AUBURN | Auburn is stacked with pitchers heading into the 2021 season but most of the 18-man staff will be eligible for the MLB Draft this spring.
That made adding pitching especially power arms a priority for the Tigers in their 2021 class.
“This class does have some real power arms,” assistant coach Karl Nonemaker said. “Obviously, (Calvin) Ziegler has been up to 97. Chase Allsup was up to 95 on two separate days in a weekend last month down in Fort Myers, which is where the Jupiter tournament was held. You go down and there's more guys. Not only is it fastballs, it's stuff.
“Ben Bosse probably has one of the best breaking balls in this class. It's a really good fastball, but a really, really good breaking ball. We think the other arms in Korbin Griffin, Cade Granzow and Parker Carlson all have a chance to be mid 90s arms if they stay healthy and develop.”
Ziegler is probably the headliner of the class and the highest-rated for the 2021 MLB Draft. The Heidelberg, Ontario, Canada native actually signed with UConn a year ago, but choose to return to high school due to the COVID-19 outbreak and Auburn jumped at the opportunity to sign him when he opened his recruitment back up.
Ziegler is one of five right-handers in the class along with the left-handed Griffin.
"This was just one of those years where we felt like you look at the most talented players that we could go for, most of them just happen to be right-handed this year. That's just kind of the way it went,” Nonemaker explained. “You'd love to have some balance, but when you're comparing guys and the right hander you just feel like it's a better fit and more talented, we just decided to go with the guys that we felt like were better fits and the most talented guys that we could find.”
The Tigers could have to replace their entire outfield and most of their infield in 2022 so adding a power bat like outfielder Mike Bello from Oak Ridge, N.J., was a key along with infielders Luke Burk, Brody Moss and Seaver Sheets.
“Hard-nosed kid,” said Nonemaker of Bello. “We think we're going to get a very physical left-handed bat, and physical left-handed hitters that might make it to college, they don't grow on trees. That's kind of a no brainer when you talk about strength, toughness and mentality.”
In addition to Canada and New Jersey, AU’s class includes players from Michigan, Texas, Missouri, Louisiana and Tennessee. Allsup, Carlson and Moss are all from the state of Alabama.
“I just think it speaks more probably about Auburn's brand,” Nonemaker said. “If you make a phone call or talk to somebody and you say you're from Auburn, you pretty much can get at the table, and you can get in the room. Then the recent success has helped.
"Having the last time the College World Series was played, having our team out there and things like that, you can feel that there's more and more kids from other areas outside of our footprint that are familiar with not just Auburn, but Auburn baseball because they watched us play.”
