Making my way back to Arlington for Week Three of the college season, it was time to get an early season look at a potential 1-1 candidate, as well as check-in on other top prospects from Oregon State, Auburn, Baylor and Ohio State.

To hear more about this weekend trip, as well as the latest on many of the top prospects in college baseball, take a listen here:

WAR Room – Week of March 3.

AUBURN

The Tigers are led by junior catcher/outfielder Ike Irish who currently ranks No. 8 on our preseason Top 250. A lefthanded slugger and similar prospect for me as to what Kyle Schwarber was as a collegian (I was an area scout who covered the state of Indiana during Schwarber’s 2014 draft year), Irish is a bat-first backstop who has a strong chance to stick full-time behind the plate and become at least serviceable at the pro level. Schwarber was selected No. 4 overall, and at the time it was seen by the industry as an overdraft, but he has certainly shown to be worthy of the pick after years of MLB production (15.4 career WAR), regardless of his position.

At the plate, Irish is a slugger with high exit velocities (max 112 mph in 2024) and already 114.9 mph on a line drive single to centerfield at Globe Life. He also jolted a 99.7, 105.9, 108.0, 108.9, 110.7 over the weekend. It’s 65-grade raw power combined with strong bat-to-ball and contact skills (15.2% career strikeout rate). In short, Irish is the hard to find college slugger who hits the ball hard consistently and uses all fields. He can also run a bit once underway.

Who said sluggers can't run?

Ike Irish gets the 3-0 🚦and punishes a 94 heater to the oppo gap.

Dax Whitney @BeaverBaseball firing bullets up to 97 and three types of hard spinners for strikes. Best is a low-80s SL flashing plus.

Tied at 3, botm 3 at Globe Life.@d1baseball… pic.twitter.com/TEF5GQlcw3

— David Seifert (@DSeifertD1PBR) March 2, 2025

Behind the plate he shows average to above average arm strength, but stands up to throw instead of staying lower and in his legs. It’s not a long-term concern, however. It’s a very teachable movement that will lower his current POP times in the low 2.10s. His blocking is well ahead of his pitch-framing. He repeatedly smothered pitches, soft-blocked and redirected towards home plate throughout the weekend. He did lose several borderline pitches (per TrackMan Strikezone) that future polish will allow him to feather into the zone for called strikes. He currently chases the ball more than he beats the ball to the spot and moves the ball towards the strike zone after the catch instead of receiving and moving glove prior to catch.

Right field is also a potential landing spot for Irish, which is where he has played during the midweek this spring. His arm plays a half tick higher and pushes into plus arm strength, but he grades as a below average defender with a delayed first step and some wandering on his routes which detract from his range. Regardless of his deficiencies, Irish is a first round draft talent, and likely top half of the first round to the club that believes most in its ability to develop catchers.

Third baseman Eric Snow is another talented piece for the Tigers. He’s more of a natural second baseman, but has defensive value all over the dirt. His versatility and above-average bat-to-ball skills drive his draft value. Snow’s max EV of 104.2 mph in 2024 is well below the average (109-111 is average) and his flat swing are not built for over-the-fence power production, but he sticks to what he does best by hitting line drives (9.2 degree average launch angle) and hitting for a high average – .372/.462/.512 in 52 plate appearances this spring.

A trio of talented freshmen also impressed at Globe Life. Bub Terrell, Chris Rembert and Chase Fralick hit 6-7-8 in the lineup. Terrell is a strong outfield defender and plus runner with power potential at the plate. Draft-eligible in 2026, infielder Rembert has the most pro-caliber tools at this stage with plus speed and above average raw power as his top two. He’s a power runner with a good lean and a great stride. At the plate the right handed hitter produced consistent EVs in the 100s that included a 100.8 (2B), 100.9 (F9), 105.7 (GO), 105.8 (419’ HR), 107.6 (RBI 1B to CF) and 109.2 (L8). Fralick looks to have the highest bat-to-ball hit ability of the three with a long through the zone swing, but lacks the power potential of Terrell and Rembert. Fralick currently leads the team with a .474 batting average, while Terrell and Rembert are tied for the team lead with three home runs apiece.

On the mound junior righthanded pitcher Hayden Murphy touched 97, but scuffled in his brief relief appearance on Saturday against Oregon State. He was brought on to close out the ballgame with a 8-5 lead in the ninth, but with a straighter, dead zone characteristic fastball and an unreliable 85-86 slider, the Beavers laid off his breaker and punished the heater. Murphy’s outing was brief, lasting just four hitters and 24 pitches while allowing two runs on two hits, both well-squared. His stuff is worthy of top ten round consideration, but on this look, his ability to pitch will need development.

Lefthander Cade Fisher was the starter against the Beavers, but lasted just 1.2 innings. It was a very strong first inning as Fisher struck out the side while sitting 90-92 with a sinking fastball. He also showed a flat sweeper in the 76-78 mph range and a firm 86-87 changeup. Throughout his college career Fisher has shown plenty of promise, but he can also get off the rails at times, and that’s exactly how his second inning of work played out. His velocity also had a noticeable drop, sitting 88-89.

Friday night starter Sam Dutton was as good as advertised with six shutout innings against Ohio State. The senior righthander is a strike-thrower who pounds the zone with a 91-93 sinker and three effective breakers (CB/SL/CTR). Dutton faced 20 Buckeyes and struck out nine.

2025 draft-eligible sophomore Cam Tilly also impressed in relief on Saturday with a high-spin fastball up to 95 and a hammer 80-81 curveball (2900+ rpm) that consistently graded as plus. Tilly has struck out 16 in 9.2 innings this season.

A couple more Tigers showed big fastballs out of the pen, including Jett Johnston (97) and Dylan Watts (98). Johnston entered in the ninth with the go ahead run on base and earned the high-leverage, eight-pitch save against Oregon State, while Watts struggled on Sunday, allowing two runs on three hits in his lone inning of work.

BAYLOR

Shortstop Tyriq Kemp is the second leadoff man at the bottom of the Bears’ order where he currently leads the club with a .441 batting average. There’s not much pop in his bat (.088 ISO in 2024), although he did juice a 106.4 mph single to right field. There’s plus speed and on-base ability to go along with his plus skills on the dirt. He’s already low at 5-foot-7 and plays there as well, quick-stepping for good range in all directions and good arm strength that gets even better with a little momentum. A Dutch native, Kemp physically reminds me of former Vanderbilt infielder Tony Kemp, but there’s no relation.

Like father, like son. Redshirt sophomore Jack Little has similar tools to those of his father, former Major Leaguer Mark. A multi-versatile defender, Little played first base, second base and right field over the weekend at Globe Life. One year removed from labrum surgery, Little does not yet show the plus arm strength of his old man, or of his pre-injury days, but he runs plus and has good pop in his stick. Little homered twice at Globe Life, the first a 407’ blast into the bullpen that came off the bat at 104.8 mph and the second a 427’ moonshot on Sunday against Auburn that left the yard at 112.7 mph and a rainbow launch angle of 30 degrees. When fully healthy with three above average to plus tools (run, throw, power) and positional versatility, Little undoubtedly possesses top ten round prospect value. Left fielder Wesley Jordan found the barrel for a 440’ home run that came off hot at 111.5 mph against Oregon State lefty Nelson Keljo. He also sweetspotted a 102.2 mph double against Auburn and reached on an error via a 104.9 off-the-bat-rocket. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound righthanded hitter hit .331 with a 1.086 OPS in 2024 and is currently second on the team with a .674 SLG. Senior designated hitter Hunter Simmons also found his barrel a few times, including a 106.2 mph single and 101 mph home run to centerfield.

Baylor also had several potential later round draft prospects on the mound that included Bryson Bales, Gabe Craig, Cole Stasio, Caleb Jameson and Will Glatch. Fifth-year senior lefty Bales started on Saturday against Ohio State and showed a 90-92 sinking fastball, a fringe-average 85-87 changeup and a 78-80 slider from a low three-quarter release point. Bales has struck out 16 in 13 innings so far this season. Six-foot-4, senior righthanded reliever Craig pumped 92-95 mph quality fastballs while mixing an effective low-80s slider. Sunday starter Stasio worked mostly up/down with a 91-93 four-seam fastball while mixing some east/west sinkers. He also expanded with a solid low-80s tight-spin (2600-2700+ rpm) sweeper. His third pitch was a 73-76 mph curve and fourth pitch, a firm 87-88 changeup. Jameson relieved Stasio and allowed one run in 2.1 innings. He’s an aggressive, loose-armed lefty with a low-90s fastball and has good angle from a three-quarter release point. He primarily attacked with his No. 1, but also mixed an occasional 83-85 changeup and 77-79 slider. Glatch pitched a 1-2-3 scoreless inning of relief against Auburn on Friday, showcasing a bat-missing 86-89 mph cutter and 92-95 mph fastball. He quickly retired the side on 10 pitches.

OHIO STATE

I’ll have more on the Buckeyes after another look in two weeks when they travel to Indiana. But, for now we’ll focus on their top prospect, catcher Matt Graveline and hope to catch up with their top pitching prospect who is presently injured, righthanded pitcher Blaine Wynk, in a few weeks.

Graveline is an athletic backstop who batted .281 last season and also stole 13 bases. He was off to a slow start this season, but warmed up a bit with a 3-for-5, 3 RBI Sunday. He struck out his first at-bat as he wasn’t able to catch up to a nasty 94 mph heavy sinker down/away, but adjusted and doubled off the wall the opposite way against a 95 mph heater his fourth trip to the plate. The righthanded hitter also barrelled and pulled an elevated changeup at 106 mph through the left side for a single and added another double (90.3 EV) against a slider his last at-bat in the eighth. Defensively, Graveline showed slightly above average arm strength with below average throwing accuracy and fair present receiving skills. At this point he’s a day two talent that could gain some helium as the season progresses. Likely not the same helium that carried former Buckeye backstop Dillon Dingler to the second round in 2020, but the top five rounds is not out of the question for Graveline.

OREGON STATE

The Beavers are loaded with top five round prospects for this year’s draft. And they have yet another who will receive consideration for 1-1 after former Beavs Travis Bazzana took those honors in 2024 who followed Adley Rutschman in 2019.

Shortstop Avia Arquette, currently ranks No. 6 on our college prospect list and the arrow is pointing even further up. He began his prospect breakout last spring at Washington, hitting .325/.384/.574 with 12 home runs. He then further strengthened his status as a day one draft follow by slashing .291/.357/.437 with three homers, four doubles and 21 RBIs in 103 at-bats for Chatham in the Cape. Currently batting .432 with three home runs this spring, his barrel stays in the zone a long time, producing line-drive contact from gap to gap and the righthanded hitter also has developing home run power that plays to all fields. His top EV last season from 169 batted balls in play was 112.9 mph, and he’s already matched that output this spring. Although his best pop is to his pull side, Arquette uses all fields well with a balanced and compact swing that has good extension through the ball. When fooled, he keeps his hands back and has the ability to shoot it the other way. He did not produce an XBH over the weekend at Globe Life, but did finish 5-for-12 with a pair of walks and a stolen base.

At the 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, Arquette is a tall shortstop whose frame and movements remind some of a young DJ LeMahieu during his college days at LSU. Arquette played mostly second base last spring at UW, but handled himself well at short in limited looks this summer. He continues to impress there this spring with super-smooth, near effortless actions at shortstop. He moves, fields and throws on the run like a veteran major leaguer. It’s difficult to see his true arm strength since his field/flip-throw is ultra quick, but there’s more than enough arm to remain in position over the long term. He moves well in all directions for above average range with sure, soft hands. As long as his frame doesn’t fill out too much, he’ll remain at shortstop over the long term. And if his frame does fill out more than expected, a move to the hot corner works as well since his power profiles to anywhere on the diamond.

Draft-eligible sophomore third baseman Trent Carraway put good swings on the ball against Baylor for some hard contact (103.5-1B, 109.0-GO), but had only one base hit to show for it. He finished the weekend 4-for-11 with one double and two walks. His aggressive approach is unconventional in the leadoff spot, but he can also be quite intimidating for opposing pitchers from that spot in the lineup. Strongly built at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, Caraway has a well-rounded toolset led by good bat speed and plus arm strength. He has the arm and just enough hands to remain at the hot corner over the long term. At the plate, the righthanded hitter loves the fastball. His in-zone swing rate at heaters is 99th percentile (87.5%) and his batting average, a robust .522 per Synergy to date this spring. Sliders gave him trouble during his abbreviated spring last season for the Beavers when a finger injury limited him to just 17 games, yet he still managed to produce a .339/.431/.516 line, albeit with a 31.9% strikeout rate. In this small sample size Caraway had some of the louder batted balls (top end power is very good with a 113.3 max EV), but also struggled with 22.2% in-zone whiffs and a chase rate over 30%. He has continued that trend this spring with a 47.1% Whiff rate (8th percentile) against sliders. His ability to adjust to spin will be the main driver of his draft value which currently sits in the second round.

Left fielder Gavin Turley stands 6-foot-1, 195 pounds with extraordinary twitch and explosiveness. At the plate he is very similar to Caraway with a love for the fastball and vulnerabilities against the slider – 46.4% Whiff rate (9th percentile). He, too, doesn't have the most polished plate discipline, but did show an ability to hit a variety of pitches in multiple locations. His first inning two-run single off a hanging slider got the Beavers on the board against Baylor. It came off the bat at 108.4 mph and he also added a 102.5 mph flyout and 110.8 mph home run in the same game. Turley also barrelled a 109.2 mph / 426’ home run on Saturday against Auburn. He finished the weekend 4-for-13 with two home runs and nine RBIs. Turley has plus bat speed and strength in the box that produced a max EV of 112.1 mph last spring, but with this plus raw power comes plenty of empty swings. He struck out at a 27.3% clip in 2024 and is on pace to equal that mark with a 28.3% rate this spring. He’s a much better runner underway than down the line (4.40s) and his speed plays in the outfield where he shows above average range and catches what he gets to. Overall, at this point in the draft cycle, Turley is similar to 2024 fourth round picks, Dakota Jordan and Rodney Green, Jr. as a high-level athlete who needs to make more consistent contact at the plate in order to be considered for the top 100 picks.

Even with all the power that Arquette, Caraway and Turley produce at the plate, the Beavers top present power resides with first baseman Jacob Krieg. The 6-foot-5, 240-pound junior wasted little time showing off this strength, belting a 427’ home run to left center, off the bat at 113.7 mph against Baylor on Friday and a 396’/106.9 mph shot on Saturday against Auburn. However, this big power comes with a ton of swing/miss. The righthanded slugger has homered five times already this spring, but has struck out at a 36.4% clip so far this season after a 34.4% rate last spring.

Friday night starter Nelson Keljo touched 95 from the left side to go along with a mid-80s changeup that flashed average at 1500 rpm and a usable 79-81 slider that didn’t have much bite, but was effective staying off the barrel. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound lefthander has ascended to the Friday night role after two dominant seasons as a reliever which is where he profiles at the pro level. As a reliever the past two seasons, he punched out an eye-popping 92 hitters in 64.2 innings over 43 appearances.

Oregon State has a loaded pitching staff that certainly does not begin and end with Keljo. An Idaho prep, Saturday starter Dax Whitney was a top high school prospect for the 2024 MLB Draft and is now one of the top freshman pitchers in the country. His upper-90s fastball alone sets him apart, but his advanced ability to pitch and curve ball further distance him from the competition. Against Auburn Whitney sat 93-97 mph with his heater and flashed a plus 76-79 (2700+ rpm) downer curve. He can also subtract spin on his 1800 rpm changeup and cuts the baseball at 86-87 (2800+ rpm). At 6-foot-5, 210 pounds with compact arm action and a sound delivery, he’s the complete package and a first round prospect for 2027.

Sunday starter Ethan Kleinschmit is another top five round prospect for the Beavers. The sophomore lefthander very impressive during the first inning of his Sunday start, showing a 91-94 fastball with good angle across the plate from a three-quarter release point. Hitters struggled to see the ball out of Kleinschmit’s hand and he consistently drove the ball downhill while locating in/out. He also showed an average 78-80 mph slider for strikes. After an extended stay in the dugout during the Beavers four-run bottom of the first, the 6-foot-4 lefty hit the skids in the second inning. He allowed a leadoff home run on a 77 mph hanging slider, but recovered well and struck out two of the next three batters. From there, less than stellar defense stalled his rebound as Kleinschmit faced a total of seven batters on 36 pitches in the second. He exited after four innings and 86 pitches, allowing a total of one earned run on four hits. Currently, a second-to-third round follow for 2026, normal development could ascend him into the top 50 overall picks which would be an incredible story for a small school prep from Mt Angel, Oregon who posted a 16-0 record and 0.56 ERA his senior year of high school. He also struck out 178 batters in 75 innings and held opponents to 21 hits and 13 walks with an .086 batting average against.

Also loaded in the pen, it all starts with sophomores Eric Segura and Matt Morrell. Segura earned the win in mid-relief and Morrell closed it out during the Beavers' 4-3 W on Friday against Baylor. At his best, Segura pounds down in the zone with a 93-96 mph heavy sinker (9-11” IVB) and goes above the letters with a 93-95 four-seamer (14-16” IVB). It’s two distinct fastball shapes and he’ll also add a low-80s slider and firm 87 mph changeup to give him four different pitches. Morrell was outstanding in relief against Baylor, facing six over two innings and just 18 pitches to earn the save. His heavy sinker peaked at 95 with just 9-12” IVB. Morrell also showed a four-seamer at 95, an 88 mph changeup and 82-83 slider. He returned on Sunday for another scoreless inning, showcasing similar stuff against Ohio State.