Florida State’s season was a lesson in resiliency but also a disappointment.
First, the good: The Seminoles won eight regular-season ACC series, finished in the top four of the ACC standings, a top-10 RPI team and earned the opportunity to be one of 16 regional hosts. Despite all of the injuries, the Seminoles finished with 40 wins.
Wes Mendes was the ACC’s pitcher of the year, John Abraham was one of the nation’s top relievers, the Seminoles had the No. 2 ERA in the conference and Myles Bailey’s power was on display with 13 home runs through 26 games (among the best in the nation until his injury).
A few pitchers performed their best in May, notably Trey Beard and Bryson Moore. There was also quality development of players like freshman John Stuetzer, Brody DeLamielleure was red-hot in April and May and, yes, we won’t soon forget Ben Barrett’s late-season and late-career shift to hitting. Southern Cal transfer Brayden Dowd was FSU’s most consistent hitter (10 home runs, 52 runs scored and 51 walks in 51 games).
Next, the not so good: Any ball hit to the left side of the infield was an adventure. FSU’s fielding percentage was the lowest of the four teams in the Tallahassee Regional, and the season-ending error total (64) for 2026 was far higher than an exceptional fielding team from 2025 (39). A lineup that wasn’t consistent with Bailey was a struggle to fill out top to bottom, with Link Jarrett trying a variety of combinations in April and May. There were injuries to just about every position player besides Cal Fisher, which contributed to the lineup shuffling.
FSU didn’t get enough mileage out of Eli Putnam at second base or first base (he finished with nine home runs but a .226 batting average). Fisher’s best weekend came in the regional, but he also struggled (.246, five home runs, 31 RBI) although he ended up starting in all 59 of FSU’s games. Among Seminoles who played 50 or more games, catcher Hunter Carns had the highest batting average (.303).
Let’s unpack a few thoughts on the 2026 season before we look at building the 2027 roster.
FSU was built well on mound but not at the plate
Jarrett said in the preseason that FSU's strength was in its starting pitching and Bailey. He felt good about the bullpen depth and it was a matter of slotting hitters around Bailey.
Starting pitching was indeed a strength. The weekend rotation of Mendes, Beard and Moore won't go down as one of FSU's best but the group was effective enough. And you don't produce eight ACC series wins without either production at the plate or quality pitching. Toward the end of the year, it was clear FSU didn't have enough reliable arms in the bullpen and leaned on a smaller number of options.
Jarrett takes pride in finding top-notch defensive players, and we've absolutely seen it with teams like the one in 2025. If teams are judged by how well they play defensively up the middle (catcher, shortstop, second base and center field), FSU had quality defense from Carter McCulley at second and Dowd in center. But there were far too many errors and catching was a liability.
As a recruiter, Jarrett wants to know that a prospect can play "championship" defense at one position on the field. Or more than one position. How much "championship" defense did we really see in 2026? At times, we saw it. But not consistently.
Jarrett also often admitted that there were too many right-handed hitters in FSU's lineup. With Bailey out, the only lefties in the lineup with regularity were Dowd, Gabe Fraser and at times Chase Williams (although Williams late in the year was not a regular and more of a pinch-runner).
The regional was far from FSU’s best weekend but reflected the season
FSU was often a team that showed bad process but good results. The Seminoles won games despite their deficiencies in the field and often an inability to hit with runners on base or in scoring position.
There was an intriguing debate over who to start in the regional opener against the No. 4 seed, St. John's. An argument to start Mendes, Beard or Moore are valid. My choice would have been Beard for six or more innings, but FSU didn't lose with Moore on the mound for five. It was the lineup that fell short with runners on base and with Abraham and Chris Knier struggling with their control against the Red Storm.
It's unfortunate that FSU's top asset, the starting rotation, only pitched 13 innings in the regional. With the rain delays, Mendes only pitched four innings. Beard was a relief ace with nine strikeouts in four innings as FSU eliminated Coastal Carolina.
But it underscored a few issues. FSU earned the right to host a regional yet squandered the advantage by dropping the opening game. There's no point in blaming the rain delays, but those didn't help the Seminoles and all of the strategic moves went for naught with Monday afternoon’s elimination. Losing twice to St. John’s is a rough end to 2026.
Thoughts on how the 2027 roster could shape up
In a worst-case scenario, the majority of FSU's top players depart for the MLB draft and won't be on the 2027 team: Bailey, Dowd, Mendes, Beard, Abraham, Carns and DeLamielleure are among those who are draft-eligible.
There's little to stop a number of them from taking the pro route. That's the ballgame.
Bailey could work out for MLB scouts, listen to offers and see where he's selected. If MLB teams aren't willing to take Bailey in the first few rounds, Jarrett and the Seminoles should make a considerable financial offer for Bailey to return. He would be the best player on the Seminoles in 2027. He could be the best player in the transfer portal should he choose to pursue a massive payday.
A team with Bailey is intriguing, no doubt. If he departs, FSU could shift money to ensure that Stuetzer returns. Do coaches entertain thoughts of moving Carns to first base? Will Bavaro started at third base and could return in that spot in 2026. Can FSU keep Payton Manca, Knier or Brodie Purcell?
FSU has already seen four hitters — Kelvyn Paulino Jr., Noah Sheffield, Chase Williams and Charlie Buckles — enter the transfer portal. Paulino would be a fit at a corner infield spot, while Sheffield and Williams were outfield options. Jarrett cited Buckles as an example of a freshman who would have earned playing time if the five-for-five eligibility rule were in place in 2026.
The Osceola has not yet done a deep dive on FSU’s freshmen and junior-college signees, but those players could be drafted in mid-July and never reach campus. That's if they prefer to sign and earn a signing bonus vs. enroll in school. Among those to watch are Landon Thome, the son of longtime MLB star Jim Thome.
This is where the college baseball calendar is bizarre. And it's something every coach must face, but it seems unreasonable.
While coaches seek to retain players in early June as seasons wrap up, the portal opened up on Monday — hours before the final out of the FSU-St. John's game. The portal is open through June 30.
Jarrett and the FSU staff must have serious conversations with current players, transfers and incoming freshmen — all of them thinking they are in line for playing time and likely wanting a piece of the revenue sharing money and NIL opportunities for the year ahead. And the FSU staff must also project who will be drafted off the current team, which transfers could be drafted as well as the freshmen and juinor-college players who also could be drafted.
Hello, white board. Hello, dry erase markers.
The calendar likely doesn't work in its current form. Perhaps the MLB Draft should move all the way up to take place right before the College World Series but not during postseason games so that it's a distraction. It's tough to know where the right time is, but it feels like June is chaotic but could be improved by shifting the draft back into June.
“The calendar, the landscape is almost unthinkably difficult as to what we have to deal with in baseball with the portal opening today (Monday),” Jarrett said an hour after FSU’s season ended. “Somebody told me there's thousands of players in it today. Then the draft in mid-July. Are we talking 9, 10, 11, 12, how many of these guys? In all of my imagination of what it would be like to coach. Never could you dream of this is where it's landed in terms of trying to construct a roster to produce a functional team.”
That's what makes projecting the 2027 roster so difficult. It's an exercise in frustration to try and contemplate the numerous variables, whether we do it on paper, in our heads or on a white board.
