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Preseason Top 25: No. 6 Sarasota

January 29, 2016

By Justin Burgess
Florida Area Scout

In wrapping up the fourth week of the preseason top 25 teams, we are now well into the top ten and next week will feature the top five teams. Yesterday’s article presented Jesuit, a 5A school, who has an impressive pitching staff that will likely lead them to a state tournament. The team highlighted today, who comes in at number six, also has a deep pitching rotation and probably has an even more explosive lineup.

The Sarasota Sailors are a decorated program that boasts multiple state championships, national championships, and current well-known major leaguers. The Sailors will be looking to get back to prominence with a 2016 7A state championship. This classification looks it will be difficult to escape out of all four regions and make it to the state tournament. That being said, Sarasota looks like they will be one of the four teams to make it to Ft. Myers and may have the best chance of winning the title.

One of their top arms will be 2016 RHP/SS Nick Long. The Florida Signee can run his fastball up to 92 mph and he shows off a big curveball with a loose arm and easy delivery. Long can also swing the bat and will probably hit somewhere in the middle of the order for the Sailors. Another senior who will be a vital arm for Sarasota is RHP Andrew Jones. Jones, a Florida Atlantic Signee, possesses a big frame at 6-foot-5, 220 pounds and he sits 87-91 mph with his fastball. 2017 RHP Anthony Espinal will also play a major role in their rotation. The Miami-Dade commit can run his fastball up to 89-90 mph with an easy and loose delivery. Espinal stands at 6-foot-3 with a long frame that suggests his velocity will increase as he gets older.

As for their position players, their offense will most likely be led by 2016 2B Nick Derr. The Florida State Signee transferred to Sarasota from IMG Academy just this year and he is one of the top infielders in the state. Derr will likely hit leadoff or third for the Sailors and he has the potential to have a three or four hit game on any given night. Another infielder who will help out both the offense and defense is 2017 MIF Alex Arauz. Arauz really made a name for himself last season as a sophomore and will be looking to have a breakout junior campaign. Arauz is also one of the top uncommitted players in the 2017 class in Florida.

As for their schedule and playoff picture, they will have deal with Lakewood Ranch and Gulf Coast in their district—two solid teams who are always competitive. In their region they will likely face East Lake or Atlantic. East Lake will be able to match up with them in terms of pitching, but does not have Sarasota’s offense, and Atlantic boasts one of the top pitchers in the state in 2017 LHP Jake Eder. The Sailors also lost in the 7A state championship last season and will certainly use that as motivation to try to win a ring in 2016.