TCU begins baseball practice with high rankings, expectations

Friday is the first day of baseball practice for TCU, and everyone will enjoy it — but few as much as coach Jim Schlossnagle.

“I always say practice is for the coaches, the games are for the players,” he said. “I’m excited. I’m an education major. I’m a teacher at heart. I like working on the team, putting together the things you need to get better at.”

That list probably isn’t as long for TCU as it is for many teams. The Horned Frogs are coming off a College World Series appearance and return a top-flight starter, Preston Morrison, and closer, Riley Ferrell. They are a veteran group with eight seniors that also added one of the country’s most coveted recruits, catcher Evan Skoug.

TCU will open the season Feb. 13 ranked No. 2 in Collegiate Baseball’s poll, No. 3 in the Perfect Game poll and No. 8 in the D1Baseball poll. The coaches, writers and Baseball America rankings have not been released.

The Frogs are flattered, but there’s work to do first.

“It kind of gives us a bearing on where we’re at, but it’s before the season. We haven’t done anything yet,” Ferrell said. “This team hasn’t done anything yet. Yeah, we have guys back, but this team hasn’t done anything yet.”

Schlossnagle isn’t sidestepping the expectations for the Horned Frogs. But the preseason ranking hasn’t won him a game yet, either.

“I think that’s way too high,” Schlossnagle said of the No. 2 spot. “I think most coaches would say that. When you just look on paper, when you return most of the pitching staff that led the country in ERA, you’re at least going to be in the mix. But we have so many question marks, as most teams do, offensively and defensively, behind the plate.

“I’m confident, but I don’t know.”

Friday, the work begins on those question marks.

This story was originally published January 22, 2015 at 12:42 PM with the headline "TCU begins baseball practice with high rankings, expectations."