Major League Baseball announced the MLB4 tournament, which featured some of the best players at the collegiate level. The tournament was held at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, the shared home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies. Since the tournament was in the opening season of college baseball, we were treated to fresh talents and exceptional performances. Let’s recap the top performers of the 2022 MLB4.
Participants
The MLB4 was held concurrently with the Andre Dawn Classic, and there were limited teams to participate in either tournament. Vwin review of the selected teams that featured in the MLB4 include:
- The University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, Calif.) – 1st appearance
- University of Houston (Houston, Texas) – 1st appearance
- Texas Christian University (Fort Worth, Texas) – 2nd appearance; 2019 and 2022
- San Diego State University (San Diego, Calif.) – 1st appearance
Notable absentees include Vanderbilt University and the University of Michigan. In every sense, TCU’s match against San Diego was competitive, ending 2-1 in favor of TCU. The Cals vs. University of Houston game had its own highlights.
Top Performances
TCU vs. San Diego
San Diego was without starting pitcher Troy Melton, who was out with soreness. San Diego responded with left-handed pitcher TJ Fondtain. In recent years, TCU has suffered against left-handed pitchers.
However, on this occasion, lady luck or skill was with Kirk Saarloos’ men as Braydon Taylor responded with a double off the wall. TCU registered a crucial inning against a left-handed pitcher, which is one for their own picture books.
The Aztecs, too, were in fine form in the tightly contested game. The Aztecs scored three runs while the TCU Horned Frogs made the mistake of the year by clogging up their bases with runners. Marcelo Perez locked down San Diego, giving TCU the chance to ante up the game in the 9th.
The standout performers for the game were Krob (4 innings) and Perez (2 innings).
TCU vs. University of California
Right fielder Dylan Beavers, presumably MLB’s first draft option, scored the lone run in the 4th inning and stepped up in the 6th. Almost single-handedly, he cut TCU’s lead, but coach Kirk called on Caleb Bolden, who tried to keep TCU in the game. Bolden was the stellar performer in game 2.
Other Key Players
Houston right-handed pitcher Nathan Medrano retired nine batters from the Cals. He also shut down much of the California offense and had three hits and a walk, which is impressive for a debutant.
Caden Miller, the Aztec sophomore, still had his tempo from 2021. Miller scored some runs and had a game-tying RBI in the 5th inning.
Cal right-handed pitcher Josh White registered the most strikeouts (10) in any MLB tournament. The Pitcher was in the thick of things for Cal’s 4-2 win over Houston. Josh White will be looking to build on his exceptional performance, and the Golden Bears coach Mike Neu recognizes that. Neu hailed White’s performance as “unbelievable.”
Conclusion
The MLB4 was once again a show of talent. TCU and Cals had many standout performances, but neither of the four teams was short of talent. The standout performers in this write-up may just grace our screen in the MLB once again.