MLB Teams are Courting Kentucky Football Signee Matt Ponatoski

Quarterback Matt Ponatoski became the first player to sign to play for Will Stein at Kentucky. While combing through the UK playbook this spring, he’s preparing for his final baseball season at Cincinnati Moeller.

Last spring, he went through the college football recruiting process. Now, he’s going through something similar with Major League Baseball teams. The Top 50 high school baseball prospect has hosted 27 teams for visits, many of them in his home.

“Something that I will never forget — you had your hometown Reds with three of their scouts, their scouting director, walk into your house,” Ponatoski told WCPO. “That doesn’t happen to a lot of people. I think it was a really cool experience.”

Kentucky has plans for Ponatoski to play in the infield for the Wildcats. Some Major League teams think he can be a pitcher at the professional level, throwing in the high-90s from the mound. Just because the Redlegs are keeping a keen eye on Ponatoski, it doesn’t mean it’s clouded his dreams of playing football for the Wildcats.

“I’ve always loved football,” Ponatoski said. “And I want to play in front of 60,000 people at Kroger Field. That’s my dream. That’s what I live for. UK fans should be excited because I love football. I love baseball. You can kind of do the best of both worlds at that school. That’s the opportunity that I have. That’s a really hard opportunity to turn down.”

Kentucky fans will be sweating until the MLB Draft in July. Ponatoski isn’t looking that far into the future. In 2024, his football team lost in the Division I State Championship. Moeller has lost back-to-back baseball state championship games. Ponatoski wants a title on his resume before his prep career ends. Until then, he’s still squeezing golf, pilates, and pickleball into his free time.

“I will go over to Pickleball Kingdom,” Ponatoski said. “My dad and my two uncles who have gotten really good, we will go play for two, three hours. It gets competitive. My mom’s brothers — she has eight brothers and they don’t like to lose — they’re not taking it easy on me. I’m definitely not taking it easy on them.”

More Kentucky News and Views on the KSR YouTube Channel

Kentucky Sports Radio has expanded its coverage of the Wildcats in the most ridiculous manner possible on our YouTube Channel. Here you will be able to find interviews with coaches and players, as well as commentary from the KSR crew. From Rapid Reactions following big events to our lengthy lineup of live shows, subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel to stay up to date on everything happening around the Big Blue Nation.