Previewing all position player MLB Draft prospects for Hogs, Volunteers

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It's become part of the process of running a college baseball team. High-level programs like Arkansas and Tennessee often have to replace their entire lineups year over year.

When the two teams meet this weekend at Baum-Walker Stadium, only five players combined from the 2024 starting nine will take the field for a spot to Omaha and the College World Series.

This year is no different, the two teams are filled with players that could hear their name called early in the draft. MLB.com's latest release of the top 200 prospects has 13 players from this series on the list. Here are the position players ranked playing this weekend at Baum-Walker.

No. 17 SS Gavin Kilen (-1 spot since the previous ranking)

You know the series is loaded with draft talent when the SEC Player of the Year slots in second best at his own position. That's because Gavin Kilen has matched Wehiwa Aloy's offensive numbers stride for stride.

Kilen is third in the SEC in batting average (.363) and seventh in slugging percentage (.686). He has 32 extra-base hits, including 15 homers in just 50 games after losing some time due to a hamstring injury. He also has superior bat to ball skills with more walks than strikeouts (28 BB, 26 Ks).

He's split time at both second base and shortstop, with some scouting reports including MLB.com's writing that "the game speeds up on him and his arm is a bit stretched at shortstop" and could project as a long-term second baseman.

No. 22 SS Wehiwa Aloy (+2)

Even with a recent cold spell, Aloy has put together a magnificent season that's seen him put over 80 points on his batting average and over 200 points on his slugging percentage.

He's not only increased his home run numbers from 14 to 20, but hit twice the number of doubles from 9 to 18. Why is he still ranked below Kilen? The walk and strikeout numbers are almost identical from last year.

Arkansas was eliminated this time last year, so his numbers match up in terms of at-bats heading into the Super Regionals.

Here are his stats side-by-side:

At-bats: 237/242
Walks: 25/30
Strikeouts: 55/58

No. 29 1B Andrew Fischer (+6)

Fischer has become perhaps the most prolific power hitters in the SEC, combining for 41 homers the past two years and leading the rest of the field in the confrence this year by two (24).

Similar to Aloy, he's made massive strides in batting average and slugging, but also has cut down on the strikeouts.

He struck out 43 times last year in 49 games with the Rebels and now only has 41 strikeouts in 63 games this year. He also leads the SEC in walks with 62.

No. 58 2B Dean Curley (-4)

Curley can swing it with the best of them with a slash line of .315/.436/.523 with 13 homers. The biggest issue this season has been his defense.

He's committed 17 errors on the year, including one in the series against Arkansas earlier in the year. Tennessee has attempted to fix the issue by moving him from third to second full time.

No. 65 LF Charles Davalan (-5)

The battle between Davalan and Kilen out of the leadoff spot might be the most interesting battle in the leadoff spot. Both have similar profiles in terms of bat-to-ball skills and given that both teams have at least six players in the lineup with double-digit homers, getting on base could be the path to quick early runs.

Davalan won that battle when the two teams met in the regular season going 6-for-14 and a double while Kilen went 4-for-16.

Even though Davalan didn't have the best regional, I still had him on my all-tournament team. Getting on base four times against Creighton in the first game set up the big offensive outburst and is a perfect encapsulation of the type of hitter he is.

The experiment in center field was killed quite early in the season, but he's played a solid left field since ceding center to Justin Thomas Jr and is one of four Arkansas position players without an error.

No. 168 Brent Iredale (-27)

There's always way more volatility when you get to the bottom of these rankings, but Iredale dropping 27 spots isn't insignificant. He's shown moments in SEC play against top pitchers, but never fully turned the corner.

Since the start of SEC play, his batting average has also dropped over nearly 150 points from .431 to .285.

While .431 is an insane number that was never going to be sustained (the SEC leader is .370), not many people could have predicted at the start of SEC play, that Iredale would enter the start of the Super Regionals with the lowest batting average among qualified hitters on the team.

That's exactly where he is. He also ranks second on the team in strikeouts with 60, ahead of only Kuhio Aloy, who has seen his own fair share of troubles lately.

First pitch between Tennessee and Arkansas is scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday and will be broadcast on ESPN.

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