With Armani Guzman Back, WVU Could Have Nation's Fastest Outfield in 2027

A pitcher's nightmare on the bases, and a pitcher's best friend out in the field. West Virginia has elite speed in its outfield.

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West Virginia received huge news over the weekend that outfielder/first baseman Armani Guzman would be returning to the Mountaineers in 2027. It's a huge boost for a team that will be looking to accomplish another first — reach the College World Series in consecutive seasons.

While Guzman is a huge shot in the arm for the Mountaineers, the 30,000-foot view of this thing is that WVU could have one of the fastest outfields in the entire country. Even if he did get picked and signed, the speed in the Mountaineers' outfield would still be among the very best in college baseball, but Guzman's return takes it to a whole other level.

In addition to Guzman, the Mountaineers will have Le Moyne transfer Jack Cannon, likely patrolling right field, and, believe it or not, he had more steals than Guzman in 2025. Cannon, as a matter of fact, had the second-most steals in college baseball with 51.

The other outfield spot, I assume, will be between Seth Williams (Galveston College transfer) and Chase Ecker (William & Mary transfer), with Maxwell Molessa and incoming freshman Henkel Acevedo lurking in the background, pushing for playing time.

Williams swiped 13 bags at the JUCO level last season and is 27/32 in his career. He has some pop in his bat as well, bashing a dozen long balls and 15 two-baggers. Ecker, meanwhile, was a perfect 27/27 on steal attempts this season, but does need to increase his .244 batting average and .320 on-base percentage.

A pitcher's best friend

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Naturally, we're all geared to think about how this impacts the offense. But the former pitcher in me is thinking, "Man, this is an absolute dream" for the pitchers on West Virginia's staff. Shots to the gap can get cut off, limiting hitters to singles, fly balls that look like gappers can be caught, and because of the speed, there won't be a whole lot of first to third or second to home action, because they'll have to respect the outfield's speed to make a play on the ball in the air before committing to advance.

Because of all of the speed and options Steve Sabins has, it could allow him to get creative with his defensive alignments and perhaps keep Guzman in the infield for some games. More often than not, though, I would expect him to anchor down centerfield, which Sabins had mentioned numerous times is where he projects best at the next level.