D1's Kendall Rogers explains Texas A&M baseball's No. 1 ranking

Michael Earley's first-year roster is loaded with veteran returners and talented transfers. Just 32 days away from Opening Day, D1Baseball's Kendall Rogers joins TexAgs Live to discuss why the Aggies earned the top spot to open the season.

Key notes from Kendall Rogers interview

• Probably the biggest thing for me is that I always look at teams that get right on the cusp of a national championship, and you know, obviously, they are always ultra-motivated next year, even when they lose a bunch of guys. This is a team that has a bunch of pieces back and the pieces that they added are also ultra-experienced pieces. You know, we could go back and look at A&M's ability and Michael Earley's ability to keep the returning guys on campus. 
   
• Let's not forget that he got Gavin Kash. You know Wyatt Henseler is the guy who really could have picked wherever he wanted to go, and yet he stuck with his commitment. So I think we just look at the returning pieces, and I think you look at how good the transfers are, particularly Kash, who was awesome in the fall and Hensler, who set all sorts of records, and the sky is the limit for this team
   
• Obviously, they are going to have to get out there and prove it, but given what they went through in the offseason, given how last season ended just on the field, I don't think that's going to be an issue. I don't think focus is going to be a concern with this team at all.
   
• How does A&M moving forward, especially with Earley, how does he manage late in the game? You're in the SEC. You're going to be in games where you're going to be 7-7 in the eighth, and how does Mike Earley as a manager, we all think he's a good coach, and he connects with the kids really well, but how does he manage late in the game?
   
• I wouldn't say it's a concern, but it's more of like we don't really know, so what do we expect? So that is one thing to kinda keep an eye on. The other thing I want to pinpoint would just be the back of the bullpen. It's not that I'm concerned about it from a talent standpoint. The talent is absolutely there. I'm a big fan of guys like Clayton Freshcorn. You know Grant Cunningham is electric. But again, you're losing one of the best ever in Evan Aschenbeck, and it's disrespectful to him to say, “Oh well, even with him gone, they're not going to skip a beat,” because they will skip a beat to some degree. The question is how much.
   
• So, that will be the only two concerns I have. Obviously, I feel great about Ryan Prager, who's running the rotation. You know we talked about motivation. The fact that he came back after being offered around $1.3 million by the Angels gives you an idea of where his mindset is.
   
• Justin Lamkin, to me, is kind of the guy I circle as a breakout candidate. I thought his numbers last year were a little worse than what he actually pitched. The other guy for me that I'm sky-high on is Kaiden Wilson. I think we all saw that a little bit in Omaha last year, but how electric can he be? I think Kaiden Wilson is the guy for me who is gonna take a massive leap. I think he's gonna be pretty special this year.
   
• Gavin Kash has arguably the most interesting career I have ever seen in my life. Apparently, he is on the rivalry tour, because he started at Texas. He went to Texas Tech. Now, he's at A&M. I joked with somebody last week that maybe he'll just get another year to go to TCU or something. He has a certainly interesting past, but you know he was Big 12 Player of the Year two years ago at Texas Tech. Obviously, he has massive power. Last year, I think his season didn't go that great. I mean the guy well over doubled his home runs and a lot of RBI, but the swing and miss was up for him last year.
   
• When you look at what Kash did in the fall, I thought he was the best hitter I saw in the scrimmage against Houston. The zone awareness was really good. He pounded the baseball. He just looked locked in. Again, we liked all the returning guys, but I tell you what, if Gavin Kash returns to who he was two years ago, you're talking about a lineup that literally does not have a weak link.
   
• To me, that is kinda an X-factor because you assume that he's gonna be a guy that's gonna hit .285 like last year with a lot of home runs but a lot of strikeouts. If he can cut those strikeouts down, I mean, he's as good as anybody on that team outside of maybe Jace LaViolette.
   
• Even the catcher position, with Jacob Galloway, Connor "Bear" Harrison and Jamal George, all three of those guys are going to hit. The question is, are they gonna hit .280? Are they gonna hit .300s? I made a joke with somebody a couple of weeks ago that they would not have a guy hit under .300, and that's really difficult to do.
   
• I know that's a really lofty expectation, but it really could be reality. Kaeden Kent, to me, is another guy that is really interesting. You look back at last year. He really wasn't in the mix for a prominent role and was kind of forced into the rotation of players. He was really good defensively. They couldn't get him out in Omaha, and he almost had the hit there in the final game against Tennessee.
   
• Again, if Kent continues where he left off, it's very scary. Jason Kelly would be mad at me saying this, but it's one of those teams where if they pan out offensively the way they should, you literally could have like a 4.50 to 5.00 ERA on this team, and you're still winning 50 games. 
   
• We'll start with Jace, but what's really interesting about him is coming out of high school, he didn't have a lot of confidence at the plate. He swung and missed a lot.
   
• I think you look back to last year, and the average wasn't quite what it could be for Jace, but this year, I think he's hitting .320 or .340, with comparable or better power numbers. He's a really special player. Honestly, I think getting the fall off, the ability to rest that injury and rest his body is really going to pay off for him.
   
• I think Gavin Grahovac is a breakout candidate in the sense that he's a lot more consistent in the zone, but also he showed premium power last year, came out massive in big situations, including the home run against Vols in Omaha. He's one of those guys who, if he cuts down on the strikeouts exponentially this year, the numbers he's gonna put up are pretty ridiculous.
   
• This is a team where you cannot afford to walk Gavin Grahovac. You cannot afford to pitch around Jace LaViolette, and guess what? You got Henseler, Caden Sorrell and Kash right after those guys. It is going to be a fun season if you're an A&M baseball fan because this is what I would call a historic lineup. They are going to score a lot of runs.
   
• I'm 100 percent convinced that Evan Aschenbeck would be back at A&M had this ruling come out five months ago. One of those cases of “what if.” When you look at college rosters around the country, they're already old, and this will make them even older. 
   
• I think it's kind of silly to give somebody six years of eligibility, but it's one of those things again if you're willing to take the NCAA to court right now, you are either going to win, or they're going to fold and give you whatever you want. That's kind of what happened here.
   
• I did a column today on Earley, and I was talking to Tracy Smith, who was his boss at Arizona St, and one of the really cool things he said is that Mike calls him out of the blue back when he was at Arizona State. The thing about him that's really interesting, is Mike is not your typical first-year coach, and what I mean by that is he has never been a head coach. He's only been a full-time assistant for a couple years so that's very unique.
   
• The more important thing for me is he has the mindset of a guy who's been a head coach for years. Whether you talk to him, he knows he's good, and he knows he has the ability to do this job. Honestly, confidence is half the battle, especially when you have a team like A&M. You know, if A&M had a coach right now with a passive personality, it might be a little bit of a concern in the first year, but this is a guy who is ready to go out and brawl with his team if he needed to. I think that's gonna work really well with this club.
   
• Opening Weekend... I think A&M opens with Elon, Jim Schlossnagle's alma mater, so I know everyone loves that.