Mississippi State Baseball Players Recognized in D1Baseball Positional Rankings

We're only three days from the start of the 2016 college baseball season, and D1Baseball is rolling out its position rankings leading up to Friday. Multiple diamond dogs have been recognized among the best at their respective positions.

Jared Padgett, Ethan Small, and Kale Breaux -- all freshman lefties -- were named top 100 freshmen prospects on Monday. All three will have the opportunity to make an impact out of the pen for MSU with Small possibly starting midweek games from time to time.

Two junior college players received recognition before ever playing their first games in an MSU uniform. Jack Kruger -- who John Cohen said was one of the top hitters on the club -- was named the No. 44 catcher in the country. He'll chip in to help freshman Elih Marrero behind the plate and also likely play some DH as well. Nathaniel Lowe, who tore the cover off the ball in spring scrimmages, was named the No. 29 first baseman in college baseball. He will anchor the middle of MSU's lineup and provide plenty of pop from the left side.

Pitching, outfield and other infield rankings are yet to be released but I expect several diamond dogs to be recognized there as well.  Dakota Hudson was named a second-team All-American on January 25.

The site will also release a projected field of 64 and predict regional hosts for the NCAA tournament. I'll update that along with the rest of the positional rankings that include MSU players.

The Bulldogs are ranked No. 15 in D1Baseball's top 25. That's one of the main polls we will follow throughout the season as it is a very credible site with excellent staff such as Kendall Rogers and Aaron Fitt.