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Bryan Reynolds, Hayden Stone Named Freshman All Americans

Let's just file this under "Derp" or "If They Weren't, I'd be Outraged."

Bryan Reynolds (as I couldn't find a photo with the two of them together).
Bryan Reynolds (as I couldn't find a photo with the two of them together).
The Tennessean

Baseball America has released its Freshman All American list and two Vanderbilt Commodores made the cut.

Bryan Reynolds is the headliner here, as the freshman outfielder was rightfully recognized for his breakout freshman season and named to the First Team.  In the first series of the year, while it looked like he might be platooning left field with Will Cooper, Reynolds put that thought to rest pretty much immediately.

In the first series against the Long Beach State Dirtbags, Reynolds batted .600 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI, effectively writing his name into the top third of the lineup in ink, and winning SEC Freshman of the Week" honors in the process.  Though he didn't stay at a .600 clip all season (I know, we're all terribly disappointed in him), he finished with a monster .338/.395.480 slash line, leading the team in both average and slugging.  Oh, and he caught pretty much everything hit his way and swiped 14 bases, to boot.

The Aluminum Foil was a key reason our boys get to spend the year staring into the glory that is the CWS trophy, and as unbelievable as it might seem, he's only going to get better.  A .350+/.400+/.500+ slash line, and improved power numbers is actually a reasonable expectation for his sophomore campaign, where Reynolds will hold a weekly Battle Royale with Dansby Swanson for "The Man" honors and the right to our collective hearts.

Hayden Stone, the man we all grew to trust most with the ball in his hands by the end of the season, was named to the Second Team.  For those, like me, who nearly had a brain hemorrhage trying to comprehend how he could possibly have not made the first team, it's important to point out that only one relief pitcher was named to each team.  In short, Baseball America is effectively saying The Cold Stone K-Reamer was the 2nd best freshman reliever in all of baseball-dom.  Though I still don't see the logic in ranking him below Miami's closer Bryan Garcia, as Stone bested Garcia in ERA (1.71-1.75), blew him out of the water in Ks (80-56), had a better BA Against (.197-.220), walked fewer (14-19), and lost an infinitely fewer games than Garcia (0-4).  Of course, Garcia was Miami's closer, and Stone was buried by upperclassmen in the bullpen, so Garcia lapped him in saves at 15-3.  Let's just say that's not enough reason for me, but I get it.  What I continue not to get is why they devalue the RP position so much and only place one on each roster, but that's another argument for another time.

For the time being, strap on the Stone of Triumph and rock that Dirt Stache proudly this week, people, as surely everyone will get why you're doing that.

FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICA TEAMS
First Team
Pos. Name School AVG OBP SLG AB R H HR RBI SB
C Aaron Barnett Pepperdine .359 .384 .390 223 23 80 0 27 1
1B Nick Pappas College of Charleston .269 .321 .406 197 33 53 5 26 3
2B Brandon Lowe Maryland .348 .464 .464 181 35 63 1 42 8
3B Sheldon Neuse Oklahoma .304 .369 .521 240 43 73 7 47 7
SS Garrett Hampson Long Beach State .300 .419 .389 203 34 61 1 47 21
OF Austin Miller Loyola Marymount .374 .474 .451 206 46 77 0 18 25
OF Bryan Reynolds Vanderbilt .338 .395 .480 281 53 95 4 54 14
OF Heath Quinn Samford .319 .398 .533 229 49 73 9 48 2
DH Zack Collins Miami .298 .427 .556 205 32 61 11 54 0
UT Alex Robles Austin Peay State .349 .444 .444 169 35 73 1 39 2
Pos. Name School W L ERA G SV IP H BB SO BAA
SP Bailey Ober College of Charleston 10 3 1.52 17 0 107 73 19 85 .192
SP Cal Quantrill Stanford 7 5 2.68 18 0 111 90 34 98 .221
SP Logan Shore Florida 7 4 2.16 16 0 96 86 20 68 .241
SP Keegan Thompson Auburn 5 3 2.01 14 1 90 61 23 73 .192
RP Bryan Garcia Miami 7 4 1.75 31 15 51 40 19 56 .220
UT Alex Robles Austin Peay State 6 2 3.63 16 0 84 97 20 56 .284

Second Team
Pos. Name School AVG OBP SLG AB R H HR RBI SB
C Tres Barrera Texas .265 .339 .404 230 31 61 5 35 0
1B Bobby Dalbec Arizona .266 .333 .355 169 22 45 2 30 1
2B Jake Noll Florida Gulf Coast .367 .416 .440 275 56 101 0 29 25
3B Andrew Knizner North Carolina State .330 .373 .450 209 34 69 4 47 0
SS David Fletcher Loyola Marymount .329 .362 .374 222 56 73 0 28 17
OF Nick Banks Texas A&M .327 .386 .427 199 29 65 2 26 7
OF Ryan Boldt Nebraska .311 .382 .437 238 47 74 2 31 7
OF J.B. Woodman Mississippi .298 .346 .429 168 31 50 2 20 10
DH Nick Solak Louisville .351 .455 .464 97 29 34 2 25 9
UT Trenton Brooks Nevada .330 .373 .420 188 23 62 3 35 4
Pos. Name School W L ERA G SV IP H BB SO BAA
SP Tyler Alexander Texas Christian 10 3 2.36 20 0 99 88 11 59 .239
SP Wil Crowe South Carolina 8 3 2.75 15 0 92 76 19 59 .228
SP Jared Poche’ Louisiana State 9 3 2.45 16 0 92 72 26 52 .222
SP Mike Shawaryn Maryland 11 4 3.12 16 0 92 89 24 72 .249
RP Hayden Stone Vanderbilt 4 0 1.71 23 3 58 41 14 80 .197
UT Trenton Brooks Nevada 3 1 3.86 16 0 28 29 16 20 .279