Top 5 biggest snubs from 2024 SEC baseball awards ft. Jac Caglianone 

The annual SEC baseball awards were released earlier today. The league's coaches put their heads together and honor the best of the league. That doesn't make the coaches the most unbiased or reliable voters. In fact, sometimes their decisions are shaky and sometimes they're just plain wrong. Here are five snubs from the SEC baseball awards.

Top 5 biggest snubs from 2024 SEC baseball awards

Kentucky's Nick Mingione won Coach of the Year, but Tennessee's Tony Vitello also had a brilliant 2024 season.

#5. Justin Lebron as Freshman of the Year

The SEC's coaches voted for Texas A&M's Gavin Grahovac as Freshman of the Year. The Aggie had a solid season, hitting .322 with 19 homers. But instead of Grahovac, the call should have been Alabama's Justin Lebron.

Lebron was stuck between a rock and a hard place as a freshman, replacing departed transfer shortstop Colby Shelton. But the youngster was solid up the middle defensively and hit .340 with 11 home runs. He also went 7-for-7 in stolen bases attempts.

#4. Colin Fisher as Freshman of the Year

If Lebron wasn't the pick, Arkansas pitcher Colin Fisher might have earned the nod. Part of the issue is that Fisher had a season-ending injury that chopped freshman year short. But when he was available, Fisher was 6-1 with a 2.67 ERA.

Fisher was well on his way to being a solid third option for Arkansas behind Hagen Smith and Brady Tygert. He was a key factor in the Hogs' pitching depth, which has kept them in the national race all season.

#3. Evan Aschenbeck as Pitcher of the Year

Admittedly, it's hard to second-guess the choice of Hagen Smith. The Arkansas lefty has probably been the best pitcher in college baseball. But it's unfair to not honor the brilliance of Aschenbeck as well.

Working out of the bullpen, Ashenbeck has worked nearly as many innings as Smith, throwing 55 innings in 24 relief outings. And he's been basically as effective, posting a 5-1 mark and seven saves with a 1.80 ERA. Ashenbeck has allowed just 41 hits and walked just seven batters to go with his 64 strikeouts.

Nobody can argue against Smith, but it's another thing to feel bad that the league's top bullpen ace didn't get his due.

#2. Tony Vitello as Coach of the Year

Kentucky's Nick Mingione is the obvious choice, as Kentucky was picked fifth in the East pre-season and finished tied with Tennessee for the best mark. But Vitello, probably not beloved by his fellow coaches, quietly had a great year as well.

Tennessee lost a ton of talent, including ace pitcher Chase Burns to the transfer portal. With Christian Moore and a huge offensive cast, Tennessee was the league's top offense. But Vitello did some magic work on the mound, patching together what ended up as the SEC's second-best pitching staff.

As with the pitcher situation, it's not tough to understand the selection made by the coaches. That's not to pretend that Mingione was the only coach who dealt with a fair share of adversity and managed to come up smiling.

#1. Jac Caglianone as Player of the Year

On the other hand, the pick of Charlie Condon, brilliant as he was at the plate, was simply a mistake. Was Condon the SEC's top hitter? Yes, his .451 average and 35 home runs were astonishing. But who was second best at the plate? Probably Caglianone.

The Florida utility man hit .413 with 29 homers. He would have hit more, but Florida has been a disappointing team that failed to protect him. Condon was surrounded by three more Georgia players who rank among the league's top 15 players in batting. Caglianone is the only Florida player on that list.

Meanwhile, there's pitching. Caglianone was 5-1 with a 4.35 ERA on a middle-of-the-pack Gator team. He struck out 68 batters in 62 innings and held foes to a .217 batting average and just four homers. Caglianone was probably in the top dozen starting pitchers in the league.

The math doesn't lie. The league's second-strongest bat plus a solid number one or two starting pitcher. That's Caglianone. Condon had a better year at the plate, but arguably not that much better.

Which players or coaches do you think were slighted in the post-season awards? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.