Florida State baseball begins the 2025 season in 39 days, hosting James Madison for a three-game series beginning on February 14. With about eight weeks to Opening Day, Perfect Game released its preseason top 25, ranking the Seminoles No. 6:
2025 College Baseball ‘Preseason Top 25’ ??https://t.co/UWUy9HzdMk pic.twitter.com/BRRtexO2Zn
— Perfect Game USA (@PerfectGameUSA) January 6, 2025
Perfect Game has six ACC teams ranked in the top 25, including four in the top 10. FSU is the second-highest-ranked ACC team, only trailing No. 3 Virginia. The SEC has five teams in the top-10, including No. 1 Texas A&M.
FSU was unranked entering the 2024 season after missing the postseason in Link Jarrett‘s first season as head coach of the program. The Seminoles produced 26 more wins in Jarrett’s second season, the largest win improvement in college baseball. The season concluded in Omaha, as the eventual National Champion Tennessee beat Florida State twice.
Last season, the Seminoles were led by a historically powerful offense with multiple first-round picks and an arsenal of lefties on the mound led by Jamie Arnold.
The offense will have to replace the bulk of its production, losing its No. 2-6 hitters in the order (Cam Smith, James Tibbs, Marco Dinges, Jaime Ferrer, and Daniel Cantu). The lineup did retain the center of the field with CF Max Williams, middle infielders Alex Lodise and Drew Faurot, and catcher Jaxson West.
A handful of additions from the portal, JUCO ranks, and the HS recruiting class will try to aid them in replacing the production of the former leaders. Texas Tech transfer Gage Harrelson will look to bounce back from a sophomore slump and get back to freshman All-American form. JUCO additions Chase Williams, Blaydon Plain, and Carter McCulley could each hold key roles in the offense. And highly-touted freshmen Hunter Carns and Myles Bailey could determine the ceiling of the group.
Micah Posey‘s pitching staff returns its ace in Arnold, who is projected to be a top-10 pick in the upcoming MLB Draft, and revamped its depth with crucial portal additions. Transfers Wes Mendes (Ole Miss), Joey Volini (USF), Evan Chrest (JU), and Peyton Prescott (JU) are candidates to join Arnold in the rotation. The X-factor of the staff remains Cam Leiter, who hasn’t been on the mound in-game since mid-March dealing with an injury. There was no timetable set for the former Friday night starter’s return by the end of fall.
FSU’s schedule includes nine games against three fellow CWS teams and eight opponents who earned an NCAA Tournament berth in 2024. The 54-game schedule features 35 games at Dick Howser Stadium and 42 total games in the state of Florida.
This article will be updated with more preseason top 25 rankings as more are released.
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