Baseball America

We're taking a bit of a different approach on this week's Baseball America Draft Podcast. With the news breaking Thursday of MLB's proposal to significantly overhaul the MLB draft, eliminating high school player eligibility along with many other changes, JJ Cooper, Carlos Collazo and Jacob Rudner share what they've heard from their reporting about what this would mean.

(00:00) Carlos and JJ discuss what scouts, front office officials and others are saying about the plan to change the MLB draft.

(48:15) Jacob and JJ discuss what college coaches and other college officials have to say about what...

To get you ready for the College World Series Finals series, Jacob Rudner and JJ Cooper take an in-depth look at both Oklahoma and North Carolina. What are each team's strengths and weaknesses? What could be the difference? We cover it all on the latest Baseball America College Podcast.

(00:00) Scouting Oklahoma

(13:40) Scouting North Carolina

(30:00) What Would Winning Mean For Each Team

(34:30) We Predict Who Will Win

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The Baseball America Fantasy Podcast returns with hosts Geoff Pontes and Ian Cundall for a quick run through of some complex league players to pay attention to and buy in on heading into the summer. We talk a few pitchers, a bunch of position talent and even a two-way standout.

On this week's Prospect Podcast, Geoff Pontes, JJ Cooper and Ian Cundall discuss a slew of prospects who are having exceptional seasons. Many of these prospects weren't on Top 30s coming into the season, but they're having seasons worth a second look. Why are we still skeptical with some, and which breakouts do we think have staying power.

(02:00) Owen Ayers, C, Cubs

(13:00) Manuel Pena, 1B, D-backs

(22:30) Jason Schiavone, C, Astros

(28:00) Ben Ross, SS, Twins

(34:45) Lonnie White Jr., OF, Pirates

(42:00) Sean Keys, 1B, Blue Jays<...

JJ Cooper and Carlos Collazo talk about potential pick scenarios that might not be the most likely, but could be real possibilities on draft day. How does the board get shaken up if a few teams opt for less likely options within the first few picks? The two work 10 picks down the board to talk through those scenarios in today’s “alternate mock draft” podcast.

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Geoff Pontes, Ian Cundall and JJ Cooper are talking about a pair of farm systems that have impressed in the first two months of the season. The Braves and Dodgers have both seen multiple players move up or join the Top 100 Prospects rankings. We discuss what's happening.

(00:00) How The Braves Have Taken A Step Forward

(02:00) Eric Hartman, Tate Southisene, Briggs McKenzie And Others To Know

(07:00) What Has Changed In The Braves Approach

(11:30) How The Braves Have Made The Draft Work For Them

(15:00) Could The Braves Trade...

Jacob Rudner, Geoff Pontes and JJ Cooper get you ready for the 2026 College World Series with looks at all eight clubs.

(00:00) Super Regional Wrap-up

(12:00) College World Series Preview

(12:30) Troy Preview

(16:30) West Virginia Preview

(22:50) North Carolina Preview

(29:50) Ole Miss Preview

(36:45) Alabama Preview

(44:00) Oklahoma Preview

(49:40) Georgia Preview

(59:00) Texas Preview

(65:00) CWS Predictions

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On this week's Hot Sheet Show, J.J. Cooper, Carlos Collazo and Jacob Rudner break down the College World Series field, talk about BA's latest mock draft and answer your viewer questions.

The Hot Sheet Show airs live on the BA YouTube channel every Tuesday at 3 p.m. Give us a sub, and we'll see you then!

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JJ asks Carlos about five 2026 draft prospects who stood out to him during the final report-writing process for our draft preview magazine. The two dig into why the profiles are appealing and where they might fit on draft day. 

You can pre-order this year’s draft preview magazine here. 

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With the start of a new month, it's time for us to do another comprehensive update of our MLB Top 100 Prospects rankings. On today's Prospect Podcast, Josh Norris, Ian Cundall and JJ Cooper discuss some of the players who made significant moves up and also talk about why some other prospects moved down.

(00:00) What's different about the June Top 100 update

(08:00) Franklin Arias' rise

(11:00) Josh Norris' bold proclamations about Ryan Sloan

(14:45) Ethan Salas is healthy

(16:50) Theo Gillen has made the leap

(19:40) Mike Sirota does a...

On this week's Hot Sheet Show, J.J. Cooper, Geoff Pontes and Jacob Rudner discuss key NCAA Tournament developments and preview BA's latest in-season Top 100 Prospects update.

The Hot Sheet Show airs live on the BA YouTube channel every Tuesday at 3 p.m. Give us a sub, and we'll see you then!

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It was a wonderful and wild weekend of NCAA Regionals. Geoff Pontes, Jacob Rudner and JJ Cooper wrap up what happened, winners and losers from last weekend and look ahead to the Super Regionals and beyond.

(00:00) Why This Year Is Different

(02:00) Cinderellas Abound Is This A Sign That There's More Parity?

(07:15) JJ was wrong about a CWS concern

(14:45) Explaining the ACC's horrible weekend

(22:20) The Big Ten And Big 12 Stand Out

(27:45) Super Regionals Preview

(28:00) Picking Our CWS Favorites

(35:35) Troy And Little...

This week on the Baseball America Fantasy Podcast hosts Dylan White and Geoff Pontes get into the weeds on their recent update to the Dynasty 500 and Fantasy Prospects 400.

JJ Cooper and Carlos Collazo break down the milestone BA 500 draft update for the 2026 class. The two talk about a handful of notable risers, including players inside the first round and beyond, and then pick five players who are poised to impact their draft stock in the NCAA tournament. 

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We're taking a look at which organizations have the best position groups on the new Baseball America Prospect Podcast. Josh Norris, Ian Cundall and JJ Cooper hold a draft to pick which teams stand out.

(00:00) Seeing Gage Wood, Seaver King and Brewers Prospects

(06:00) Picking The Best Catching Groups

(13:00) Picking The Best Corner Infield Groups

(22:15) Picking The Best Middle Infield Groups

(30:25) Picking The Best Outfield Groups

(37:30) Picking The Best Righthanded Pitcher Groups

(44:25) Picking The Best Lefthanded Pitcher Groups

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On this week's Hot Sheet Show, J.J. Cooper, Geoff Pontes and Jacob Rudner get ready for the start of the NCAA Tournament with a look at this year's bracket, BA's 1-64 team rankings, bracket winners & losers and more.

The Hot Sheet Show airs live on the BA YouTube channel every Tuesday at 3 p.m. Give us a sub, and we'll see you then!

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The NCAA college baseball field of 64 is set, and Jacob Rudner, Geoff Pontes and JJ Cooper are excited to talk about who's in, who has a tough or easy regional, who has a complaint about being snubbed and who could win it all.

(00:00) Analyzing the national seeds

(07:30) The toughest regional this weekend

(12:45) Trying to understand seeding decisions

(19:30) N.C. State makes the tourney in Elliott Avent's final season

(22:00) Baffled by the Wolfpack not being a Last Four Team in

(24:00) Why we think Mercer should...

On this week's Draft Podcast, Carlos Collazo and JJ Cooper take a look at three prominent draft prospects with some worrisome stats on their resume. How worried should you be about these prospects?

(02:00) Stats We Care About

(03:00) TCU's Sawyer Stronsnider's batting average

(14:00) UCSB's Jackson Flora's K-BB%

(25:30) SS Jacob Lombard's miss rate

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/why-batting-average-is-still-relevant-for-these-3-high-risk-2026-college-hitters/

On this week's Hot Sheet Show, J.J. Cooper, Geoff Pontes and Josh Norris break down our new May Top 30 Prospects updates for every team and welcome Marlins pitcher and new Top 100 Prospect Karson Milbrandt to the show.

The Hot Sheet Show airs live on the BA YouTube channel every Tuesday at 3 p.m. Give us a sub, and we'll see you then!

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We have updated all 30 MLB team's Top 30 Prospect rankings, so we're going to talk about it on this week's Prospect Podcast. Josh Norris, Ian Cundall and JJ Cooper are talking about teams and prospects who have raised their stock so far this season.

(00:00) Orgs We Were Impressed By And Which Have Thinned Out

(13:00) Why LuJames Groover Stood Out

(14:20) Ben Grable Is Rising Up The Yankees list

(15:20) Why Justin Campbell Was Tough To Rank

(18:00) Caden Hunter Is An O's Pitcher To Know

(19:15) Jonah Cox Has Hit His Way...

The regular season is over, so we both look at the notable of what happened over the weekend, but we also look ahead to what to watch for in the conference tournaments, with an emphasis on what the tourney bubble looks like.

(00:00) We're seeing all different types of teams from Georgia Tech's relentless offense to UCSB's pitching

(02:40) This year's tournament bubble is different

(14:00) Why did we not rank Wake Forest this week?

(21:15) How did we do with our preseason College Top 25?

(27:15) What went wrong with LSU?

(29:30) What's...

This week on the Baseball America fantasy podcast we let the robot take the wheel. Hosts Geoff Pontes and Dylan White dive into this week's Roboscout article and breakdown eight names with nice upside for dynasty baseball leagues.

We rolled out our third mock draft of the year this week, so Carlos Collazo and JJ Cooper dive into the details of the mock for this week's Draft Podcast.

(00:00) What has changed since Mock Draft V 2.0?

(01:15) A clear top tier

(03:30) When you get to the seventh or eighth pick from there on, it gets really muddy

(09:00) Is Ryder Helfrick a sneaky top 10 pick?

(11:30) Why we don't think the Giants trade enters them into the Roch Cholowsky sweepstakes

(21:30) Why teams in the 20s/30s...

On this week's Prospect Podcast, Geoff Pontes and JJ Cooper take a look at five rising prospects in the top 100. You may know these names, or maybe you don't. But you will, so we help you get ahead.

(00:00) Braves OF Eric Hartman

(10:00) Orioles 1B/OF Ike Irish

(14:10) Giants SS Luis Hernandez

(19:30) Rays C Nathan Flewelling

(26:10) Nationals 2B/3B Devin Fitz-Gerald

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On this week's Hot Sheet Show, Jacob Rudner, Carlos Collazo and Ben Badler break down everything to know about about Baseball America's latest MLB mock draft 3.0.

The Hot Sheet Show airs live on the BA YouTube channel every Tuesday at 3 p.m. Give us a sub, and we'll see you then!

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This week on the Baseball America Fantasy Podcast hosts Geoff Pontes and Dylan White dive deep to find you some under-the-radar data standouts. The hosts go through ten names that are underappreciated in dynasty leagues at the moment and give you details of why these could be diamonds in the rough.

With just one week left in the regular season for most teams, J.J. Cooper and Jacob Rudner are taking a look at who has the most to gain or the most to lose this week, but we also had to cover UCLA's nerve-racking comeback, the double/home run seen by no one in a fog and many other topics from this week in college baseball.

(00:00) UCLA stays on top

(05:45) Can Georgia Tech or Georgia bash their way to a title?

(14:10) Why this weekend is so big for Arizona State

(19:15) Until...

On this week’s Draft Podcast, Carlos Collazo and JJ Cooper take a look at the best tools in the 2026 MLB Draft. To do so, we hold a draft of our own to pick the best in a variety of important categories.

(03:30) Picking Best Fastballs In The Class

(11:30) Picking Best Secondary Pitches In The Class

(16:45) Best Control and Command In The Class

(23:15) Best Hit Tool In The Class

(28:00) Best Power In The Class

(33:00) Best Speed In the Class

(35:15) Best Defense In The Class

On this week's Prospect Podcast Josh Norris, Ian Cundall and JJ Cooper discuss our brand new Top 100 Prospects update. With the trio at the top of the rankings either graduated or about to graduate, we analyzed the next No. 1 prospect, as well as other prospects who made notable moves on the list.

(00:00) Who Is Going To Be The Next No. 1 Prospect

(10:45) Who Else Is In The No. 1 Prospect Discussion?

(16:45) Why Caleb Bonemer's Ranking Led To Interesting Discussions

(24:00) The Nationals' Ronny Cruz Has Joined The Top 100

(27:45) The Padres' Ethan Salas...

On this week's Hot Sheet Show, J.J. Cooper, Geoff Pontes, Josh Norris and Jacob Rudner talk about Baseball America's upcoming Top 100 Prospects update and storylines to follow as the college baseball regular season winds down.

The Hot Sheet Show airs live on the BA YouTube channel every Tuesday at 3 p.m. Give us a sub, and we'll see you then!

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Baseball America national college reporter Jacob Rudner and prospect analyst Geoff Pontes offer their analysis and latest reporting on the SEC's decision to bring the ABS challenge system to its conference tournament this year. Plus, Rudner and Pontes talk about teams on the hosting bubble.

The Baseball America Fantasy Podcast returns as hosts Geoff Pontes and Dylan White break down the updated Dynasty Top 500 list. They hone in on 10 names that have risen up the rankings over the first month of the season and why these players are hot targets in leagues of all sizes.

With the Baseball America MLB Draft Rankings expanded to 400 players, Carlos Collazo and JJ Cooper are taking a look at who moved way up and explained why some other prospects are sliding down.

(00:00) The Draft 400 Is Live

(07:30) Where Is The Draft Demarcation Line

(15:00) Where The Draft Went Wide Open

(16:45) Will We Move Prep Picks Down Later?

(21:00) Where Is Justin Lebron?

(27:00) Two Pitchers Moving Way Up

(35:00) Why The Padres are a no-brainer team to link to Brody Bumila

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On this week's Prospect Podcast, Ian Cundall, Geoff Pontes and JJ Cooper take a look at some of the most notable prospect performances of April.

(00:00) Ian has been checking out the California League

(07:30) Why we're even more optimistic about Franklin Arias

(13:00) Three prospects making arguments for promotions

(29:00) Why are MLB lefty rookie starters dominating right now?

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On this week's Hot Sheet Show, J.J. Cooper, Ian Cundall and Geoff Pontes break down what the Guardians are getting in Travis Bazzana after his callup to Cleveland. Plus, we discuss other potential MLB debuts from recent draft classes.

The Hot Sheet Show airs live on the BA YouTube channel every Tuesday at 3 p.m. Give us a sub, and we'll see you then!

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Baseball America national college reporter Jacob Rudner and prospect writer Geoff Pontes take a closer look at teams with the most still to prove with three weeks left in the regular season. Rudner and Pontes also explain their process for Field of 64 projections and discuss the Kansas Jayhawks' historic season.

(4:18) What we mean by 'most to prove'

(4:49) UCLA aims for No. 1 national seed

(10:32) Piecing through the Big Ten

(13:56) Oregon State's fragile resume

(19:47) Florida still hard to predict

(24:36) Kentucky's tournament path

(25:41) Arkansas vs. Ole Miss

The Baseball America Podcast welcomes Dr. Nick Serio, founder and president of VeloU, a baseball performance and pitching development company focused on improving velocity, mechanics, strength and arm health through data-driven instruction.

Dr. Serio and J.J. Cooper discuss teenage Tommy John surgeries, the scary stats of what pitching injuries mean for future MLB success and what can be done to help prevent those injuries.

On this week's Baseball America Draft Podcast, JJ Cooper and Carlos Collazo are taking an in-depth look at Roch Cholowsky's 2026 season. Is he living up to expectations or falling a bit short? We dive in to explain what we're hearing.

(00:00) Quick Look At How The Top Of The Draft Shapes Up

(07:45) Looking At Roch Cholowsky's 2026 Season Compared To 2025

(13:40) Digging Deeper Into Cholowsky's Underlying Analytical Data

(15:00) A Way That Cholowsky Has Clearly Been Better

(26:00) Looking At Cholowsky Defensively

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On this week's Prospect Podcast, Geoff Pontes and JJ Cooper look at a trio of prospects off to great starts, plus we look at why the Nationals Class A teams are ones to watch.

(00:00) Franklin Arias Is Hitting For Power

(06:00) Colby Shelton Looks Like He's Combining Power And Contact

(10:00) Seth Hernandez Is Must-See MiLB.TV

(18:30) What Is Going Well For The Nationals, Including An Emerging Prospect

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On this week's Hot Sheet Show, Jacob Rudner, J.J. Cooper and Geoff Pontes shine a spotlight on early-season prospect performances that people should be watching. Are these players ready for the next step?

With the NCAA Tournament also drawing nearer, we break down teams might be left on the bubble.

The Hot Sheet Show airs live on the BA YouTube channel every week on Tuesday at 3 p.m. Give us a sub, and we'll see you then!

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