With a little more than a week left until the 2026 baseball season begins at Texas A&M, where the Aggies take on Tennessee Tech on Friday, Feb. 13, expectations for second-year head coach Michael Earley are lowered, but the pressure on his future coaching will only increase after a disastrous end to the 2025 season.
Facing multiple injuries, including star outfielder Kaden Sorrell missing the early part of the 2025 season, and infielder Gavin Grahovac missing the entire season, the Aggies struggled to find any consistency at the plate, and the pitching rotation, especially the bullpen, was a major liability in SEC play, leading to several close losses down to the final at-bat of that game.
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After losing several veteran starters in the 2025 MLB Draft, headlined by Jace LaViolette being selected in the first round by the Cleveland Guard, as well as starting pitchers Ryan Prager and Justin Lamkin, Michael Earley immediately went to work retaining Caden Sorrell, Gavin Grahovac Grahovac, standout freshman Terrence Kiel, and brought in elite MLB-level talent from the transfer portal, including Maryland transfer SS Chris Hacopian.
However, Texas A&M’s 2026 starting rotation on the mound has yet to be announced, and in addition to Sean Stalls and Weston Moss, Kaden McCoy’s season-ending injury derailed Earley’s original plans and will now be filled by one of the program’s younger players.
Looking at the rankings, last season’s start as the No. 1 team was disastrous: the team went 30-26 and 11-19 in SEC play, and Texas A&M missed the NCAA tournament for the first time in nearly 20 seasons. This year, only D1 Baseball has the Aggies in its preseason top 25, and on Tuesday, A&M was not included in the 2026-2027 USA TODAY Sports Baseball Coaches Poll, but did receive 38 votes to rank No. 29.
That’s to be expected and could be good news for a team that needs to be at full strength and Michael Earley needs to further prove he’s the right man for the job.
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USA TODAY Sports Baseball Coaches Poll
|
1 |
Louisiana State University |
0-0 |
Chapter 733 |
15 |
NR |
– |
1/1 |
|
2 |
UCLA |
0-0 |
Chapter 724 |
14 |
NR |
– |
2/2 |
|
3 |
Texas |
0-0 |
Chapter 635 |
0 |
NR |
– |
3/3 |
|
4 |
Georgia Institute of Technology |
0-0 |
Chapter 596 |
0 |
NR |
– |
4/4 |
|
5 |
Arkansas |
0-0 |
Chapter 582 |
0 |
NR |
– |
5/5 |
|
6 |
mississippi |
0-0 |
Chapter 574 |
1 |
NR |
– |
6/6 |
|
7 |
coastal carolina |
0-0 |
503 |
0 |
NR |
– |
7/7 |
|
8 |
North Carolina |
0-0 |
Chapter 490 |
0 |
NR |
– |
8/8 |
|
9 |
Auburn |
0-0 |
Chapter 462 |
0 |
NR |
– |
9/9 |
|
10 |
TCCU |
0-0 |
Chapter 449 |
0 |
NR |
– |
10/10 |
|
11 |
Louisville |
0-0 |
Chapter 438 |
0 |
NR |
– |
11/11 |
|
12 |
oregon |
0-0 |
Chapter 429 |
0 |
NR |
– |
12/12 |
|
13 |
Georgia |
0-0 |
400 |
0 |
NR |
– |
13/13 |
|
14 |
Florida |
0-0 |
Chapter 391 |
0 |
NR |
– |
14/14 |
|
15 |
tennessee |
0-0 |
Chapter 384 |
0 |
NR |
– |
15/15 |
|
16 |
Florida |
0-0 |
269 |
0 |
NR |
– |
16/16 |
|
No. 17 |
Clemson |
0-0 |
236 |
0 |
NR |
– |
17/17 |
|
18 |
Vanderbilt |
0-0 |
203 |
0 |
NR |
– |
18/18 |
|
19 |
North Carolina |
0-0 |
181 |
0 |
NR |
– |
19/19 |
|
20 |
southern miss |
0-0 |
154 |
0 |
NR |
– |
20/20 |
|
twenty one |
Miami (Florida) |
0-0 |
140 |
0 |
NR |
– |
21/21 |
|
twenty two |
virginia |
0-0 |
101 |
0 |
NR |
– |
22/22 |
|
twenty three |
oregon |
0-0 |
100 |
0 |
NR |
– |
23/23 |
|
twenty four |
Arizona |
0-0 |
98 |
0 |
NR |
– |
24/24 |
|
25 |
wake forest university |
0-0 |
93 |
0 |
NR |
– |
25/25 |
Others receive votes
Kentucky 92; Ole Miss 59; West Virginia 42; Texas A&M 38; Oklahoma 28; East Carolina 25; Dallas Baptist 19; UC Irvine 13; Kansas State 11; Murray State 7; Arizona State 7; USC 6; UC Santa Barbara 6; Duke 6; Alabama 6; Troy 5; Oklahoma State 5; UTSA 4; Northeast 2; Nebraska 1; Connecticut 1; Cal State Fullerton 1; Bethune-Cookman 1;
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M earns 38 votes in USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll
