Fresno State Baseball Recruits Get National Recognition

2015 Fresno State Baseball Signing Class

I think the incoming class (plus two for 2016) was rated as high as number 24 in the nation. Then MLB came along and started waving all that money in front of them. Yes, the draft. The Bulldogs lose most of the top talent to the bigs and the shine that class gave. Still, it's pretty good.

This seems to happen every year to the Bulldogs. They get commitments from a bunch of great players and then they get drafted. They lose most to the money but they always seem to get a few to play for the mutts. This list alone has six draftees. Five have signed. One, Ortiz, was a first rounder and the money is pretty big up there in that rarified air. Prior to the draft the list of recruits was highly rated nationally but I'm sure that rating fell back to earth after the signings. Oh well, reach high.

Stetson Woods, RHP, Liberty HS, Madera, CA
He was drafted by the Giants in the 9th round. Signed.

Luke Dykstra, INF, Westlake HS, Thousand Oaks, CA
He's the son of former major leaguer Lenny Dykstra and was drafted in the 7th round by the Braves and signed.

Trenton Kemp, OF, Buchanan HS, Clovis, CA
He was drafted by the Red Sox in the 15th round. Signed.

Gabe Llanes, RHP/INF, Downey HS, Downey, CA
He was drafted by the Mets in the 15th round. Signed.

Luis Ortiz, RHP, Sanger HS, Sanger, CA
Luis was the 30th overall pick in the draft and signed.

McCarthy Tatum, INF, Clovis HS, Clovis, CA
He was drafted by the Twins in the 20th round. Unsigned and he remained unsigned through the deadline. He deserved to be picked. He was chosen as the POY by the Fresno Bee for his exploits. He made MaxPreps first team All-State team for large schools which is quite an honor. He was recruited as an infielder but he was a hell of a pitcher also. Playing for one of the top teams in the nation is always a plus for any athlete as you are always being challenged by playing with and against the best. He hit .283 as a senior and led the team in ABs. As a pitcher he was 4-0 and 1.97 in 32 IP. He struck out 24 and walked 16 which is a little high. Stats from pitching and hitting were both incomplete. He should help.

Nick Allman, OF, California HS, San Ramon, CA
Nick was not drafted. Again, he was NOT drafted. He hit .306 his senior year. He was on a top 45 bay area baseball player list as compiled by Chris Jackson for hssportsdaily.com.

Tyler Thomas, LHP, Mira Mesa HS, San Diego, CA
Tyler was 1-3 (?) and 0.91 in 38 IP. He struck out 51 and walked 16 in those innings. Sounds like closer stuff to me as does his record but it doesn't look that way on his MaxPreps stats. Looks good in any event. I couldn't find a lot about him but he looks pretty good none-the-less.

James Terrell, OF/SS, St.Patrick-St. Vincent HS, Fairfield, CA
Hit .387 his senior year with 4 home runs. Averaged about an RBI a game which ain't bad. Sorry, Bulldog fans, you'll have to wait. He graduates in 2015.

Ross Dodds, SS/RHP, Buchanan HS, Clovis, CA
Ross hit .325 as a senior. You gotta realize that the Clovis area is a real hotbed for high school baseball talent. The good ones usually are drafted or go to D1 programs. Dodds is no different. He was picked to play for the NorCall All-Stars for the upcoming Area Code games. Go to one of those games (or all) and you'll see coaches and recruiters from all over the west looking to pick up a kid that has not committed to a school. I got that little fact from one of the best national writers and I'll leave it at that.

Zach Ashford, OF, Buchanan HS, Clovis, CA
He's another junior that won't be available until 2016.

Dylan Lee, LHP, College of the Sequoias, Visalia, CA
Dylan was 13-1 and 2.34 in 103 IP. That basically tells me that his coach used him in just about every game. His strikeout to walks ratio was 63/21. That's pretty good stuff but he was much better than average as a high school player. One good stat was his 112 strikeouts in 69 IP in 2012. That is very good. I think coach feels the high school kid will show up and not the juco one. He was the pitcher of the year in his jc's team conference. Whichever player shows up will help.

Brennon Williams, LHP, Delta College, Stockton, CA
He was 2-2 and 2.72 in 36 IP. He struck out 20 and walked 17 which needs to improve.

Korby Batesole, INF, Buchanan HS, Clovis, CA
The coach's son but I feel if he hadn't decided on Dad's team, he would have gone somewhere. He's pretty good. I always wonder if other recruiters show up at coach's kid's homes. I'm thinking that's a weird feeling if they do. I digress. I couldn't find much in the way of stats but he played in area code games.

The best of the bunch? You know me, I'll go with a draft choice every time. In this case, McCarthy Tatum. He's coming in as an infielder and he should provide help there. Ross Dodds and Dylan Lee also look pretty good.