Kentucky baseball storylines I'll be monitoring this fall

Following its first appearance in the College World Series, Kentucky turns the page to the 2025 season.

Photo by Elliott Hess of UK Athletics

September has arrived, meaning the Kentucky baseball team will begin fall practice this month. With many positions and the weekend rotation up for grabs, competition should be excellent as players try to stake their claim in the lineup.

The Wildcats brought in 15 new transfers and 14 freshmen, and just two players — Devin Burkes and James McCoy — returned, who were regular starters a season ago. With that in mind, here are a few storylines I’ll follow this fall.

Who steps forward in the pitching rotation?

This time last year, Kentucky’s coaching staff had to feel pretty good about the potential of its rotation. Travis Smith moved into the Friday night spot during his redshirt freshman year and Mason Moore was an obvious fit to move from a long relief role to the weekend rotation. Add in lefthander Dominic Niman, one of the top arms available in the portal following the 2023 season, and there was plenty to build on. Of course, things didn’t go quite as smoothly as that and College of Charleston righty Trey Pooser emerged as the best starter on the team, but it was clear to see the process that took place.

That’s not quite the case this year. Kentucky returns just one start from last year, and that was Cooper Robinson in a midweek game against Eastern Kentucky. The traditional format has been that a team’s midweek starter gains experience and is hopefully able to transition into a weekend role the following year, but that didn’t formulate for last year’s team. Drew Lafferty was the Wildcats’ midweek starter last season but didn’t gain enough trust to ever become a part of the future plans. He transferred following the conclusion of the 2024 season.

It’s hard to say for sure at this point what will happen. Among the internal candidates, Robert Hogan returns the most innings with 40.2. Still, he’s never been a starter in college baseball and it’s easy to envision pitching coach Dan Roszel being comfortable with Hogan in a multi-inning relief role on the weekends. Sophomore lefthander Ben Cleaver has the potential to be one of the best pitchers on the team, but he threw just 6.1 innings a season ago. He will need to prove that he can handle the workload necessary to get through a season. If he does, I think he’s a good bet to take one of the three spots on the weekend. One other internal option to watch is Tommy Skelding. Skelding missed the 2024 season while recovering from an injury, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up being the midweek starter this year. Depending on how things shake out in the rotation, he could find himself in a true competition this fall to claim one of the final spots. Sophomore Evan Hart is another pitcher to monitor.

With that said, Kentucky hit the transfer portal for pitching this offseason. South Dakota State righthander Nic McCay feels like a safe pick to make the rotation. In 13 starts with the Jackrabbits in 2024, McCay had a career-low 3.64 ERA with 96 strikeouts in 71.2 innings as batters hit just .226 against him. He led the Summit League in ERA and was second in opposing batting average and strikeouts. McCay will be making a jump in competition, but this feels like the best blend of talent and experience on Kentucky’s pitching staff. Other candidates from the portal include California righty Oliver Boone and Radford righthander Scott Rouse.

And finally, could a true freshman show up and make their case right away? The jump from high school to the SEC is massive, but if there was ever a season that was wide open for a young pitcher to come in and start, it’s this one. Forsyth, Missouri, righthander Tristan Hunter emerged as a potential third-day MLB draft pick this past summer and should be someone to watch in some capacity this fall.

How does the infield shake out?

Similar to the starting rotation, Kentucky must replace its starters at first base, second base, shortstop and third base. Senior catcher Devin Burkes was a surprise returner, and the Wildcats also brought in Kansas State transfer Raphael Pelletier behind the dish. There’s clear depth at the catcher position but I don’t think any of the other positions are close to being settled.

In my opinion, the middle infield competition is going to feature four main players: freshman Tyler Bell, sophomore Kyuss Gargett, redshirt junior Luke Lawrence and senior Patrick Herrera. Bell was ranked No. 13 overall nationally by Prep Baseball Report and was the No. 66 pick in the 2024 MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays. Simply put, Bell is one of the most impressive on-paper acquisitions the baseball program has ever had. I don’t think he’s going to be handed the starting shortstop job without earning it, but my guess is he proves himself to be the best player for the spot.

I love Gargett’s potential and think the athleticism of a middle infield of him and Bell would be exceptional. Still, both players have to prove themselves. Gargett showed some flashes, but like a lot of young players, lacked consistency in his small sample size.

Lawrence’s versatility helps him. He shouldn’t be confined to being a middle infielder, but I like his experience as an insurance piece if Bell or Gargett aren’t ready for a full-time role. Could Lawrence end up at third? I think it’s possible. Sophomore Ethan Hindle would seemingly be the main competition for the position, along with Herrera. Herrera is probably the toughest to label because he came to Kentucky as an infielder but has been a true utility player through two seasons.

First base has no shortage of options. Campbell transfer Dylan Koontz, Columbia transfer Cole Hage, redshirt freshman Hudson Brown and incoming freshman Ryan Schwartz all seem like possibilities at first.

Increased competition in the outfield

Kentucky must replace top-35 draft pick Ryan Waldschmidt in left field and Nolan McCarthy — who transferred to Georgia — in center field. James McCoy returns in right field with 79 career starts, but it doesn’t seem to be a sure thing that he’s a starter in 2025.

Still, there’s no shortage of options in the outfield. Kentucky brought in three transfers who were starters at their previous school in Carson Hansen (Milwaukee), Shaun Montoya (San Diego State) and Will Marcy (NC State/Memphis). Sophomore Griffin Cameron was the opening day starter in 2024 in center field and fits a true speed/defensive profile while hitting at the bottom of the order. Sophomore Eli Small still needs to settle on a defensive position, but the potential with the bat might be too good to keep him out of the lineup.

Among the infielders listed above, you could theoretically see Hage, Schwartz or Herrera in the outfield as well. There’s a lot to figure out in the outfield this fall.

Which player exceeds expectations?

This is not much of a prediction but rather highlights that there are always players who fly under the radar and exceed expectations. At this time a year ago, no one would have predicted Cameron as the starter in center field opening last season, or that Pooser would become Kentucky’s Friday starter as the season went on. It’s a safe bet that someone who wasn’t named in this story will enter opening day with a significant role.

All in all, fall practice should provide some clear answers for the coaching staff as the Wildcats look to make the postseason for the third straight season.

Correction: An original version of this story listed Jake Titus as a pitcher to watch. Titus transferred from the program this summer.