Kentucky baseball is coming off its best season in program history.
Nick Mingione’s team reached the College World Series for the first time in school history and went 46-16 overall to finish No. 3 in the final USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll behind national champion Tennessee and runner-up Texas A&M.
But roster turnover, which includes the transfer portal and losing a plethora of players to the professional ranks through the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft (plus two others who signed as non-drafted free agents), will cause Mingione to have to rebuild if the Wildcats expect to reach Omaha again next season.
Because of that, Baseball America has Kentucky at No. 23 in its way-too-early Top 25 rankings for the 2025 season, released Wednesday.
Per Baseball America:
“Mingione has proven adept at managing the transfer portal to reload. He also has some key returners to build around in catcher Devin Burkes and righthander Robert Hogan.
Kentucky doesn’t have the most talented roster in this Top 25 and another school with this kind of turnover might not be ranked here. But after hosting back-to-back regionals with similar builds, the Wildcats have earned the benefit of the doubt.”
Kentucky saw four pitchers and three position players selected via the MLB Draft, including outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt (No. 31 overall by Arizona) and second baseman Emilien Pitre (second round, No. 58 overall by Tampa Bay). First baseman Ryan Nicholson was drafted in the 10th round by the Los Angeles Angels (no. 292 overall).
Pitchers Trey Pooser (10th round, Tampa Bay), Mason Moore (15th round, Chicago White Sox), Travis Smith (15th round, Milwaukee) and Dominic Niman (18th round, Tampa Bay) were selected, as well. Infielders Mitchell Daly and Grant Smith were signed as non-drafted free agents.
In the transfer portal, the Wildcats lost outfielder Nolan McCarthy to Georgia but have added pitchers Nic McCay (from South Dakota State), Chase Alderman (Eastern Kentucky), Scott Rouse (Radford), Oliver Boone (Cal), Simon Gregersen (Indiana State), Matthew Watson (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi), Ethan Walker (Longwood) and Cole Hentschel (Richmond).
Kentucky also picked up Kansas State catcher Raphael Pelletier, INF/OF Cole Hage (Columbia), INFs Luke Lawrence (Illinois State) and Dylan Koontz (Campbell), and outfielders Shaun Montoya (San Diego State) and Will Marcy (Memphis). Outfielder Carson Hansen, who spent last season at Milwaukee-Wisconsin, committed to Arkansas before changing his commitment to Kentucky last week.
Outfielder Jackson Strong (Canisius) committed to Kentucky in the transfer portal but was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the seventh round. Strong has yet to sign with the Tigers.