Cardinal Have Two Players Named to Preseason All-American List

Stanford will enter its first season in the ACC with some headlining players. With the 2025 season fast approaching, it is almost time for teams to begin preparing for a long season ahead, with many programs such as the Cardinal eager to make a mark on their new conferences.

For Stanford, it will enter a new conference with its pitching staff as its backbone, with right-handers Matt Scott and Joey Volchko receiving preseason All-American honors.

Earning third team honors from Perfect Game, the two flamethrowers are expected to be relied upon heavily to lead the staff this year, with the ACC housing some of college baseball's toughest opponents.

Scott, who was often used as the Cardinal's Friday starter last year, is coming off of a 2024 campaign in which he went 4-10 with a 5.96 ERA, but led the Pac-12 with 103 strikeouts, while finishing 41st in the nation in that category. Managing a 2.86 strikeout: walk ratio, Scott he averaged nearly 12 strikeouts per nine.

Volchko, who bounced between starter and reliever last year, ended the season possessing a 2-1 record with a 5.70 ERA and recorded one save while striking out 53 batters over 42 2/3 innings pitched. Making 20 appearances, Volchko started six games during his freshman year and showed that he can be a reliable presence for the foreseeable future. Averaging around 11 strikeouts per nine, Volchko limited his opponents to around a .250 batting average.

He also spent some time in the Cape Cod League, where his bloated eight walks per nine average during the college season came down to 6.2 per nine, while his strikeout rate went from 11.2 to 13.7 across 19 innings. He also posted a much improved 2.37 ERA in the summer league.

After last year, both players opted to work on improving their game over the summer by playing for the USA Collegiate National Team. During that time, Volchko notched one start where he allowed one run on one hit while striking out seven batters in four innings. Scott also made an appearance, pitching four scoreless innings against Chinese Taipei on July 3.

With the season beginning on February 14, the time is now of the essence for the Cardinal, who are looking to rebound after finishing 22-33 in 2024. Prior to that, the Cardinal made three consecutive trips to the College World Series, winning a conference title in 2022 and a regular season title in 2023.

In addition to these two preseason All Americans, Stanford will also welcome one of the most talked about players in all of college baseball, Rintaro Sasaki, who was just named Baseball America's top freshman heading into the season.

He is a trailblazer of sorts, forgoing playing in the NPB in order to enroll in college in the United States. This will allow him to declare to the MLB Draft after three seasons, which he is hoping streamlines his path to the big leagues.