The Major League Baseball Draft was only five rounds this year and it helped Arizona earn a bump up in Baseball America's recruiting rankings. Jay Johnson's team only lost one recruit from its 2020 class as second baseman Nick Yorke was selected in the first round by the Boston Red Sox in June.
Arizona, which were previously selected No. 8 by the publication in the spring ahead of the draft, has now jumped to the No. 4 spot making it the highest-ranked recruiting class in the Pac-12.
It is the highest ranking ever given to the program by Baseball America in its history.
The 2020 class includes two 2019 Perfect Game All-Americans, outfielder Chase Davis and catcher Daniel Susac. Right-handed pitcher and infielder TJ Nichols, infielder Jacob Barry and right-handed pitcher Chase Sliseth are a few of the other top prospects in the class. All five players were included in the top 500 of Baseball America's pre-draft rankings.
"We are honored to receive this ranking from Baseball America and are excited about the group of players we brought in," Johnson said in a statement released by the program Wednesday. "This is a group with high-level ability and character. I believe this class will mesh well with the returning players in the program to help us reach our potential in 2020 and beyond while helping our program function at an extremely high level.
"It is a balanced class in regards to the attributes they bring to the table and it gives us an opportunity to have a team that can be successful and win in different ways. We have players in this class who have the opportunity to make an immediate impact on our success and others that have tremendous long-term potential. It's a great time to be an Arizona Wildcat!"
The new group came to campus and joined the rest of the team in August after having their 2020 season cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Arizona has been an offensive powerhouse in the Pac-12 averaging 7.4 runs per game over the last five seasons. That's good enough for top spot in the conference and No. 8 in the nation. The Wildcats were again near the top of the league in almost every major offensive category this year and will return most of the roster that led the team to a 10-5 record in the shortened 2020 season.
With that group and after the new additions, Arizona's preseason ranking is currently at No. 12 going into the 2021 season in Baseball America's "Never Too Early" Top 25 poll.
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