Pre-season recognition season is here and Louisville baseball has been active.

Louisville baseball plays a real game next week. Preseason All-American teams are being announced, and the top media outlets are releasing their lists of their top position players. Alex Alicea, Louisville’s junior Shortstop, and ‘do it all from anywhere in the lineup’ glue guy, is on that list for his position as D1 Baseball has released their top 50 Shortstops in the country.

Alicea, to the surprise of no one in the 502 or in the nation, had cracked the list in the tenth spot, making him truly one of the elite shortstops and players anywhere, in any conference.

I wish I had the very first tweet I ever made about Alex after his first hit as a Cardinal. It very simply read, in all caps, “ALEX ALICEA FAN CLUB STAND UP.” You’d be hard-pressed now to find a Cardinal fan who doesn’t expect a hit, a walk, and then a swiped base every time he approaches the plate.

Alicea deserving of praise

The kid is special. He’s a gamer. He sees a play develop one step before, and now he has the expectation and target on his back to deliver in his draft-eligible year.

It’s a well-deserved honor for a guy who has weathered the ups and downs of college baseball. He saw his freshman campaign end with a whimper after going 0-2 in the ACC Tournament, but then in 2025 was two wins from the National Championship Series in Omaha. As a Junior, he has the chance to cement his legacy by being a leader on a Cardinal squad more than poised to find itself headed back to the College World Series.

The Top 10 is led by Roch Cholowsky from one of Louisville’s other 2025 College World Series participants in UCLA, who is a name with whom you should familiarize yourself immediately. Kid is a stud.

Tyler Bell, with whom Cards fans should be familiar since he plays just down I-64 in Lexington and is also, himself, a stud, clocks in at number 4 on the list. There are two ACC Shortstops ahead of Alicea in the top-10, with Virginia’s Eric Becker checking in at number six, and a familiar name from Super Regionals last season – Jake Ogden of Miami just in front of Alicea at number nine.

The Full D1 Baseball Top-10 Shortstops List:

Roch Cholowsky (Jr.), UCLA

Justin Lebron (Jr.) , Alabama

Chris Hacopian (Jr.), Texas A&M

Tyler Bell (So.), Kentucky

Steven Milam (Jr.), LSU

Eric Becker (Jr.), Virginia

Maddox Moloney (Jr.), Oregon

Jaxon Willits (Jr.), Oklahoma

Jake Ogden (Sr.), Miami (FL)

Alex Alicea, (Jr.), Louisville

Louisville’s Season begins next Friday, the 13th, with first pitch against Big Ten foe Michigan State at 3:00pm.