Follow all of Kentucky Baseball's offseason roster movement.
Aaron Gershon
Kentucky's magical 2024 season came to an end in OmahaWednesday as it suffered a 15-4 loss to the Florida Gators.
The year saw Kentucky make its first trip to the College World Series in program history, win a share of the SEC regular season title for just the second time in program history and post a final record of 46-16.
Now, head coach Nick Mingione's attention will shift towards building another contender in 2025. Kentucky will look to make it back to the College World Series after going 1-2 in its debut trip to Omaha and make a third straight NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time in program history.
Keep up to date throughout the offseason on Kentucky's 2025 roster-building efforts with The Cats' Pause 2025 Kentucky Baseball roster tracker.
Expected Returners
Right Handed Pitchers: #0 Jake Titus (So.), #11 Colby Frieda, #29Robert Hogan (Sr.), #36Carson Applegate (RSo.), #37Raymond Saatman (So.) #39 Cooper Robinson (Sr.), #40 Zach Hise (Sr.), #44 Jacob Price (Jr.) and #55Tommy Skelding (So.)
Left Handed Pitchers: #28 Hayden Smith (RSo.), #43 Jackson Nove (Sr.), #48Ben Cleaver (So.) and #50 Evan Hart (So.)
Catchers: #52Austin Fawley (RSo.) and #54 Eli Small (So.)
Infielders: #1 PatrickHerrera, #16Landon Franklin (So.), #17 Ethan Hindle (So.) and #23Hudson Brown (So.),
Outfielders: #13 James McCoy (RJr.) and #42Griffin Cameron (So.),
Utility:#47Kyuss Garget
Redshirt Seniors
Right Handed Pitchers: None
Left Handed Pitchers: #41 Evan Byers
Catchers: #7 Devin Burkes
Infielders: None
Outfielders: #19 Nolan McCarthy
Utility: None
Expected non-graduate MLB Draft picks
Right Handed Pitchers: #20 Mason Moore
Left Handed Pitchers: None
Catchers: None
Infielders: #4 Emilien Pitre
Outfielders: #21 Ryan Waldschmidt
Utility:None
Exhausted Eligibility
Right Handed Pitchers: #10 Cameron O'Brien, #49Johnny Hummel and #51Trey Pooser
Left Handed Pitchers: #22Dominic Niman
Catchers: None
Infielders: #2 Mitchell Daly, #6 Reuben Church, #9 Nick Lopez, #12 Grant Smith and #25Ryan Nicholson
Outfielders: #8Ty Crittenberger
Utility:None
Incoming Freshman
Transfer Portal Additions
Ryan Verdugo, RHP (Cal State Bakersfield): A rising senior, Verdugo made 14 starts for Cal State Bakersfield this past season and posted a 2.72 ERA over 89.1 innings of work. He struck out 92 batters and held opposing hitters to a .209 batting average.
Chase Alderman, RHP (Eastern Kentucky):Alderman, a Morehead native, will come to Kentucky as a redshirt sophom*ore after missing the 2024 season due to injury. In 2023, the right-hander posted a 4.43 ERA over 44.2 innings. He held hitters to a .235 average and struck out 43 batters.
Jackson Strong, OF (Canisius): Strong, a rising senior, had an outstanding 2024 season at the plate for Canisius. A left-handed hitter, Strong hit .350, slugged 11 home runs and stole a remarkable 42 bases.
Nic McCay, RHP (South Dakota State): McCay, a rising redshirt senior, made 13 starts for South Dakota State in 2024 and posted a 3.64 ERA in 71.2 innings of work. He struck out 96 batters and held opposing hitters to a .226 batting average.
Scott Rouse, RHP (Radford):Rouse, a rising redshirt senior, made 14 starts for Radford this past season and posted a 5.94 ERA over 69.2 innings of work. Opposing hitters posted a .264 average against Rouse.
Ethan Walker, LHP (Longwood): Walker, a rising junior, was a 2023 Big South All-Freshman Team and this past season, made nine starts and six relief appearances for Longwood in which he posted a 4.50 ERA over 42.0 innings of work.
Cole Hentschel, LHP (Richmond): Hentschel, a rising redshirt senior, made 27 relief appearances for Richmond this past season. He posted a 4.15 ERA in 31.2 innings of work.
Cole Hage, 1B/OF/DH (Columbia): Hage, is a three-timeFirst Team All-Ivy League selection and this past season served as Columbia's team captain. He hit .329 with 13 home runs and 38 RBI's in 2024.
Oliver Boone, RHP (Cal): Boone made 11 relief appearances and one start for Cal as a freshman this past season. He posted a 4.45 ERA over 30.1 innings of work, held opposing hitters to a .188 batting average and struck out 34 batters.
Raphael Pelletier, C (Kansas State):Pelletier was drafted in the 25th round of the 2019 MLB Draft by the Texas Rangers out of Quebec but opted not to sign. He arrived at Kansas State in 2021 and in 2023 was anAll-Big 12 Honorable Mention. This past season, the left-handed hitting catcher started for a Kansas State team that earned a trip to Super Regionals. He hit .210 on the year with nine home runs and 29 RBIs.
Trent Youngblood INF (Transylvania): Youngblood, a Louisville native, hit an outstanding .441 down the road atTransylvania this past season and slugged 10 home runs.
Transfer portal losses
Right Handed Pitchers:Christian Howe, Travis Smith andDrew Lafferty
Left Handed Pitchers:None
Catchers:None
Infielders:None
Outfielders: Ben Higdon (Southern Miss)
Utility:Josh Skowronski, Blake Bowen (Akron) andLukas Schramm
