Cutest picture ever? CUTEST PICTURE EVER.

Here we have a kid who’s an AFLAC All-American. Now he’s at Stanford and doesn’t look like any less of a dork.

That’s how we like ‘em!

Austin is a shortstop. Sometimes he plays third base. With Piscotty and Diekroeger making up the left side of the infield, he’s somewhat blocked right now, but he’ll probably get some playing time here and there. He looks pretty darn good, after all!

How do I know he looks pretty good? He has a Perfect Game page. Only good prospects have those! (Look at some of those older pictures, d’awwww!) He was also mentioned on Baseball Prospect Report – twice – so he’s been on the radar for a while. The Dodgers even drafted him in the 44th round, but he’s decided to join us instead. A fine decision, Austin.

Want to see some stats? Of course you do. They’re sitting right here. Sabermetric porn, people. He’s also Prospect Wire’s number one player in Florida. The Bolles School, where he’s from, is a noted baseball machine.

And now, let’s watch him hit the ball:

Austin, we’re beyond thrilled to have you here! Your dorktastic picture just makes everything so much better.

…yeah, doesn’t that make you feel old? Because it makes me feel old. This is the first college class to enter college since I’ve graduated from my own illustrious institute of education. It’s really weird to think about.

Anyway, for the next several days, I’ll be introducing you to each member of the Class of 2015 to join the baseball team. Expect a piece to run every other day or so. Seven of these kids were actually picked in the MLB Draft this past June (if you look hard enough, you’ll find their names on this list). We’re ranked 10th overall in terms of incoming class according to Collegiate Baseball.

Here are the names you should be prepared to know. We’ll introduce you formally to a new kid every other day:

• Alex Blandino
• John Hochstatter
• Dominic Jose
• Jordan Kutzer
• Spenser Linney
• Tyler Maxwell
• David Schmidt
• Geo Saba
• Austin Slater
• Wayne Taylor

Get ready, folks – it’s gonna be an exciting ride. Keep your grades up, it’s almost Christmas break!