With baseball season eight days away in the Southeastern Conference, the coaches have come to a decision.
SEC coaches voted Auburn sophomore pitcher Tanner Burns to the first team while picking the Tigers to finish seventh in the conference and fourth in the SEC West.
Burns, a Cullman, Alabama, product, was Auburn's Day 3 pitcher last season as a freshman All-American and member of the 2018 freshman All-SEC team. Burns joins Kentucky's Zack Thompson on the preseason first team.
Last season, Burns turned in a 3.01 ERA with a 7-4 record. His strikeout total of 77 ranked second on the team behind would-be No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize, and was the most by an Auburn freshman since 2008.
Tigers junior infielder Will Holland, who has picked up several preseason All-American honors recently and projects as a top-10 prospect for the MLB Draft, was left off the All-SEC teams.
2019 SEC BASEBALL COACHES PRESEASON POLL
Eastern Division
1. Vanderbilt (9) – 87
2. Florida (4) – 81
3. Georgia (1) – 68
4. South Carolina – 53
5. Tennessee – 40
6. Kentucky – 30
7. Missouri – 26
Western Division
1. LSU (10) – 88
2. Ole Miss (1) – 65
3. Arkansas (1) – 59
4. Auburn (1) – 57
5. Texas A&M (1) – 48
6. Mississippi State – 47
7. Alabama – 21
SEC Champion: Vanderbilt (6), LSU (5), Florida (2), Arkansas (1)
2018 SEC BASEBALL COACHES PRESEASON ALL-SEC TEAMS
First Team
C: Philip Clarke, Vanderbilt
1B: Cole Zabowski, Ole Miss
2B: Austin Martin, Vanderbilt*
2B: Noah Campbell, South Carolina*
3B: Aaron Schunk, Georgia
SS: Casey Martin, Arkansas
OF: Heston Kjerstad, Arkansas
OF: Dominic Fletcher, Arkansas
OF: Jake Mangum, Mississippi State
DH/UTL: T.J. Collett, Kentucky
SP: Tanner Burns, Auburn
SP: Zack Thompson, Kentucky
RP: Matt Cronin, Arkansas
Second Team
C: Mason Meadows, Georgia
1B: Tanner Allen, Mississippi State
2B: LJ Talley, Georgia
3B: Tyler Keenan, Ole Miss
SS: Braden Shewmake, Texas A&M
OF: JJ Bleday, Vanderbilt
OF: Antoine Duplantis, LSU
OF: Daniel Cabrera, LSU
DH/UTL: Aaron Schunk, Georgia*
DH/UTL: Chase Cockrell, Ole Miss*
SP: John Doxakis, Texas A&M
SP: Tyler Dyson, Florida
RP: Parker Caracci, Ole Miss
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Nathan King, senior in journalism with a minor in business, is The Plainsman's sports editor.
