Let’s be honest, the Wildcats should have been in the NCAA tourney last year on the diamond.
The ONLY team to win a series in the regular season against Tennessee, a deep run in the SEC tourney upending teams like Auburn, LSU (who had beaten them earlier in the tourney), and Vanderbilt, before running into the Vols and honestly being out of pitching and energy after days of play.
Well, despite being left out last year, and losing some key contributors from the scrappiest team in college baseball last year, things are looking up for the Wildcats.
Kentucky hit the transfer portal hard this offseason and scored big with a group ranked as the sixth-best transfer class in Division I baseball by Baseball America, one of the most respected authorities on amateur baseball.
Outfielder Kendal Ewell follows a familiar path, laid out by Daniel Harris IV and Darren Williams, in moving across I-75 from Eastern Kentucky to UK. A Golden Spikes semifinalist last spring, Ewell batted .333 in 111 career games with 21 doubles, 21 home runs and 13 stolen bases. Not to mention he was First-Team All-Atlantic Sun Conference in 2022.
Kentucky also adds a versatile threat in Ryan Waldschimdt from Charleston Southern. One of the top freshmen in the country last spring, he stole 18 bases and had 16 extra-base hits, all the while hitting better than .310 with 9 HR’s, 43 RBI’s, and an OPS of 1.043. Waldschimdt is not just a speed demon, he is a three plus tool player, who only projects up considering his underclassmen status.
On the mound, Ryder Giles enters the fray hailing from East Carolina University and he brings his side-winding style from the right side. His stats speak for themselves, he has six saves in 84.2 career innings. He also, just so happens to be ECU’s career leader in sacrifice bunts and can play anywhere in the infield. So again, a guy who helps Head Coach Nick Mingione and this program in multiple ways.
Giles is not the only big-time arm UK adds. They also pick up Logan Martin, the conference pitcher of the year at the University of the South, who has strikeout rates similar to what All-American Tyler Guilfoil did when he arrived.
Also, just for good measure, Mingione and staff grab Seth Chavez (East Tennessee State) who had forty strikeouts last year while only walking nine guys, and Zach Hise (Missouri) who struck out forty-seven and gave up just ten HR’s. Worth noting both guys are working their way back from injury.
Those guys alone would constitute a hell of a haul for Mingione and staff, but they went above and beyond pulling in experience in the forms of first baseman Hunter Gilliam (.271, 20 HR, 104 RBI in his career), outfielder Jackson Gray (19 2B, 14 HR, 18 SB), infielder Grant Smith (.303 in 65 games), catcher Chase Stanke (22 2B, 15 HR in 128 games) and infielder Patrick Herrera (2nd Team All-Big Ten).
That is production at the plate and in the field from a myriad of guys who have done it against real competition for a full season. Cannot ask much more of your transfers.
Ewell is the gem of the class, but make no mistake, the outlet said the class “provides a little bit of everything” and I agree. It is a well rounded and well thought of class that helps fill holes on the roster created through graduation and the MLB draft.
Tennessee is still the team to beat, but look for UK to be much improved and finish a lot better and higher then 33-26 overall, 12-18 in conference, and second to last in the East.