Kentucky Baseball loading up early in the transfer portal
While the College World Series rolls on, Kentucky Baseball head coach Nick Mingione and the Bat ‘Cats program are already deep into prepping for next season. UK has secured commitments from a group of players, including arguably the best hitter in college baseball, since the team’s offseason began.
The Wildcats nab Division II’s best
This past Monday, Kentucky was able to grab a potential game-changing commitment from Haydn McGeary of Division II’s Colorado Mesa University. A Junior catcher, McGeary has had the career of someone playing MLB The Show on rookie mode. Over four years at CMU, the 6-foot-5 slugger batted .448 with a career .930 slugging percentage.
In 2022, he had arguably the best season of any college bat at any level. McGeary finished with a slash line of .481/.579/1.061 while leading all of college baseball with 35 home runs.
Baseball is the one weird sport in that the difference between each NCAA Division is far less relatively compared to other sports. Elite talent comes from everywhere and anywhere in this sport, you just have to find them. Kentucky seems to have found a diamond in the rough — the pure absurdity of his career numbers leads you to believe that he is just a masher of baseballs.
Oh yeah, he’s not letting the summer stop him from getting some dingers in.
McGeary would slide in seamlessly as the DH heading into next season, but if he does have to play some catcher, the Wildcats also picked up another pitcher heading into next year — this one a little bit more familiar with Kentucky Proud Park.
On Tuesday, Mason Vinyard, a right-handed pitcher from Western Kentucky, announced he was traveling across the state to play for the ‘Cats. A Paducah, KY native, Vinyard posted a 4.26 ERA after 23 appearances in relief this past season. He has wipeout stuff though, fanning 53 batters in just under 32 innings in 2022. He threw three innings of scoreless ball when WKU came up to play the ‘Cats in Lexington back in March.
Kentucky grabs a couple of utility players
McGeary and Vinyard weren’t the only splashes the ‘Cats were able to make this week in the portal. Mingione and his staff continued the apparent theme of their portal attack and grabbed a couple of infielders from lesser-known schools.
On Saturday, Ryan Waldschmidt, a freshman from Charleston Southern, announced his intentions to come to Lexington. Primarily a third baseman for CSU, Waldschmidt started in six different positions during a fantastic intro season to college baseball.
The Bradenton, FL native slashed .310/.485/.559 in 52 games for the Buccaneers while also swiping 18 bases and launching nine home runs. It’s unknown how fast he’ll be able to adjust over to SEC-level pitching, but if he can make the jump, the ‘Cats may have just found a long-term solution at shortstop if Ryan Ritter decides to go pro.
The ‘Cats also got a Saturday commitment from Grant Smith, an infielder from Incarnate Word. As a junior, Smith batted .293 while recording seven home runs and 38 RBI on the year. He’ll look to be an important piece heading into 2023, but like Waldschmidt, we’re going to have to hold off judgments until he sees elite-level pitching consistently.
It’s surely not the end of Mingione’s involvement in the portal and we expect to see more additions made as the summer rolls on.
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