10 Things for Tuesday
Here’s your SEC Media Days edition of TTFT, live from Atlanta:
1. It’s hard to overstate just how important the return of Shane Sdao is for the Aggie baseball program. Before he got hurt in 2024, he was pitching as well as anyone on the team, including All-American Ryan Prager. He brings a power arm from the left side and slots in immediately as a Friday night starter. With Weston Moss, new transfer Carson Bailey and Gavin Lyons, the Aggies could already have their starting rotation set.
2. In a surprise move, Travis Chestnut has returned to the Aggie baseball program after a year away. He apparently got his waiver and will return for a final season in 2026. Chestnut doesn’t have a clear path to a starting job with Ben Royo at second and Terrence Kiel II in center, but he’s a Swiss Army knife who can run and brings the kind of leadership winning teams need. He and former coach Jim Schlossnagle did not get along at all, but Chestnut was a key piece in A&M’s run to Omaha two seasons ago. The fact Schlossnagle didn’t like him speaks well of Chestnut, in my opinion.
3. After seeing a team built around power stumble last year, Michael Earley is taking a very different approach as he builds his 2026 team. This team is certainly built more on contact and putting the ball in play than it is looking for the one big swing. It has plenty of power with Caden Sorrell, a healthy Gavin Grahovac, Bear Harrison and new arrival Chris Hacopian, but the other new arrivals are all about making contact. In 138 at-bats last year, outfielder Jake Duer struck out 10 times. Maddox Latta struck out 31 times in 249 plate appearances while walking 39 times. Hacopian, who had an OPS of 1.158 and hit 14 homers last year, struck out just 19 times in 249 plate appearances (192 at-bats) and walked 40 times. The Aggies had countless rallies killed by a lack of contact last season. This crew looks like it should be much improved when it comes to putting the bat on the ball.
4. I raised a few eyebrows last night when I put Gavin Grahovac at first base in a projected 2026 lineup in Monday Thoughts (hint, hint, you non-subscribers. Get a week for $1). Here’s why I think that could and quite possibly will happen: A&M has gone out and picked up two infielders who specialize on the left side (i.e. shortstop and third base). Ben Royo is back and Travis Chestnut returns, so there’s two second basemen, which gives you the idea Latta isn’t coming to Aggieland to play second. I haven’t even mentioned Sawyer Farr, who was a shortstop before he was made into an emergency outfielder last year.
And then there’s first base, which right now is…not looking so hot, let’s just say that. But, lo! There is a guy who hit nearly .300 with 23 home runs and 66 RBI as a true freshman in 2024! And that is why I see Gavin Grahovac at first base in 2026.
5. We’re well into SEC Media Days here in Atlanta, so I have a few observations on teams A&M will play this fall. The first is Shane Beamer and South Carolina. LaNorris Sellers proved me and a lot of other people wrong with his play last year. But they are weak right up the middle on defense, an area where they were really good last year. At the moment, they’ve got Gabe Dindy, a guy I loved but never got on the field at A&M, projected as a starter at defensive tackle. I know Beamer thinks they have talent, but when you look at the places they’re lacking, it’s the big guys on the interior of both lines. That can be a real problem in the SEC, where you know they want to run.
6. There is a ton of hype surrounding LSU going into this season, which isn’t a surprise. That happens every year. But I’m really curious about their offensive line. They could throw a homegrown line out there with redshirt freshmen and sophomores, but they’re all very inexperienced. I am voting Garrett Nussmeier as my first team All-SEC quarterback, but we saw last year what happens when he faces pressure. It ain’t good.
7. One thing Kelly said yesterday was that he was really pleased to snag former A&M tight end Donovan Green, who transferred after last season. Kelly said that Green has only had good things to say about Mike Elko and his staff, which is something pretty rare for a guy who transfers in this day and age.
8. Credit where it is due, Texas DB Michael Taaffe is a standup guy for doing this.
9. And someone is in need of a job.
10. There are rumors about Shemar Stewart rejoining the Aggies this season as his standoff with the Cincinnati Bengals continues. Don’t count on a return happening. He would need a waiver from the NCAA to do it and he would be the first football player to ever declare, hire an agent, get drafted, not sign, come back to school and be eligible. He does have a year of eligibility left, theoretically, but we’re talking about zero precedent as far as a player in Stewart’s situation returning to college.
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An Austin native, Brent lives in Round Rock where he and his wife have raised four boys. Brent works for Don Quick and Associates, Inc. in Round Rock, TX and can be reached at [email protected].
