Editor’s note: The following article was published first on d1baseball.com. Right now, you can get 30% off any subscription at D1 with code: OMAHA30.
D1Baseball.com previewed the 2025 ACC baseball season, breaking down all things in the 16-team conference. They project the ACC’s final standings, regional teams, Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Freshman of the Year and more.
Projected order of finish/Projected Regional Teams
*Teams are listed in order of projected finish. Bold indicates projected 2025 regional teams.
| Atlantic Division | 2025 ACC | 2025 Overall |
|---|---|---|
| Virginia | 18-12 | 46-17 |
| North Carolina | 22-8 | 48-16 |
| Florida State | 17-12 | 49-17 |
| Duke | 16-14 | 40-20 |
| NC State | 18-11 | 38-23 |
| Wake Forest | 15-15 | 38-22 |
| Clemson | 20-10 | 44-16 |
| Louisville | 16-14 | 32-24 |
| Stanford | 11-19 (Pac-12) | 22-33 |
| Georgia Tech | 15-15 | 33-25 |
| Virginia Tech | 14-16 | 32-22 |
| Pittsburgh | 10-20 | 26-29 |
| California | 17-13 (Pac-12) | 36-19 |
| Miami | 11-19 | 27-30 |
| Notre Dame | 9-21 | 27-25 |
| Boston College | 8-22 | 22-31 |
Preseason Awards
Player of the Year: Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech
Burress is as big a star as you’ll find in college baseball, the reigning D1Baseball Freshman of the Year and a 2024 first-team All-American after hitting .381/.512/.821 with 25 homers. He’s a no-brainer first-team preseason All-American as a sophomore, and our preseason pick for ACC Player of the Year. His prodigious right-handed power plays to all fields, as seven of his 25 homers were to middle-away last year. He’s a complete hitter who does damage on every type of pitch, and last year he ranked in the 90th percentile or better against fastballs (99th percentile), curveballs (100th percentile), sliders and changeups. Oh, and he can impact the game with his speed on the base paths and in center field, where he’s an excellent defender.
He checks all the boxes and will be the engine for the Yellow Jackets in all aspects of the game in 2025.
Pitcher of the Year: Jamie Arnold, LHP, Florida State
Junior lefthander Jamie Arnold is arguably the best pitcher in college baseball — Texas A&M’s Ryan Prager and UC Santa Barbara’s Tyler Bremner are the primary guys who might argue otherwise — and he could be the first pitcher taken in the 2025 MLB draft. He’s coming off a season in which he had a 2.98 ERA, a .224 opponent batting average and 159 strikeouts in 105.2 innings, and his stuff is absolutely electric. His primary combination consists of a fastball that reached 97 mph last season and a mid-80s slider that had a 41% whiff rate, but he’ll also show a usable mid-to-high-80s changeup.
The Seminoles will be the favorite every Friday night with Arnold on the mound.
Freshman of the Year: Rintaro Sasaki, 1B, Stanford
Rintaro Sasaki is one of the most famous freshmen ever to set foot on a college campus, after breaking Shohei Ohtani’s Japanese high school home run record, among many other records during his storied prep career. A 6-foot, 289-pound tank with elite lefthanded power that plays to all fields, Sasaki will have to shoulder the weight of expectations and media attention, but he should be plenty used to that by now.
If he’s as good as his legend, he has a chance to post one of the great freshman seasons in college baseball history. That’s a lot to put on a freshman who is adjusting to a new culture on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, but Rintaro might just be that good.
Additionally, no returning player hit more than eight homers a year ago, making Sasaki’s addition even more helpful.
