With one of the first picks of the draft leading into Auburn's fall version of the World Series, one team decided on Jackson Sanders, a pitcher from Opelika. How did that team end up on the freshman southpaw? Easy.

"No lefty wants to face him," pitching coach Everett Teaford said.

Sanders has made quite an impression on his teammates and coaches early on, showing maturity and stuff on the mound beyond his years. And, most notably for head coach Butch Thompson, he's reached the level of strikes thrown benchmark, making him someone that he and his staff can trust on the hill. That level is 70 percent strikes and is something that Teaford has seen Sanders improve on since he first started working with him.

"The one thing I was being blunt about when I saw him throw in January, December, was I was worried about the command of the strike zone," Teaford said. "And he has far out-exceeded my expectations from that standpoint."

The pitch that makes Sanders so hard to hit is his sinker, which his pitching coach calls "unique." Teaford mentions that no one can pick it up and, along with his slider, which they are working on making a bit tighter, he has an arsenal that could have him as a starter in his first season in the SEC.

Thompson already has plans for Sanders alongside fellow true freshman Christian Chatterton.

"Sanders is so good and gets ready so quick; if they're not starters to start the season, that means they stay healthy for these 86 days going into the season," the head coach said. "But if they stay healthy, they're not a starter, they're piggyback. Even Major League Baseball is just over five innings a game on average now. I think piggyback is here to stay. I'd like to come up with a better name for it. But a starter and a long reliever. I could see using those guys where Chatterton starts, and Sanders could go behind him. And the next week, they could flip."

Out of all of the newcomers that have had an impact this fall for the Tigers, Sanders might be the brightest of them all.

"He's done a phenomenal job," Teaford said. "Great kid, an Auburn guy. So, a lot really to like about that."