Why Stanford Baseball is in Good Shape for the Future

Going into the season, confidence was sky high that the Stanford Cardinal would return to prominence and get back to the postseason after a one season absence. But that has not gone as planned.

In addition to barely hanging around .500, the Cardinal have struggled mightily in ACC play, currently possessing a meager 9-18 conference record. And while hopes for the postseason are pretty much crushed in 2025, fans should be very confident about the direction of this team.

Not only was this the first season in a new conference for the Cardinal, but when you combine that with the amount of young players they are using, the struggles this season should come as no surprise.

While a handful of the lineup is made up of veterans, such as senior Temo Becerra, senior Trevor Haskins, junior Jimmy Nati and junior Ethan Hott, among others, the Cardinal are also relying on a bunch of freshman this season, most notably Japanese import, Rintaro Sasaki.

And for a guy like Sasaki, adjusting to the American game comes with a learning curve. After starting the season off slow, Sasaki finally found his groove and is hitting .270 on the year.

With Sasaki not eligible for the MLB Draft until 2026, the Cardinal will not only get him back next season, but having a full year of experience in college baseball under his belt could be a recipe for a major step forward.

In general, relying a lot on young players can be tough, and in the case of this season, winning a lot of games can be hard. But with all those guys a year older next season and fully adjusted to the college game, the Cardinal could see a lot of those guys take a massive step forward and not only take on bigger roles, but key factors in helping Stanford baseball improve.

A guy like Tatum Marsh for example, will most likely be one of the core players next season, and could be in line for a breakout sophomore campaign.

Pitching wise, the Cardinal have been very unlucky. Most of the time the pitching staff is very strong, but this season they have experienced some major trouble. The starter trio of Joey Volchko, Matt Scott and Christian Lim, while expected to be backbone of the club this season, have struggled to adapt to the ACC landscape a little bit, with all three of them posting career highs in ERA.

But, with Volchko and Lim being sophomores, the pair will have the opportunity to come back next season knowing what to expect from the conference and could look to adjust accordingly. Matt Scott has been on MLB draft boards all season long, and is currently projected around the third round, though at times before the season, he was ranked in the first.

Scott could also choose to return for one more year, if he slides in the draft and feels that he could improve his stock in 2026.

There is no way to predict exactly how good of shape the Stanford baseball program is in, but with the amount of young players that they invested in and now knowing what to expect in the ACC, next season will be all about putting everything together in the hopes that the results start to show.