The 2025 Kentucky baseball team will be missing some of the stars from this year’s College World Series team, including Ryan Waldschmidt, who was the 31st pick of the MLB draft. Several other players were drafted, or opted to transfer, creating a lot of turnover. However, on Wednesday, the 2025 roster got a boost with the return of catcher Devin Burkes.
This past season, Burkes hit .239 with 3 homeruns, 35 RBIs, and a .733 OPS. He also stole 19 bases. He was also very good defensively, and was a leader on the team, and fan favorite.
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The 2024 MLB draft saw several Kentucky players picked, as as well as some Wildcats recruits. However, Burkes went unselected after what was a bit of a down year at the plate. For his career, he’s a .275 hitter, and that’s after it dropped this season. His OPS in his first two seasons at Kentucky was .925 in 2023 and a whopping 1.270 in 2022.
Burkes has one year of eligibility left, and would love to help get Kentucky back to the College World Series, and also boost his draft stock for next year. He certainly makes Kentucky a better team going into 2025, and fans who love him are definitely thrilled to have him back.