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Bobby Peirce returning to Auburn baseball for 2024 season

20200517_134556by:Justin Rudolph•07/14/23
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HOOVER, AL - MAY 23: Auburn Tigers outfielder Bobby Peirce (27) during the 2023 SEC Baseball Tournament game between the Missouri Tigers and the Auburn Tigers on May 23, 2023 at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama. (Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire)

Auburn Tigers baseball is getting a huge offensive, and outfield boost back for the 2024 season. Recently outfielder Bobby ‘Barrels’ Peirce announced he was returning to the program for one last season. After making his intentions known, the Tigers outfielder had this to say about his decision.

“I think this team has a chance to do something special this year, and I wanted to be a part of it,” said Peirce via Twitter. “The momentum and energy surrounding Auburn baseball has never been higher, and I can’t wait to leave it all on the field for one last season. War Eagle!”

Unfortunately, in the 2023 MLB draft Peirce would go undrafted due to likely medical concerns surrounding a melody of injuries he has had to deal with during his college playing days. Still, while battling through injuries, Peirce played in 46 games for Auburn, tallying 181 at bats, and finished the season with a .343 batting average. He’d go on to finish the year with 62 hits, 43 runs, with 26 RBIs, and four stolen bases.

Auburn ace returning to the program too

The Tigers’ right-handed pitcher Joseph Gonzalez is also returning to the teams, after he to went undrafted in the 2023 MLB Draft.

Last season for Auburn, Gonzalez played and started in just one game: a victory against the Big Ten’s Indiana Hoosiers. He shut out Indiana in five innings of play, allowing just two hits against the 16 batters he faced before being sidelined with a shoulder injury.

His last full season at Auburn was in 2022, when he was the Tigers’ lead man on the mound during their run to the 2022 College World Series. That season, Gonzalez played in 15 games, starting 14 of them with a record of 7-4. Gonzalez finished the year with a 3.22 era and 78.1 innings of play, striking out 54, walking 15, and giving up eight home runs on the season.

MLB.com has Gonzalez ranked as the No. 235 overall prospect ahead of the 2023 MLB Draft. According to their scouting report, the Tigers’ right-handed pitcher has tremendous upside, which he displayed last season going toe to toe with potential first-rounders in this year’s draft. Unfortunately, injury this season has made him more of a wild card.