Two hours to travel 75 miles south. Two hours to travel 75 miles north. That was the commute for Colin Yeaman every day near the end of the 2024 summer.
A rising prospect for the upcoming MLB Draft, Yeaman has been one of the best hitters in college baseball in 2025, but his path to becoming a high draft selection did not come easy.
Ric Tapia – The Sporting Tribune
Colin Yeaman poses for a photo at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark on May 7, 2025 in Irvine, California.
Receiving no scholarship offers out of Saugus High School, Yeaman opted to play collegiately in his hometown at Canyon of the Colleges in Santa Clarita.
As a freshman, he shined as one of the best hitters on the team, batting .405 with as many walks and strikeouts (20) with 18 doubles and six home runs.
Through the first 18 games of his sophomore season at Canyons, he was pacing well past his freshman success, hitting .443 with 12 walks and just four strikeouts, while already surpassing his home run total from the previous year with half the plate appearances.
In the fledgling stages of his baseball development, Yeaman found a differentiator between talent and growth.
“I found out going from high school to junior college that the more mentally strong that you are the better off that you are,” Yeaman said. “The mental part of (the game). That’s always something I try to work on and grow for myself.”
All was tracking for Yeaman to be among the best junior college players in the nation before his season abruptly ended.
Diving for a ball up the middle, the bone that held his left shoulder in place fractured.
Ric Tapia – The Sporting Tribune
The injury forced Yeaman into a pair of shoulder surgeries, with the second being a Latarjet surgery in which surgeons remove part of the shoulder blade to replace the missing bone and create a sturdier shoulder.
Despite the injury and surgeries, Yeaman’s performance remained a center piece in the minds of coaches looking to fill roster spots for the 2025 season.
Ric Tapia – The Sporting Tribune
Colin Yeaman poses for a photo at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark on May 7, 2025 in Irvine, California.
Seeing his second shortstop over his six years at the helm of UC-Irvine get drafted into professional baseball, Ben Orloff quickly pulled the trigger on Yeaman to become his next big shortstop for the Anteaters.
“Talking to Ben, he made me feel at home before I even got there,” Yeaman said. “I knew I had a shot (to play). They had a great program, and I knew with Ben being an infielder that he would help me a lot.”
Part of the transfer came with the recovery process where Yeaman would drive two hours from his home in Santa Clarita, down the I-5, to Irvine, to meet with Anteaters athletic trainer Justin Hostert. He would do his physical therapy, get back in the car, and drive the two hours back. Four hours and 150 miles roundtrip, every day.
“The work ethic has been off the charts,” said Orloff. “He’s just continued to want to get better.”
Ric Tapia – The Sporting Tribune
Colin Yeaman poses for a photo at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark on May 7, 2025 in Irvine, California.
Yeaman rewarded his coach and program from the start of spring through the entirety of the season as UC-Irvine — ranked 12th nationally by D1 Baseball (May 11) — heads into Big West Championship play.
Among the national leaders in each offensive category, Yeaman has a .357/.455/.653 slash line, while his 167 wRC+ is in the 98th percentile of all Division-1 hitters.
UC-Irvine SS Colin Yeaman with his 13th home run of the season, no doubt about this one — Anteater shortstop hitting his way into the first 100 picks (or higher) in July pic.twitter.com/EHrGhvcAYK
— Taylor Blake Ward (@TaylorBlakeWard) May 7, 2025
Ric Tapia – The Sporting Tribune
Colin Yeaman poses for a photo at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark on May 7, 2025 in Irvine, California.
“He’s been incredible,” Orloff said. “The numbers aren’t a fluke. I think on most nights he’s been the best player on the field… He has power to all fields on all pitches.”
“Try to win every day. If I’m winning on the field, my stats are gonna show for that,” Yeaman said. “As long as I’m trying to win and our team is trying to win, we’re all gonna be better off.”
Ric Tapia – The Sporting Tribune
Colin Yeaman poses for a photo at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark on May 7, 2025 in Irvine, California.
While metrics and performance will have a fair share in Yeaman’s draft stock, so will his tools and scouting grades that professional scouts indicate by repeatedly seeing him play and grading him on a 20-to-80 grade scale — 20 being the worst, 80 being the best, and 50 being average.
“He’s a 50 in most categories,” said a National League scout who was granted anonimity to express his opinions freely. “I like players like that. Good in all aspects.”
One of the tools scouts look for in Yeaman in particular, and all college shortstops, is how well they can keep pace with the game at a premium defensive position to better project how they can handle the position in pro ball.
Who better to have as an example than someone who had over 1,800 innings played at shortstop in professional baseball and another combined 874 innings across the rest of the infield?
UC-Irvine head coach Ben Orloff spent five seasons in the Houston Astros organization, playing his way up to Double-A, while spending the majority of his time at shortstop. That does not include the four years as part of the Anteaters middle infield.
“Almost every day, every practice, he is giving me little tips,” Yeaman said of Orloff. “Here and there, we’re talking about groundballs and situations. He’s helped me tremendously.”
Though Orloff has the experience factor over his shortstop, he couldn’t help but chuckle at the comparison between the two defensively, quickly deferring: “He’s a lot better than I am.”
Ric Tapia – The Sporting Tribune
Colin Yeaman poses for a photo at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark on May 7, 2025 in Irvine, California.
Despite the lack of scholarship offers, the injuries, the long hours spent driving to rehabilitation; Colin Yeaman’s perseverance is pushing him towards an early draft selection, with most scouts believing he will be taken in the second or third round of the 2025 MLB Draft.
With all the attention, the focus for Yeaman remains on the field and winning with UC-Irvine, who is in pursuit of their third College World Series berth and first since 2014.
“It’s hard not to (see the scouts) because I’ve been talking to them personally,” Yeaman said, “but I just try to focus on this season and our team. I think we have a really great team and special team, and I think we can do great things this year.”
Ric Tapia – The Sporting Tribune
Colin Yeaman poses for a photo at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark on May 7, 2025 in Irvine, California.