Kentucky Baseball 2025
- Thread starter Comebakatz3
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What a weird situation that is. I assume he was hurt this year? One would think that he could possibly find a way into the lineup next year barring he is healthy?
Not sure if he was hurt or redshirting, never really heard him mentioned. Looks like he is currently playing for St Cloud in the Northwoods summer league.
Could be a redshirt I guess, but given that McCoy was not necessarily a hitting machine in right, one would think that Higdon could have gotten a shot to show himself there at that spot early in the season and we never got a glimpse of him. Maybe it was clear in the fall that he wasn't ready though.
I saw this on Twitter and it is pretty darn good free info.
If you click on the tweet it shows you their ranking by position of all transfers.
If you click on the tweet it shows you their ranking by position of all transfers.
You have to think that making Omaha this year and style of play will be attractive to players in the portal.
Indiana State top pitcher and big hitting 1B are in the portal. Odd they have 14 players in the portal
I believe they lost their head coach to South Florida.
The specific style of play requires certain types of players so it largely gets determined by a more specific fit.
The portal absolutely saved him. His 3 postseason squads were comprised largely by guys he didn't recruit or develop from high school. I also mean it as no particular thing other than an honest assessment of what it is. He went heavy on the portal early to save his job and seems he clearly recognizes now that's what their path will be. Everybody has transfers but we carried 2x the number of d1 transfers this year as most teams. His strength seems to be getting a good environment in the clubhouse for players like to play in but his weakness has been recruiting, id'ing, developing hs kids. The portal allows him to skip much of that and go right to what his strength is. We've seen them land many kids from the portal already and I expect more. I can't imagine them going into next year with any freshmen that will be a significant factor. I don't see him going from 14 d1 transfers and 8 or 9 grad students to start playing freshmen all of a sudden. I don't know if there is anyone in the 24 class that can be a player out of the gate. OF Pratt from Georgia has a lot to like with size and speed but he's a little raw in regards to sec baseball. Harris was a 280 hitter in ky hs with low ops for hs level and limited speed for d so don't see that producing early in the career or fitting uk's style. To me, it has cleared up that he will end up a pitcher. Seems as low down the pole for OF they would go is a 2nd year Cameron. Bell has a lot to like etc but in this age of baseball and them doubling up teams with transfer numbers I'm not sure I see that changing much someone has to be really dang good or they have to whiff on transfers for that to happen.
Last player from Longwood (Hunter Gilliam) turned out great. Hope for the same.
A little nervous that my post might get too long and reach the maximum number of characters, so I will post a little tidbit about McCay and Walker here:
McCay is a 6'0 righty transfer from SDSU. He was a freshman All American in 2019. He sat out with Tommy J surgery in 2023, but came back with a vengeance in his senior year posting a 3.64 ERA in 13 starts. He threw 71.2 innings, walking 36 and striking out 96. Did a great job limiting the big flies with just 4 given up all year and opponents hit just .226 against him. I imagine he'll be a great candidate to be a weekend starter for UK. In my head he would project probably as a Saturday guy.
Ethan Walker is a 6'2 lefty that comes to UK from Longwood (previous stop of former UK player Hunter Gilliam). He was a sophomore this year, so will be one of those transfers that can stick around for a couple more years. Walker had a 4.50 ERA this past season as he appeared in 15 games and started 9. He threw 42 innings walking 31 and striking out 59. So, looks like he had some control issues that might have bolstered that ERA a bit, especially considering opponents hit just .191 against him. Also, while he started 9 games, I think he is most definitely a long relief type of candidate at UK given that he threw over 4 innings just 1 time in those 15 appearances this season. Most his outings were 2-3 innings. So, I would look for UK to use him to close out games similarly to how we used Tyler Guilfoil. Essentially, you get 6-7 out of your starter and then 3 out of this guy and only have to use 2 pitchers for one game. Helps to keep your whole bullpen at your disposal. His impact is going to be largely determined by how much he can limit the walks.
McCay is a 6'0 righty transfer from SDSU. He was a freshman All American in 2019. He sat out with Tommy J surgery in 2023, but came back with a vengeance in his senior year posting a 3.64 ERA in 13 starts. He threw 71.2 innings, walking 36 and striking out 96. Did a great job limiting the big flies with just 4 given up all year and opponents hit just .226 against him. I imagine he'll be a great candidate to be a weekend starter for UK. In my head he would project probably as a Saturday guy.
Ethan Walker is a 6'2 lefty that comes to UK from Longwood (previous stop of former UK player Hunter Gilliam). He was a sophomore this year, so will be one of those transfers that can stick around for a couple more years. Walker had a 4.50 ERA this past season as he appeared in 15 games and started 9. He threw 42 innings walking 31 and striking out 59. So, looks like he had some control issues that might have bolstered that ERA a bit, especially considering opponents hit just .191 against him. Also, while he started 9 games, I think he is most definitely a long relief type of candidate at UK given that he threw over 4 innings just 1 time in those 15 appearances this season. Most his outings were 2-3 innings. So, I would look for UK to use him to close out games similarly to how we used Tyler Guilfoil. Essentially, you get 6-7 out of your starter and then 3 out of this guy and only have to use 2 pitchers for one game. Helps to keep your whole bullpen at your disposal. His impact is going to be largely determined by how much he can limit the walks.
ISU has real problems with their athletic department administration. It all goes back to 2023 when they won the regional but had to decline hosting the super regional because other events were scheduled at the facilities. The baseball team took it as a real slap in the face. Supposedly the ISU coach didn't want to leave but felt like he had no choice.
Have to think they're strong seasons have them looking for a taste of NIL money that they can't get where they're at.
Hope its not true but U6 seems to think they are gonna get Brennyn Cutts from Indiana State. If so that will be a huge portal win for them.
Certainly would be, but U6 is losing a few key players to the portal too. Most notable is All-ACC rising Jr. SS/INF Gavin Kilen (would love to have him at the top of our lineup tbh). Last i checked they had 12 players in the portal, 8 being pitchers (most notable would be the big arm, upside, and disappointing numbers from rising Sr. RHP Carson Liggett.
I know we lose a ton of starters due to used up eligibility and possibly the draft, but at least starters are not leaving our program via the portal.
High school kids perfect game or prep baseball report although they both are somewhat dependent upon whether someone has come to one of their camps or how recently they’ve been. Like everything there can be politics involved in some cases as well. I will also add that these services continue to become more about making people feel good so they keep showing up and paying than they used to to be. It’s not the end all be all kids keep developing and growing etc and some kids are the best they ever were their sophomore year of high school and can get a good grade that year but improve or not improve later. But those give a sense of metrics in numbers on how they run, bat speed and velocity. Baseball isn’t terribly dissimilar from OL recruiting in football. Some guys measure well in something or many things but it’s such a mental sport that some shortcomings can be overcome or measurements can be undone by the mental side of things. I also warn not to bank on their velocity number 100%. There are guys that hit a number on one day if their life on one pitch that gets thrown down in the ground or something that gets a good reading. And these places often provide a ‘top’ number. People that pay for a sub can go in and see what they throw pitch by pitch in any tournament or event they play in with pg. that’s the only way to confirm where someone really is with it.
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Always loved his potential. I would expect there will be a few more who haven’t been able to earn playing time go into the portal
This one hurts
I was hoping if he got drafted, he’d pass and go one more year. I saw him as a Saturday starter next season if he could stay healthy.
Oliver Boone freshman pitcher from Cal Berkeley will transfer to Kentucky.
Getting those 3 on campus and getting McCarthy back as well would be huge.
It seems pretty obvious to me that the staff was selling "injury" as the reason why Travis smith wasn't pitching more, and perhaps he didn't see it the same way?
Interesting pickup for the Cats. Raphael Pelletier catcher from Kansas State. Defensive minded catcher who hit .210 with 9 HR and 28 RBI for the purple wildcats.
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