What's the story on kids from the 24 class that aren't on the roster? Guys like Craig and Barnhard were relatively high ranked prospects that aren't currently listed. I know roster limits are a challenge - does them not being on the roster mean they are redshirting and don't count against the limits or does it mean they've been "cut" and need to find new homes? Genuinely curious how it all works.

This includes medical redshirts like Sdao, right? Or am I just having a brain fart on his status?

We leaning Prager, Cunningham, Lamkin as weekend rotation?

Stewart as the leading option for closer?

Bjkasper said:

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What's the story on kids from the 24 class that aren't on the roster? Guys like Craig and Barnhard were relatively high ranked prospects that aren't currently listed. I know roster limits are a challenge - does them not being on the roster mean they are redshirting and don't count against the limits or does it mean they've been "cut" and need to find new homes? Genuinely curious how it all works.

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It means they got cut, although we don't put out a Fall roster so it's possible some guys were told never to show up in the Fall to begin with.

During COVID, the NCAA dropped most of the roster limits to make room for the guys who got extra years of eligibility. They have started rolling all of those back and I think as of this year you have to be at 40 again. Although, I could be wrong on the exact number. I think we are at 41 because Hayden Schott still doesn't count because he has eligibility through COVID extensions.

However, next year the roster limit is dropping to 34. That's a hard cap that has to do with the House settlement on paying players. So, that leaves coaches in a situation where you for sure are losing 6 spots between now and next Spring.

Basically, we made the decision to go all out to compete to win a national championship this year with lots of Seniors and Juniors (who are draft eligible). The benefit is when those guys move on after this year and free up space, we can take a more typical HS recruiting class in the next cycle. If we kept a lot of the Freshmen and Sophomores, not only do those guys maybe not contribute this year, but they likely still have to be cut next year to make room for HS guys and transfers.

Unfortunately, this class was recruited before the new 34 number came out so coaches had to assume it would stay at 40. Basically, this HS class is getting squeezed and more guys than normal are getting cut.

As for Redshirts and injuries, I'm pretty sure everyone counts against the 40 regardless.

Honolulu Blue said:

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We leaning Prager, Cunningham, Lamkin as weekend rotation?

Stewart as the leading option for closer?

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Prager, Patton, Lamkin is by far most likely. J-Stew is my pick for closer, but we'll see what the coaching staff does there.

slightly off-topic but...

the free COVID year is now out of college baseball except for former Ivy League players -- right?

so there should not be teams trotting out lineups with nothing but 22, 23, and 24-year old players like in recent seasons