Four Arizona players were named to the inaugural preseason All-Pac-12 baseball team, while the Wildcats were picked to finish fourth in a poll of the league's coaches.
The four players on the preseason all-conference team are outfielder Chase Davis, shortstop Nik McClaughry and right-handers Trevor Long and TJ Nichols.
Davis is also a consensus preseason All-American heading into his junior year. He slugged a team-leading 18 home runs as a sophomore with a .289/.414/.583 slash line. He is projected to be taken in the top three rounds of the 2023 MLB draft.
McClaughry is one of the premier defensive shortstops in the nation. He had a conference-high 189 assists last season and participated in 40 of the Wildcats' league-best 57 double plays.
Long went 6-3 with a 3.68 ERA and a team-high seven saves last season. After serving as the team's primary closer in 2022, Long could be used in a variety of roles this year.
Nichols went 6-4 with a 5.50 ERA as the main Friday-night starter. He had 84 strikeouts in 88⅓ innings. Like Davis, Nichols also is projected to be picked in the first three rounds of the '23 draft.
Arizona placed behind Stanford, UCLA and Oregon State in the coaches' poll. The Cardinal, who are ranked fourth nationally by Baseball America, received nine of 11 first-place votes. UCLA, which is ranked 12th nationally, received two.
The Wildcats went 39-25 (16-14 Pac-12) in Chip Hale's first season as head coach. They open the '23 campaign on Feb. 17 against No. 2 Tennessee in the MLB Desert Invitational in Scottsdale.
The University of Arizona once had a live "Wildcat" mascot; however, the current mascot ─ with a few changes that include wife, Wilma, along the way ─ Wilbur the Wildcat has been a favorite around Tucson for more than 60 years.
