Final SEC baseball power rankings (and each team's MVP, Cy Young)
The final week of college baseball’s regular season has arrived. As such, our final set of power rankings includes a twist. Yes, we’ll still rank the squads of the SEC. But we’ll also name an MVP and a Cy Young award for each team, as well as the season recap in a nutshell. Yes, for our purposes, MVP is for everyday players, while the Cy Young is the pitching honor. With 14 teams to break down, plenty to say, so let’s dive in.
14. Ole Miss (25-26, 6-21)
MVP: Kemp Alderman has the best numbers, but SS Jacob Gonzalez is the future MLB star in training, so we’ll go with him. Gonzalez, who hit .326 with 9 homers and 50 RBIs, is a likely top-10 MLB Draft pick.
Cy Young: It was a brutal season for the pitching staff, so we’ll honor freshman JT Quinn, who is 3-3 with 61 strikeouts in 53 1/3 innings, albeit with a 5.91 ERA.
Season recap: The Rebels started cold and really never warmed up. The Rebels scored the fewest runs in SEC play and had the next-to-worst ERA in league play. They’ve clinched a spot in the league’s bottom two, so their season will end this week.
13. Mississippi State (26-24, 8-19)
MVP: Hunter Hines hit 22 homers while also batting .301 and knocking in 60 runs. The only down side was that he did strike out 62 times.
Cy Young: Nate Dohm switched between relief and starting, but managed a 5-4 mark with a 4.17 ERA entering the final week, and on a team that struggled to find home plate, he walked just 11 hitters in 41 innings.
Season recap: Pitching, pitching, pitching. State heads into their final league series with a 9.61 ERA in league play, which is almost exactly 2 runs per game worse than 13th-place Ole Miss. The Bulldogs theoretically could still go to Hoover for the SEC Tournament, but their season will end soon, and it’ll be because of pitching.
12. Missouri (30-20, 10-17)
MVP: Super senior Luke Mann hit .326 with 20 homers, both a team high. On a frequently struggling offense, Mann was a highlight.
Cy Young: Chandler Murphy had an up and down year, but the senior is 4-4 and has worked 66 2/3 innings.
Season recap: The Tigers looked good in nonconference play, and opened their SEC slate with a sweep of UT to zoom into the national rankings. Reality soon hit, in part because the Tigers hit .247 in league play. Mizzou is all but set for a spot in Hoover, but it’s hard to imagine their season going farther.
11. Georgia (28-24, 10-17)
MVP: Connor Tate was great, but Charlie Condon grabs the award. Condon is hitting .415 with 24 homers, each of which was 2nd in the SEC. His home run total ranks 3rd program history and he is 4 shy of Gordon Beckham’s single-season record of 28 (2008). Condon also is 4th in the league with 65 RBIs.
Cy Young: Charlie Goldstein reached April with a 10.22 ERA. It’s at 4.50 now, thanks to a run of solid to great starts from the lefty against some of the SEC’s best squads.
Season recap: Perhaps the most frustrating team in the SEC, Georgia was dangerously up and down. Georgia swept Arkansas and won a series at Kentucky. The problem is that represented half of their league wins. UGA is probably on the outside of the NCAA Tournament bubble heading into Hoover.
10. Texas A&M (30-22, 12-15)
MVP: Freshman Jace LaViolette gets the nod for the mix of power and speed. He is hitting .295 with 15 homers, 50 RBIs and 15 stolen bases.
Cy Young: Lefty reliever Evan Aschenbeck has worked 56 innings out of the bullpen and his 3.38 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 56 innings demonstrated how solid his work was this year.
Season recap: A&M opened SEC play by facing LSU and UT, and in many ways, has yet to rebound from that 1-5 start. They did win a series over Florida to start May and will probably be in the NCAA field, but A&M largely feasted on weaker teams and struggled with better teams so far this year.
9. Alabama (35-17, 13-14)
MVP: Junior outfielder Andrew Pinckney is multi-talented and has a knack for arriving in the clutch. For the year, he’s at .353 with 14 homers and 45 RBIs.
Cy Young: Sophomore Luke Holman took the ball as Bama’s Friday starter and was solid all season in the role. He stands 6-3 with a 3.79 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 57 innings. Opponents have hit .172 off Holman. Honorable mention goes to Jacob McNairy.
Season recap: Yes, Brad Bohannon was axed in mid-season for his reported involvement in a betting scandal. But the Tide have won 4 of their past 5 SEC series matchups heading into this weekend’s finale against Ole Miss and could be a handful in the NCAA Tournament. McNairy and Holman will be a formidable 1-2 punch.
8. Kentucky (35-15, 15-12, No. 20 in Baseball America)
MVP: Hunter Gilliam has been tough as UK’s lone power bat, but the award goes to Jackson Gray. Not only is he hitting .375 with 5 homers and 19 stolen bases … but Gray has been hit by pitch 21 times this season. For a small ball team, what could make a better MVP?
Cy Young: Zack Lee gets the nod with a 4-2 record and a 3.42 ERA. Mason Moore has been tough out of the bullpen, but has to be more consistent with his control.
Season recap: Kentucky baseball is the official sponsor of a single, a wild pitch, a sacrifice bunt, an error by the other team, a walk, and a bleeder down the line that turns into a double. Kentucky is last in homers in league play (25), but first in batting average (.285). Add in a gutty pitching staff and you’ve got a winner.
7. Tennessee (35-17, 14-13, No. 19 in BA)
MVP: On a balanced UT offense, Jared Dickey gets the nod. His .352 mark is a team high and his 46 RBIs ties with Bama transfer Zane Denton for the team lead. He also has 12 homers and 7 stolen bases.
Cy Young: Chase Dollander is one of the few guys who could have an underachieveing season and still get this nod. At 6-5 with a 4.35 ERA, Dollander’s numbers aren’t nearly as eye-catching as his draft status. Until you notice the 94 strikeouts in 68 1/3 innings pitched. The stuff can be next-level … or very ordinary.
Season recap: It’s been a disappointing season. UT is 2-11 on the road and will have to learn to win away from Knoxville because even if they get a regional hosting spot, they can’t count on a Super Regional hosting gig without something extraordinary happening over the next 2 weeks.
6. Auburn (30-19, 14-13, No. 22 in BA)
MVP: Bryson Ware has been great, but frosh catcher Ike Irish is brilliant. Irish is hitting.366 with 5 homers, but his 46 RBIs are 2nd-most on the team. Auburn is also tops in the SEC in allowing the fewest stolen bases in league play — just 13, and Irish played a big role in that as well.
Cy Young: Lefty super senior Tommy Vail has stepped up with a 5-1 mark and a 3.34 ERA. He has 72 strikeouts in 59 1/3 innings and opponents are hitting just .175 with 3 homers against him.
Season recap: Auburn battled through early struggles, the loss of pitching ace Joseph Gonzalez, and plenty of other injuries … and have come up strong late. The Eagles have won their past 4 SEC series matchups, including LSU and South Carolina. They’re expected to extend that to 5 with Missouri visiting this weekend.
5. South Carolina (37-14, 15-11, No. 10 in BA)
MVP: As good as Irish was for Auburn, Ethan Petry has been the super freshman for Carolina. With a .377 average, 21 homers and 68 RBIs, Petry has seemed to have a lock on the league’s Freshman of the Week honors for much of the season. He’s 6th in batting average, 4th in homers, and 3rd in RBIs — and that’s out of the whole league, not just freshmen.
Cy Young: Transfer reliever Chris Veach gets the nod. With 5 saves, a 2.11 ERA, and 28 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings, he’s been a handful out of the bullpen.
Season recap: Carolina started out red-hot, leaping into the national top 5, but has cooled late in the season. After a sweep of Florida, the Gamecocks have lost their past 3 league matchups. Now, Tennessee visits. Time to turn it around.
4. Vanderbilt (35-15, 17-9, No. 6 in BA)
MVP: Enrique Bradfield is Vandy’s household name, but Duke transfer RJ Schreck has led the offense. Schreck leads the Vandy Boys in all 3 Triple Crown categories: .335 average/13 homers/54 RBIs.
Cy Young: Devin Futrell just takes the ball and competes. With a 6-3 mark and a 2.93 ERA, he’s been big for Vandy all year. He’s 5th in the SEC in innings pitched, and opponents have hit .207 against him.
Season recap: Vandy has also struggled down the stretch, losing 3 of its past 4 SEC matchups, including sweeps at the hands of Tennessee and Florida. Vandy has all the tools for another College World Series run, but they have to play with consistency.
3. Florida (39-12, 17-9, No. 3 in BA)
MVP: Wyatt Langford has been brilliant — hitting .400 and showing next-level power. But Jac Caglianone is a once in an era kind of talent. He’s hitting .351, leads the SEC with 27 home runs and is 2nd with 73 RBIs. He also could have gotten the team’s Cy Young with a 5-2 record and a .174 opposing batting average. Cags is a favorite to win the John Olerud Award as the nation’s top 2-way player.
Cy Young: Brandon Sproat edges Caglianone. Sproat is 7-2 with a 4.44 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 73 innings. He’s been more consistent than Caglianone.
Season recap: The Gators are playing well, but are still spotty. Their last month includes getting swept by South Carolina and losing a series to Texas A&M. If the pitching depth is there, the Gators could well be in Omaha, because the power game is next level at the plate.
2. LSU (39-12, 17-9, No. 5 in BA)
MVP: Tommy White has hit .396 with a nation-best 84 RBIs. But he’s not the Tigers’ MVP. Dylan Crews hit a late slump to fall (?!) to .445 with 13 homers and 45 RBIs. He also has 56 walks to 28 strikeouts, meaning his .600 on base percentage is some Barry Bonds type stuff.
Cy Young: Paul Skenes is the SEC’s Cy Young guy. With a 10-1 mark, a 1.69 ERA, and 152 strikeouts in 79 2/3 innings, Skenes will easily win the SEC’s pitching triple crown. He and Crews have done everything possible to become the first set of teammates selected No. 1 and No. 2 in the same MLB Draft.
Season recap: The top team in college baseball has struggled late. Pitching depth behind Skenes remains a serious question. If LSU doesn’t find an answer, they’re in danger of losing a regional. If they do find the answer, they’ll not only be in Omaha, they could easily win it all.
1. Arkansas (38-13, 19-8, No. 2 in BA)
MVP: Outfielder Jace Bohrofen gets the nod on a very balanced team. He’s at .355 with 13 homers, 45 RBIs and 7 stolen bases.
Cy Young: Lefty Hagen Smith has been tough, posting a 7-1 mark with a 2.47 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 58 1/3 innings pitched. He also has 2 saves, because he pitched out of the bullpen early in the season before stepping into a standout starting role.
Season recap: Slow and steady, the Razorbacks just win games. They can’t match LSU’s star power and they’re not the most glamorous team, but Arkansas doesn’t have a glaring weakness, either.
Missouri is 11th, better over-all record
Georgia is 12th, same conference record
According to Baseball America:
You also have Florida and LSU reversed
If you want to use head to head or some other criteria to rank, that’s another way to rank but make that more obvious.
Baseball is a lot of luck so head to heads are less important than a lot of other sports.
LSU didn’t lose a series to South Carolina. Florida did.
LSU won their series with A&M while Florida lost.
Personally, Florida does belong ahead of LSU.
You can’t really use South Carolina as a comparison. LSU had to come from behind to barely squeak by South Carolina. South Carolina blasted LSU in the first game. South Carolina definitely had the momentum in that series and then the game was cancelled.
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Florida has not lost an sec series at home .. lsu has .. lsu lost
2 of 3 to one of the worst teams in the sec ( miss state ) ..
Florida has a better conference record at this time
Than lsu..
Yeah I would
Agree at this time Florida would be in front of
Lsu .. but all this means nothing as the tourney will determine how the season will be remembered ( ask Tennessee about this from
Their team
Last year ).
Fair rankings. I will say, Ty Floyd has pitched extremely well enough to win, and have LSU win series the last 2 outings. If he can keep it up, they’ll be okay as far as starters go. Javen Coleman pitched well Sunday, and had he not been on a pitch count, LSU would have had the game won.
What is extremely disappointing is the rest of the staff outside of those 3. Thatcher Hurd was thought to be a hugely reliable pitcher, and coming from Vandy you would have thought Little was going to be hard to handle.
This team and staff sorely missed Grant Taylor, Chase Shores, and Garrett Edwards.
I’m not one to pick on columnists but “The Eagles have won their past 4 SEC series matchups, including LSU and South Carolina.” Definitely the Auburn Tigers, not the Eagles, do better.
What can one expect from “Joe Cocks”
To be fair, it is confusing keeping all of those mascots straight. Tigers and War Eagle and Plainsmen and whatnot.
No it’s really not hard or confusing for someone that covers the SEC. If he wants to call Auburn “War Eagle” thats fine but not “Eagles”.
I’m still not thrilled with that. SEC talking heads use that term a lot with tongue in cheek.
“it is confusing keeping all of those mascots straight. ”
Piggy, Alabama has an elephant for a mascot and also yells Roll Tide.
TN has a pioneer or whatever the eff that guy is raccoon hat and also yells Rocky Top with a dog named smokey.
STFU.
Isn’t it interesting that RonniefromMexico says pioneer…
The little feller does not know what a Tennessee Volunteer is…
If RonniefromMexico knew American History, he would know about the War of 1812 and the Alamo. However, Ronnie is quite slow and has the brain of a pea…
I feel sorry for Ronnie fromMexico… why… because he is dumb as an Auburn fan, who did not even graduate from the cow college…
Hang in there buttercup.
Lol!
“The little feller does not know what a Tennessee Volunteer is…”
Ah look, the liar lying about being an engineer.
Isn’t it interesting RonniefromMexico does NOT know the Volunteers sent his buddy Santa Anna back to Mexico in his underwear… Mexico got their clock cleaned.
Hang in there… buttercup!
Lol!
Lol, yawn. You would think he/she would have new material by now.
“Isn’t it interesting RonniefromMexico does NOT know the Volunteers sent his buddy Santa Anna back to Mexico”
For someone who claims to be an engineer, you sure are moronic.
“Lol, yawn. You would think he/she would have new material by now.”
Well that’s no way to talk about your husband.
Yikes, good one…
It’s hard to believe that the LSU pitching staff hasn’t really improved at all considering who our pitching coach is. Oh well. Hopefully we get it together before it’s too late.
“The Eagles have won their past 4 SEC series matchups, including LSU and South Carolina. ”
We’re eagles now?
Weagles.
War Eagles.
Or Belligerent Raptors. Whichever you prefer.
You have KY jelly all over your face, ma’am.
At this point, Florida should be ahead of LSU. While Florida was sweeping Vandy, LSU lost a series to Miss State. No comparison there. LSU’s bullpen has gone from bad to worse.
I agree. Floyd has had a couple pretty strong outings lately that should have resulted in wins, so that is encouraging. After him, the rest of the staff leaves a lot to be desired.
Man, I miss Shores and Edwards. They were both dominating.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Last two national champions are now arguably the worst two teams in their conference. So much for success breeding success.
Yeh, but I think this past weekend you saw what is much more to come. When this season is over I want to hear the inside scoop of possibly how a recent pitching national coach of the year managed to tank a national baseball champion program in just over a season.
I just want LSU to finish with a top 8 national seed. It would be nice if we can find consistent pitching, or at least some semblance thereof, before it’s too late.
Win the last week of the season and final series vs UGA, plus maybe 1 game in the SEC Tournament I believe LSU would be assured of a national seed no lower than 5th.
If they continue winning and make it at least to SEC Tournament semis, they could be a top 4 seed. Lose the series against UGA, and fail to win more than 1 game in the SEC Tournament, they would be on the bubble for sure of a national seed.
GeauxTigers8, “Lose the series against UGA, and fail to win more than 1 game in the SEC Tournament, they would be on the bubble for sure of a national seed.”
This one is more likely to happen to LSU baseball team.
Fun talking points, but most everyone will end up in the playoffs. so where they rank will be settled on the field.
Well, which is it, Joe Cox?
The instagram post says Mizzou is at 11. Come here and it’s still 12 behind a Georgia team they just swept.
—I know it doesn’t malted much for all you with teams much higher on the list, but it’s the littlest of things that keep us going at this point.
I don’t really see much point in calling him out over 11th vs 12 position on an opinion piece doesn’t mean anything anyway.
If the Gators make it to Omaha, am going with my non-binary husband, and baby Woke (2 yrs old). Can’t wait!
What?
You moved on from Hillary so soon?
How could you
I stand corrected..I should have mentioned that Hillary is the diety mother of baby Woke!..she is very involved because she is still free!
How many programs have been hit with injuries to key players scratching them, in essence, from their rosters this season or a majority of it? I know AU endured an avalanche of minor injuries that put 3-4 starters out for several series to begin the season….with the biggest loss being to one of the team leaders & would’ve been AU’s Friday Night starter who was a bonafide ACE, Gonzales…he has missed the entire season & had a procedure this morning..his days at AU are over…but the injuries early on really put AU behind the 8 ball. At the mid-point of SEC play the majority of the nagging injuries finally healed allowing the players time to reacclimate & to solidify the roster (w the exception of Gonzales). AU has been playing as well as anyone in the country particularly offensively. Winning series vs South Carolina on the road, LSU at home, Ole Miss on the road. However, a potentially devastating situation occurred in Oxford when 1 of AU’s top pitchers, Herbaholz, injured his throwing arm in the 2nd inning on Saturday… an MRI was done yesterday & thankfully no damage but coaches will be cautious which means he will not pitch in the final series & likely not in the SEC Tourney either. AU will not make it far without Gonzales & Herbaholz so I’m hoping for the best. Since the beginning of the 2nd half of the SEC schedule AU has been as good as any team in the country particularly offensively. If they can win the final series and 1 or 2 in the Tourney with a few other chips falling just right, AU could HOST a regional. Regardless, they should be a lock to make the NCAA Tourney w 1 more win (15 SEC wins should be a lock for any SEC program…but, I am talking about AU & the NCAA has a history of shafting, & screwing AU teams over…whether football, basketball & just last weekend Softball…for that team not to Host a Regional while 3 other teams who they beat, have better records than are hosting is a joke….demonstrates the power of College sport’s most influential entity, the 4-letter ESPN) Anyway, I was just curious how injuries impacted other programs this season?
PS. I’ve been around a long-time & have seen many college pitchers…With the exception of Ben McDonald back in the day I have not witnessed a pitcher as dominant, confident, and seemingly doing with ease what LSU’s Skeen has done…AU is one of the better hitting ball clubs in the league and this guy throws 15 Ks & shuts AU out (LSU’s only win)…My jaw was on the floor he is that good for anyone that has not seen him pitch this year. Impressive.
The Hogs lost their Friday night starter, Wiggins, before the season start. A main RP, Frank, went down for the season pretty early in the year. Tygart, a closer/now SP, got hurt early for a month+ but has slowly been working his way back. Carter, a RP, stepped up big then went down for the season a couple weeks ago.
On the positional side, Wegner-LF, our best hitter went down after a HBP for a month+. He should be back this weekend. Josenberger-CF and lead off hitter, went down for several weeks with a hamstring injury. He came back last week. A couple weeks ago, Stovall-2B and pre-season All American, went down with a shoulder injury and is now out for the season. It’s been tough to watch, but DVH has been masterful at manipulating his roster to accommodate all the injuries.
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Jane, you ignorant sl()t…
lsu at two when their pitching has been atrocious is laughable at this point. Losing a home series to the worst team in the league and you have them at 2?
Second worst team. Just saying.
Ronnie’s all fired up over the “Eagles” thing.
Take it easy, Ron, take it easy,
Don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy . . .
Ron’s got a lot of pretty, pretty boys that he calls friends.
Oh my.
Your butt must be really sore right now.
“Ronnie’s all fired up over the “Eagles” thing.”
No not really.
Sad that this site has dwindled their Baseball coverage to one or two articles a week.