And I’m not sure that’s always the best move. Bc it’s not like they haven’t waited before, missed on kids evaluation and then still cut them loose right before signing period. For instance the Owen Jenkins kid, what was there to wait on? Anyone can watch that kid and see the talent and he already had the needed size and tools. As for the taylor kid, I get it. You top at 83 and need to gain 7-10 to throw in SEC, which is doable but not a sure thing.
***Kentucky baseball commits***
- Thread starter Derek Terry
- Start date
And I’m not sure that’s always the best move. Bc it’s not like they haven’t waited before, missed on kids evaluation and then still cut them loose right before signing period. For instance the Owen Jenkins kid, what was there to wait on? Anyone can watch that kid and see the talent and he already had the needed size and tools. As for the taylor kid, I get it. You top at 83 and need to gain 7-10 to throw in SEC, which is doable but not a sure thing.
Thanks for the continued updates. If we look back the past few years at top Kentucky kids we would have seen alot of heavy leans/commits to UofL. Looking forward we see that alot of Kentucky kids are UK leans/commits. I view this as a very positive step in improving our recruitment of Kentucky kids.
Do you know if there’s any uncommitted in state kids who blew up over the summer and are now being recruited by UK?
In the 2024 class?
I’ve heard they checked in on Van Haren, Mains, Penn and Martin over summer. Van Haren has since committed to EKU, Martin to Xavier while Mains and Penn are still out there. Though I’ve heard Mains may be close to either Wku or UC. Haven’t really heard of any others but there are definitely still a few arms that could blow up over this year.
Hayden Mains OF/RHP from Rowan County (24) has committed to Kentucky Baseball.
Khaleel Pratt (24) from Augusta Christian (GA) has committed to Kentucky Baseball. RHP and switch hitting OF.
According to PBR's newest rankings, Cats have two Top 100 kids in 2025, a Top 100 and Top 130 for 2024.
2022 commit catcher Brandyn Durand had decommitted from UK and signed with Chipola Junior College. Earlier this summer while playing the outfield he fell and tore his labrum rotator cuff with severe cartilage damage. It is not his throwing shoulder, and he hopes to make a full recovery over several months.
That is interesting. So, was he not on campus for the fall? Seems weird to decommit after you should have enrolled, but baseball is strange that way being a second semester sport.
Durand and UK mutually parted ways during the summer after he got injured.
Ben Higdon committed today. Ben is a JUCO transfer that has roots out of Paducah, KY's McCracken County High School. In 2021 he PG had him ranked as the 5th best KY OF prospect and 16th overall best KY prospect; he was a top 500 prospect nationally and 169th as an outfielder. He initially committed to Memphis where he was listed as an RHP and an OF. He hits from the left and throws righty. As a freshman in 2022 he appeared in 12 games and went 1-7 with 3 walks; and he also made 4 relief appearances giving up 1 run on one hit in 2.2 innings of work, striking out 4.
This summer Higdon played for the Fremont Moo which plays in the Independence League. The Independence League is a summer league with teams in Nebraska, Idaho, Wyoming, and both Dakotas. In that league Higdon hit .357 with 6 doubles, 2 triples and 3 dingers. He also walked 28 times while striking out 23 and stole 5 bases. On the mound he appeared in 7 games and picked up 2 wins in 9.1 innings of work, carrying a 2.89 ERA he seemingly struggled with control as he walked 14 while striking out 6.
Weird stat: Higdon gave up just 1 hit in his 9.1 innings of work, but gave up 3 earned runs. He gave up 2 earned runs in his first game and another run in his 5th out of 7th appearance. He didn't give up a hit until his last outing. So, he gave up 3 earned runs without giving up a hit. So, he was fairly unhittable, but those walks were pretty deadly.
This is an interesting take for UK. Not sure if they want him as a pitcher or as an OF. Obviously, you like that he hit .357 over the summer, but the Independence League is not exactly top talent and mostly features guys from smaller colleges or community colleges. P5 schools featured seem to be more often than not, local schools like Nebraska or Kansas. This league is also one that features recently graduated seniors, one I found is a Stanford signee. UK must like this kid's stuff. Will be interesting to see if he settles in more as a pitcher or a hitter. So far, this staff hasn't really shown a major interest in having guys play both ways.
This summer Higdon played for the Fremont Moo which plays in the Independence League. The Independence League is a summer league with teams in Nebraska, Idaho, Wyoming, and both Dakotas. In that league Higdon hit .357 with 6 doubles, 2 triples and 3 dingers. He also walked 28 times while striking out 23 and stole 5 bases. On the mound he appeared in 7 games and picked up 2 wins in 9.1 innings of work, carrying a 2.89 ERA he seemingly struggled with control as he walked 14 while striking out 6.
Weird stat: Higdon gave up just 1 hit in his 9.1 innings of work, but gave up 3 earned runs. He gave up 2 earned runs in his first game and another run in his 5th out of 7th appearance. He didn't give up a hit until his last outing. So, he gave up 3 earned runs without giving up a hit. So, he was fairly unhittable, but those walks were pretty deadly.
This is an interesting take for UK. Not sure if they want him as a pitcher or as an OF. Obviously, you like that he hit .357 over the summer, but the Independence League is not exactly top talent and mostly features guys from smaller colleges or community colleges. P5 schools featured seem to be more often than not, local schools like Nebraska or Kansas. This league is also one that features recently graduated seniors, one I found is a Stanford signee. UK must like this kid's stuff. Will be interesting to see if he settles in more as a pitcher or a hitter. So far, this staff hasn't really shown a major interest in having guys play both ways.
You will see several guys play both ways this year: Giles, McCoy, potentially Applegate.
I don't know the particulars but being an in-state kid, this may be a walk-on situation. Which if that's the case it's a no-risk take.
As far as I recall, these would be the first two-way players under Mingione. That is, unless you count Ryan Johnson's attempt at switching from OF to P and then back.
Sammy Swank (2026) RHP from Lafayette, IN has committed to UK. 6'3 170.
Hampton commits to Kentucky baseball
Even with most of his high school career still ahead of him, Owensboro freshman Evan Hampton already has the next step of his baseball journey figured out after committing to
One of the top players in Ohio, Luke Pappano ('25 LHP) has flipped his commitment from Kentucky to Ole Miss
This is strange. Baseball decommits don't traditionally happen as much as in other sports. Could just be a weird coincidence that they happened close to each other though.
Pappano decommitted a while ago. I think April or May.
Not sure of his decommitment date but he announced his commitment to Ole Miss on his social media three days ago, Sorry for any confusion
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Lots of positives on social media about Tyler Bell. DT what odds would you give that he makes it to campus next year?
The Bradley one is pretty straightforward, just committed to previous recruiting coordinator and doesn't necessarily fit their current vision. But de-commits a lot of times come after a school tells a kid where they do or don't fit after a coaching change. The new recruiting calendar plays into it as well now that you eliminate super early commits.
Can you give your thoughts on how and why our vision, as a whole, changed along with recruiting coordinators?
Every coach has small differences. I think Cousino/Ammirati are trying to stockpile as many versatile/speedy guys as they can and move away from the traditional big-bodied DH/1B. Just my guess. The biggest thing I think is the change in recruiting calendar where you aren't offering 13 yr olds hoping they turn into something by 17. You can wait and sometimes there needs to be room made for the late bloomers, while some kids peak at 15. We see it in all the major sports.
From the past few years with recruiting we have really stunk it up with recruits and even developing freshman to play eventually. I hope the change works out for the long run.
There have been some guys who transferred out who slid down to a softer landing spot no doubt but not sure I'd agree UK's development has stunk. There's no way of knowing about last season's class yet since they all redshirted.
Burkes
Pitre
Moore
Travis Smith
Byers
McCarthy
All those guys made an impact on last season's SR team.
Before that, Rhodes, Schultz, Stupp, Estep, Harper, Ritter (had played >20 games of JUCO ball because of Covid), Thompson, etc. all were developed into bonafide stars, draft picks or both.
I would be interested to know the statistics for the Top 25 teams in the Country as far as starters that were recruited to a team as freshman vs transfers that were brought in.
I understand there have been a couple of players over the past 3 years that did end up drafted but if you look at the very last game of last year against LSU, we had 3 position players out of the 9 (DH) that were brought in as freshman to Mings team. Burkes, McCarthy and Pitre. I don't know if thats a good percentage or not but I would hope we weren't as reliant on the transfer every single year.
Thats my gripe with Ming and his recruiting / coaching staff. This also could be just a product of the college transfer system.
Yeah, he's told the team that they have tried to take advantage of the current system in recent years (re: Covid waivers) but those are going away so they don't intend to be near as reliant on the portal moving forward. Part of why every frosh redshirted last year and very well may this year as well. Develop them at their pace and mix in the frosh who are ready to play right away. It hurt too that guys like Caden Dana were coming and then got more money than expected and promise of his brother (a non prospect) drafted too. Or like Specht, who took way less money than he told staff it would take to sign him.
Pitching development under Roszel has been phenomenal. Recruiting in that department is still a waiting game, but only in the aspect of UK has not yet landed and proven that we've really found that ace that we know we can rely on every single Friday night and that we know opponents do not want to face. That could possibly change with another year of development for Smith and/or Moore stepping up as a starter. Regardless, the entire staff has been really really good and there is a ton of value in having that strategy as well.
In terms of the offensive weapons... last year might be changing the narrative of things to some degree. We might be moving a bit more towards development of those HS recruits and bolstering the roster with transfers. I think 2025 will be the tale of the tape on that one a bit more. This year we will still have a good base of returners with Pitre, Burkes, McCarthy, McCoy, Church, and then Schramm could be a RS fresh that sees time. We could have a pretty big exodus after this year as many of those guys are running short on eligibility, or are draft eligible. So, the question there will become... how does UK replace them? Do we look within at the two classes in a row that we may have entirely redshirted, and the incoming freshmen that year or are we going back into the portal to get as many bodies as possible?
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