, a senior who was named an all-American last season and is considered by most to be a first-round pick in July’s MLB draft.

He was a highly productive part of the Tigers’ offense last year. He batted .337 with 16 doubles, three triples, 11 homers, 60 RBI and 58 runs. He had a .417 on-base percentage in 58 games. He also led the team with 29 multiple-hit games as he secured status as an All-American.

He had offseason surgery for a torn labrum and revealed that he played the season with the injury after suffering it on the campaign’s opening weekend.

Pitcher Aidan Knaak is also back after an all-America campaign. He was also named National Freshman Pitcher-of-the-Year by NCBWA after he went 5-1 with a 3.35 ERA in 15 starts. He struck out 108 and walked 29 in 83.1 innings, giving up just 67 hits and allowing batters to hit just .221 against him.