We are less than 10 days away from the start of college baseball and D1Baseball started releasing lists of the top players at each position. In this article, I will talk about which Big 12 infielders made D1Baseball’s 50 list at each position.
Catcher
As you can see below, the Big 12 doesn’t have a single catcher listed in the top 40, which is crazy to me. Bear and Ian are both solid catchers, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see either of them play better than their ranking. Karson Bowen has tremendous upside and will be a key piece for the Horned Frogs this season, so I’d expect him to be much higher than this.
#42 Bear Madliak (Kansas State)
#45 Karson Bowen (TCU)
#46 Ian Daugherty (Oklahoma State)
First Base
First is by far the weakest position in the infield for the conference, with just two representatives. However, Jacob Tobias from Arizona State has superstar potential written all over him. Last season, Jacob posted a .332 batting average and led the Sun Devils in RBIs (58) and home runs (18). Forget about being one of the best first basemen in the Big 12; Tobias may end up being the best first baseman in all of college baseball.
#6 Jacob Tobias (Arizona State)
#27 Peyton Schulze (Texas Tech)
Second Base
Much like the next two positions, second base is loaded with plenty of Big 12 talent. The conference has five players in the top 16, which is by far the most out of any conference in the country. Texas Tech’s Damian Bravo takes the top spot in the conference, and rightfully so. Bravo finished as the Big 12 batting champion last season with a ridiculous .379 batting average. Meanwhile, Kyle Walker and Aaron Lugo will make their Big 12 debuts this season after transferring in from other conferences.
#10 Damian Bravo (Texas Tech)
#12 Kyle Walker (Arizona State)
#14 Aaron Lugo (Houston)
#15 Sam White (West Virginia)
#16 Garen Caulfield (Arizona)
Shortstop
There is no shortage of talent when it comes to the most prominent position on the diamond. Arizona’s Mason White hit 19 dingers last season which was tied for the most in the Pac-12. Speaking of the Pac-12, the number two guy on this list is also from the Pac-12 with Utah’s Core Jackson who finished fourth in batting average (.363) a year ago.
#7 Mason White (Arizona)
#11 Core Jackson (Utah)
#30 Anthony Silva (TCU)
#34 Matt King (Arizona State)
#35 Brodie Kresser (West Virginia)
Third Base
In contrast to first base, which may be the weakest infield position in the Big 12, third base is by far the deepest. There are three players from the conference in the top fifteen and four in the top twenty. Arizona State’s Nu’u Conrades leads the way for the Big 12, and while he may have missed nearly all of last season due to injury, he had an outstanding freshman season in 2023, where he batted .309 with 20 extra-base hits. Meanwhile, Cade Climie from Houston is a transfer from Blinn, where he has been rated as the number one JUCO transfer hitter according to D1Baseball. One can argue that the Big 12 has the third base spot on lock.
#8 Nu’u Contrades (Arizona State)
#12 Cade Climie (Houston)
#15 Kerrington Cross (Cincinnati)
#19 Michael Brooks (Kansas)
#25 TJ Pompey (Texas Tech)
#30 Chase Swain (West Virginia)
#35 Aidan Meola (Oklahoma State)
#43 Kendrey Maduro (UCF)
