Kentucky baseball's transfer class ranked top five in the country

Nick Mingione is once again putting together another elite-level transfer portal class.

Now with eight incoming transfers on board following the addition of Elon catcher Alex Duffey on Saturday, Kentucky baseball holds the fourth-best portal class in the country, according to 64Analytics. The Bat Cats were ranked as high as third earlier in the weekend before Mississippi State jumped up a few spots. Georgia and South Carolina own the top two portal classes, respectively.

After reaching the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season, Kentucky is looking to make another run at the College World Series in 2026. Early into the offseason, Mingione is building a roster capable of making it happen. Six of the Wildcats’ eight portal additions this offseason have come in the last eight days.

For the night crowd…

Great pre-Father's Day time with the family: took in an Astros game (Cam Smith of @FSUBaseball with the walk off) and then we watched the Arkansas/LSU game. Apologies for some late additions, but everything is up to date to our knowledge. New Top Teams. pic.twitter.com/W9IAHHp72C

— 64Analytics (@64Analytics) June 15, 2025

Notably, eight of the top 20 portal classes in the country, per 64 Analytics, are held by SEC schools, including the entire top four and six of the top nine. Six of Kentucky’s eight incoming transfers are ranked among the outlet’s top 250 portal prospects.

Kentucky baseball’s 2026 transfer class

• C Alex Duffey (Elon)
• RHP Kaden Echeman (Northern Kentucky)
• RHP Burkley Bounds (Eastern Kentucky)
• RHP Jack Bennett (Western Kentucky)
• RHP Bryson Treichel (North Florida)
• RHP Ryan Mullan (Loyola Marymount)
• INF Tyler Cerny (Indiana)
• RHP Connor Mattison (Grand Canyon)

Despite losing 14 players to the portal from last season’s team (only one being ranked among 64Analytics’ top 250 transfers), Mingione is bringing in a 13-man high school class and still returns a key group of core pieces from 2025, headlined by Freshman All-American Tyler Bell. The likes of RF Ryan Schwartz, RHP Nate Harris, and LHP Ben Cleaver will also come back to Lexington for next season. Several more Wildcats, such as 2B Luke Lawrence and OF Carson Hansen, are eligible for the 2025 MLB Draft but can return for another college season.

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