Kendall Rogers explains why Texas A&M is No. 1 in D1Baseball’s preseason Top 25 rankings

The college baseball season is around the corner and with that D1Baseball released its Preseason Top 25 rankings. At the top of the rankings sits the Texas A&M Aggies who are looking to make noise in the SEC and hopefully the College World Series in 2025.

Following the reveal of those rankings, Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball explained the logic behind ranking the Aggies first in the preseason poll.

“The biggest thing for me is I always look at teams that are right on the cusp of a national championship,” Kendall Rogers said. “And obviously those teams are always ultra-motivated the next year, even if they lose a bunch of guys.”

Last season, Texas A&M went 53-15, including a 19-11 record in SEC play. They then played their way to Omaha and made it to the College World Series where they won the first game of the final three-game series against Tennessee. However, the Aggies ended up losing the next two games to finish as the runners-up for 2024.

“This is a team that has a bunch of pieces back and the pieces they added are also ultra-experienced pieces. We can go back and look at Adam’s ability and Mike [Earley’s] ability to keep the returning guys on campus but let’s not forget he was able to get Gavin Kash. You know, Wyatt Henseler was a guy that could have really picked wherever he wanted to go,” Rogers said. “Again, he stuck with his commitment. So, I think when you look at the returning pieces and then you look at how good the transfer are, particularly Kash who was awesome in the fall, and Henseler who set all sorts of Ivy League records, you know the sky’s the limit for this team.”

Rogers referenced two key transfers Texas A&M added this offseason. There is third baseman Wyatt Henseler, who came from Penn where he had a .360 batting average and a .465 OBP for a 1.220 OPS. He also had 22 home runs, 56 RBIs, and 28 walks to just 28 strikeouts. Then, Gavin Kash can play multiple positions and previously played for Texas and Texas Tech. Last season, he had a .300 batting average and a .365 OBP for a .926 OPS. He hit 15 home runs with 51 RBIs.

Potential 2025 No. 1 overall pick Jace LaViolette and Gavin Grahovac were two of the biggest names to return from last year’s team. Then, left-handed pitcher Ryan Prager is expected to be a massive piece of the puzzle for Texas A&M.

“Obviously, they’re going to have to go out there and prove it,” Rogers said. “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 will be a concern with this team at all.”

2025 will be Michael Earley’s first season in charge of the Texas A&M program and he inherits immediate expectations. He’ll begin trying to live up to those on February 14th when Elon opens the season against Elon.

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