4 Days 'til Aggie Baseball: The 5 best players on the roster ... on paper

It’s that time of year! The Texas Aggie baseball team is set to open up the 2021 season on Friday against Xavier at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park. We're counting down the days with our 2021 Aggie Baseball Preview Series.

Happy game week, Aggies! We continue our daily countdown to Opening Day 2021, and even though Aggieland looks more like January at Lambeau than spring at Olsen, it’s just four days until Friday’s opener against Xavier. Today, I want to take a quick look at the five names that I feel are going to be the five best and most impactful players on the roster this season, in order. We’ll go 5-to-1...

5. Logan Britt - OF/RHP - FR (2)

2020 Stats: .250/.300/.375, 1 3B, 6 RBI in 16 AB

The second-year freshman played sparingly in 2020 pre-shutdown but flashed high-level tools at the plate and especially in the outfield. His plus-plus arm will remind Aggie fans of Tyler Naquin and has afforded him an opportunity to get a look on the mound during the offseason. The project is ongoing but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Britt get a look on the bump at some point early in the season. Logan is draft-eligible this year and is quite possibly A&M’s best pro prospect entering the season. The bat plays, and Britt is expected to be a mainstay in the top of the lineup in ’21.

Anna Peterson, TexAgs

Sartori is threatening to unseat Bryce Blaum at second base.

4. Logan Sartori - INF/OF/DH - JR (4)

2020 Stats: .364/.446/.600, 7 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI in 55 AB

It appears that Logan Sartori could be on the verge of winning the battle at second base over longtime starter Bryce Blaum. Of course, this battle will carry well into the start of the ’21 campaign, and there is plenty of time for both to win a spot in the everyday lineup as the season unfolds. But with the ultra-gifted Trevor Werner likely to start most of the time at third base, Rob Childress, Chad Caillet, Justin Seely and Co. must find a spot to get Sartori’s bat into the lineup consistently ... be that at second, DH or even possibly in left field. He’s got instant offense and could become a doubles machine at the top of the order for A&M in his second year removed from breaking the all-time doubles record at Hutchinson CC in ’18 and ’19.

3. Taylor Smith - C/DH - SO (3)

2020 Stats at Grayson College: .351/.554/.684, 4 2B, 5 HR, 28 RBI in 19 games

Smith has his hands full in a battle to become the everyday catcher with incumbent and two-year starter Mikey Hoehner, but the 6-1, 220-pound slugger with the voice of Barry White is a natural leader, smooth enough receiver, plus thrower behind the place and a bonafide BOMB dropper who has a great chance to hit every single day in the middle of the A&M lineup. Entering his third year in college and playing for his third different school, Smith began his career by hitting 16 homers as a true freshman at Incarnate Word in ’19 before transferring to GCC in lovely Denison, Texas (Big Sky Country, as I call it). Taylor was off to an incredible start at Grayson before the shutdown, hitting over .350 with an OPS well above 1.200, including 9 extra-base hits in just 19 games. The bat is why he’s a legit prospect, and Smith will see plenty of time behind the plate and even at DH on days that Hoehner catches ... thanks to the versatility of Hunter Coleman who can catch in a pinch if A&M decides to start Hoehner and Smith in the same game. I honestly believe Taylor Smith is the best kept secret in the SEC and don’t believe there was any way A&M gets him to campus if COVID hadn’t halted his incredible season and shortened the 2020 MLB Draft from 40 rounds to five rounds.

Bradley Countie, TexAgs

Miller moves from the pen to the front of the rotation this season.

2. Bryce Miller - RHP - JR (4)

2020 Stats: 1-2, 3.27 ERA, 3 SV, 11 IP, 14 K, 2 BB

The fourth-year junior has been a mainstay in the back end of the A&M bullpen ever since he transferred in from Blinn in 2019. And had there been even a 10-round Draft last year, we’re certainly not talking about Miller being a member of the ’21 squad. But give Bryce a ton of credit for turning a tough situation into an amazing opportunity. He went to work last summer on turning himself into a starter, developing from a two-pitch short reliever into a guy who can come at hitters with a third pitch and a developing fourth pitch to go along with it. Miller touched 97 MPH this summer with the Brazos Valley Bombers and carried his summer league success into the fall and throughout preseason leading up to Friday’s opener. Bryce will almost certainly get the ball for A&M in game one vs. Xavier and has a tremendous opportunity to pitch his way into becoming a top 3-4 round guy in the Draft this summer.

1. Trevor Werner - INF/RHP - FR (2)

2020 Stats: .277/.364/.298, 1 2B, 10 RBI in 47 AB | 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.2 IP, 3 K, 0 BB

The second-year freshman jumped on the scene this time last year and won the starting shortstop spot as a true freshman while also working some out of the bullpen before being limited due to injury the week prior to the shutdown. It’s safe to say the uber-talented two-way guy has taken the next step. Werner appears to have won the starting third base job and will get opportunities to hit in the middle third of the Aggie lineup. The 6-3, 220-pound first cousin of former A&M shortstop Adam Smith is every bit as toolsy as his cousin, and the expectation is for his bat to take a major leap in ’21. Meanwhile, you’re looking at an explosive and overpowering presence on the mound who by all accounts is in the lead for the closer’s role to open the season. Werner will work in the mid-to-high 90s and is capable of touching triple digits on the fastball. The secondary stuff — a specialty of head coach Rob Childress — is developing and getting better and better. Enjoy this young man for another two years as he emerges as one of the SEC’s best and most complete players on his way to eventually becoming a high-round pick in ’22.