(Editor's note: The following was first published on d1baseball.com. The original includes a list of the top 100 starting pitchers in the college baseball season so far. Use code Save23 for a discounted subscription.)
With six weeks in the books, we’re more than a third of the way through the 2023 college baseball season, so it’s time to update our Player Rankings. When we put together our Preseason All-America teams, we followed one guiding principle: If we were building a team to win the 2023 national title, which players would we choose? We use the same philosophy to construct our Power Rankings.
Now we have six weeks of performance to draw upon, and we took early-season statistics into consideration, but we also tried to keep the numbers in context, because some leagues or ballparks are more offensive than others, and the quality of nonconference competition varies widely — so not all stat lines are created equal. In addition to the 2023 numbers, we also considered raw talent, long-term track record from previous seasons and makeup. And for premium defensive positions like catcher and shortstop, defensive statistics and ability were also weighted more heavily. These are NOT professional prospect lists, though they do take pure talent into consideration.
Finally, remember that there are nearly 300 Division I teams, and we’re ranking roughly the top 10 percent at each position (and in the case of relievers, there are even more to choose from, so this list is truly elite). These lists reflect our projections of which players are the best of the best this spring, but many good players in the remaining 90 percent just didn’t make the cut. We’ll revisit the Player Rankings again after Week 12 and make adjustments as players prove themselves on the field.
BEST PLAYERS BY POSITION: 1st Base | 2nd Base | Shortstops | 3rd Base | Catchers | Outfielders
With all that said, here’s a look at the top 50 relief pitchers in college baseball at the six-week mark. First-team preseason All-American Andrew Walters of Miami holds onto the top spot, and Vanderbilt’s Nick Maldonado moves up to No. 2.
*NOTE: All statistics in the chart below reflect performance through Week Six (Sunday, March 26).
| Rank | Pitcher | Team | W | L | ERA | SV | APP | GS | IP | BB | K | BA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Walters | Miami | 1 | 0 | 1.00 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 21 | .237 |
| 2 | Nick Maldonado | Vanderbilt | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 13.1 | 4 | 17 | .071 |
| 3 | William Privette | College of Charleston | 2 | 1 | 1.37 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 19.2 | 7 | 28 | .147 |
| 4 | Camden Minacci | Wake Forest | 0 | 0 | 1.74 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 10.1 | 3 | 16 | .205 |
| 5 | Terry Busse | Georgia Tech | 1 | 1 | 1.08 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 8 | 31 | .150 |
| 6 | Nolan McLean | Oklahoma State | 1 | 1 | 1.35 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 13.1 | 6 | 17 | .204 |
| 7 | Wyatt Crowell | Florida State | 3 | 0 | 0.87 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 11 | 33 | .132 |
| 8 | Rorik Maltrud | Missouri | 1 | 0 | 2.01 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 22 | 3 | 38 | .139 |
| 9 | Simon Miller | UTSA | 6 | 0 | 0.64 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 28.1 | 6 | 41 | .194 |
| 10 | Isaac Stebens | Oklahoma State | 3 | 0 | 2.00 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 27 | 6 | 32 | .160 |
Read D1Baseball.com's full top 50 list here.
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