This is part two of our TCU Horned Frogs baseball preview series.

The TCU Horned Frogs enter the 2026 season with high expectations. A team boasting three reigning All-Big 12 players has a target on its back on the conference and national levels after reaching regionals last year for the 18th time in the last 21 postseasons. The Frogs are preseason favorites to win the conference in the 2026 Big 12 Baseball Preseason Poll conducted by league coaches, receiving 13 of 14 first-place votes.   

The Rookie and the Vet 

One of the most important relationships in baseball is the chemistry between the middle infielders.    

True freshman shortstop Lucas Franco told assembled media that, “expectations are a distraction.” He’ll have to find a way to manage them, as he was selected preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year. The Katy, Texas, product attended Cinco Ranch High School and was the No. 5 prospect in the state of Texas according to Perfect Game. The 6-foot-3 left-handed hitting shortstop hit .413 his senior year with 13 extra-base hits. With last year’s shortstop Anthony Silva drafted to the Cleveland Guardians, there is a hole looking to be filled, and Franco has a chance to make an impact there immediately.  

Second base is a different story. Cole Cramer, a graduate student from Arlington, Washington, is the only returning Horned Frog to play in and start in all 59 games last season. Last season, he hit .320 with 14 extra-base hits and drew the most walks on the team with 43. Cramer is one of the veteran leaders on this young roster.  

When Franco was asked about how he had settled into being around the team in his first year, he said that Cramer, “was a guy that took me in and showed me the ways.”  

Finding Innings 

Trever Baumler is among the young arms TCU will rely on to solidify its pitching staff this season. Courtesy of TCU Athletics

Pitching depth is critical in college baseball, and the Frogs will be tested after losing senior Louis Rodriguez to Tommy John surgery. 

The No. 1 question mark for this Horned Frogs team? Pitching development. Tommy LaPour will be the Friday starter, but the Frogs have multiple talented young arms looking to build upon last season. 

Sophomore Mason Brassfield looks to build on a productive freshman year where he provided 61 and two-thirds innings with a 4.09 ERA and a 25 percent strikeout rate. The crafty left-hander from Bakersfield, California, was named a Perfect Game Second Team All-American last season.  

Another pitcher TCU will call upon to provide some length is sophomore Trever Baumler. Hailing from Urbandale, Iowa, he has a mid-90s fastball that he pairs with his breaking ball. His brother, Carter, was a fifth-round pick of the Baltimore Orioles in 2020.  

Heavyweight Slate  

The Frogs face a brutal early schedule that will test their credentials as a Big 12 and, potentially, a national contender. TCU plays No. 23 Vanderbilt, No. 7 Arkansas and Oklahoma on consecutive days (Feb. 13-15) at Arlington’s Globe Life Field in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown. Then comes a trip west to face No. 1 UCLA in Los Angeles the following weekend. Beginning the season with these opponents will ensure that Kirk Saarloos’ team is tested before starting Big 12 conference play.  

Season Prediction 

The Horned Frogs, led by coach Saarloos, win the Big 12 Championship and advance to the College World Series for the first time since 2023. TCU has the roster to live up to expectations, and its gauntlet of a non-conference schedule will have them battle-tested for the postseason.

— Grant Harris