Texas A&M baseball is going to need playmakers to step up this season in order to be successful. Here are the players who could fill that role.
Expectations are high once again for Rob Childress in his 14th season as the Texas A&M baseball head coach. With a disappointing end to last season, many Aggies are hopeful of both a successful regular season and a deep run in the NCAA Tournament in 2019.
The Aggies have had two top ten finishes in the last two recruiting classes and are a program absolutely loaded with talent. For the Aggie baseball program to be successful this year, playmakers are going to have to step up. Here are three players to pay attention to in the upcoming season.
Braden Shewmake — Shortstop
Braden Shewmake is one of the most explosive players on the Texas A&M baseball team. With back to back First Team All-SEC honors, Shewmake is arguably the best shortstop in the Southeastern Conference.
In 2018, Shewmake had the second best batting average on the Aggie team at .327 as well as a successful season as a member of the USA Collegiate National Team over the 2018 summer.
The Junior from Wylie, Texas stands at 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds and is one of the most decorated active players in the SEC at this time. Shewmake has some incredible stats from his first two seasons at Texas A&M, but more importantly he is just an exciting player to watch.
At the end of the 2017 season, Shewmake hit a walk off home-run against Baylor to advance to the next round of the Houston regional. Walk offs aren’t a rare occasion for the three-hole hitter either. Shewmake also hit a walk-off single in the eleventh inning to sweep Alabama last season.
On the field and in the batter’s box, Shewmake is an incredible talent with the potential to be one of the best players in the country this year. Look to see No. 8 make some noise in college baseball in the 2019 season.
Jonathan Childress — LHP
One young player to keep a close eye on this season is freshman Jonathan Childress from Forney, TX. Childress is the No. 35 overall player in the country and the first-ranked LHP in the state of Texas for the class of 2018, according to perfectgame.org.
Sitting at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, Childress has been ready to play for the Aggies for a while. Since committing to Texas A&M in 2015, Childress has played for the Houston Banditos and Dallas Patriots travel teams, as well as the West team in the Perfect Game All American Classic in 2017.
Childress also has many impressive attributes aside from his large stature. A nasty curveball down in the zone as well as pitches reaching speeds of up to 94 mph. Expect the lefty freshman to make an immediate impact on the field for the Aggie squad.
John Doxakis — LHP
Another talented LHP on the Aggie baseball team is John Doxakis. Doxakis is one of the most successful and well rounded pitchers on this Aggie squad. Doxakis has had a nice career at Texas A&M so far, with a total record of 12-8 while going 8-5 last season. The Houston native finished the 2018 season with a 2.70 ERA and 1.08 WHIP. In 93.1 innings, Doxakis had 92 strikeouts.
He has experience in big games as well, notching SEC wins over LSU, Auburn, Ole Miss, and Tennessee last season. Not to mention Doxakis was also on the mound in the game that sent the Aggies to the College World Series in 2017.
The lefty has a consistent breaking ball as well as a good combination of fastballs and changeups that should catch the attention of opposing batters this year. Entering his junior season, Doxakis will likely have a lot of weight on his shoulders to step up in important games where experience is needed. Keep a close watch on Doxakis this season as the Aggie ball club looks to make a CWS run for the third time this decade.
***stats via 12thman.com, D1Baseball.com, Perfectgame.org***