The rebuilding begins

AUBURN | Gone are seven of Auburn's top eight hitters from last season. No. 1 starter Justin Camp and key reliever Ben Braymer are also off to ply their trade in professional baseball.

Yes, it's rebuilding time for Auburn baseball.

“We're going to move forward and build our program,” said Butch Thompson, who finished 23-33 in his first season at Auburn. “That's where our focus will go to immediately … with our roster and what it's going to look like and getting our guys in here, our freshman, and starting some good, hard work.”

Auburn is planning to bring in around 20 new players next week including a large 2016 class. But the biggest addition will be junior Keegan Thompson, who missed last season recovering from elbow surgery.

Thompson was 7-3 with a 3.10 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 69.2 innings in 2015. He was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 33rd round of the MLB Draft Saturday but is planning to return to Auburn.

“I'm amazed how much his body has changed since I've been here,” Thompson said. “His focus. For a player to not be in a game all year and still command the respect of everybody in the locker room has been amazing to me.

“He's looked so healthy in all of the throwing opportunities he's gotten. He's up on a mound now. He's in the 80 percent category of throwing. I think Sean Stryker, our trainer, has done an unbelievable job with him. I think he's going to be fully ready and as good as he's been. I think he has a chip on his shoulder that can make him even better.”

Auburn’s staff should be further strengthened by the addition of hard-throwing right-hander Davis Daniel, who was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 34th round, and as many as 10 more pitchers.

A depleted lineup could get a big boost from junior college slugger Joshua Anthony who totaled 40 doubles, 45 home runs, 155 RBI and 67 stolen bases in the last two seasons. The Columbus, Ga., native has a big decision to make, however, after being drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 16th round.

Thompson and his staff, which includes ace recruiter Brad Bohannon, had just 13 days between their hiring and the fall signing period to put together their first class.

“I thought we did a good job for the short period of time that we had,” Thompson said. “I think we've continued to add some pieces of needs that have arisen that we needed to address.

“Top to bottom, will it be our best class ever? I don't think any of us will know for three years but I think it's guys that want to be here from good families and with good character. We look past level one of recruiting and go to a deeper level of what we want in our program and I feel good about that from top to bottom.”

Thompson is even more excited about a 2017 class that already includes at least nine commitments and a 2018 class with four public pledges according to Perfect Game.

“I actually think our 18 class, we're not behind anybody in America. We've gotten a super high level of player, some that are ranked extremely high in the country,” Thompson said. “That was a class that Brad jumped on immediately because we were behind nobody in that class. That's when guys were still open to make decisions and I think that shows what we can be from a recruiting standpoint.”

Most of the 2016 newcomers will enroll in school at the end of June and jump right into the strength and conditioning program while 13 of Auburn’s veteran players are playing in summer leagues.

Juniors Anfernee Grier (Arizona Diamondbacks, 2nd), Joshua Palacios (Toronto Blue Jays, 4th) and Niko Buentello (Detroit Tigers, 18th) were all drafted and signed to play professional baseball.