Ranking the Top 100 Transfers in College Baseball for 2023

The transfer portal has been abuzz since the end of the 2022 regular season, not just in terms of the quantity of players looking to transfer, but the quality of players exploring other options. 

If last year’s transfers, the first group to take advantage of updated NCAA legislation that allows players a one-time exception to transfer between four-year schools without having to sit out a year, dipped their toes into the transfer waters, this group cannonballed right into the deep end. 

This list is the top 100 committed transfers going into the 2023 season. 

NOTE: Two edits have been made to this list since its original publication. Jack Noble, who was slated to go from Long Beach State to Oregon State, was erroneously listed when he had already signed a free agent deal with the Twins. Additionally, Joe Powell, set to go from Cincinnati to Texas A&M, is no longer expected to join the Aggies. Both have been removed, with new players entering at 99 and 100 to fill out the list. 

1. Tommy White, 3B/1B, North Carolina State to Louisiana State

2022: .362/.425/.757, 235 AB, 54 R, 85 H, 27 HR, 74 RBI, 1 SB

White really needs no introduction, as he was a sensation in his first season in college baseball. He went viral early in the season when he hit nine home runs in the first eight games of the season. After a nine-game homer drought after that point, White picked it back up and ended the season with 27 home runs, a record for a freshman in Division I college baseball. There are questions about White’s viability as a defender, particularly at third base, but that’s something LSU will overlook to get his bat, arguably the best in college baseball, into the lineup. 

2. Paul Skenes, C/RHP, Air Force to Louisiana State

2022: 10-3, 2.73 ERA, 85.2 IP, 30 BB, 96 K, .224 AVG; .314/.412/.634, 153 AB, 39 R, 48 H, 13 HR, 38 RBI, 0 SB

Skenes is the premier two-way player in college baseball. At the plate, he batted .367/.453/.669 with 31 doubles, 24 home runs and 81 RBIs across two seasons at Air Force. He was the Falcons’ closer in 2021, putting up a 2.70 ERA and 11 saves, before moving to the rotation last season and proving himself as a workhorse. He also pitched for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team each of the last two summers. At 6-foot-6 and 235 pounds, Skenes is a physical presence on the mound, and he has the stuff to match. His fastball averaged nearly 94 mph last season and touched as high as 99. His best swing-and-miss pitch is a mid-80s slider but he also has a high-80s changeup that flashes plus. In Skenes, LSU gets a player that is among the best in the sport both in the lineup and on the mound. 

3. Hurston Waldrep, RHP, Southern Mississippi to Florida

2022: 6-2, 3.20 ERA, 90 IP, 33 BB, 140 K, .213 AVG

Waldrep’s stuff is nearly unrivaled in college baseball. Last season, he had a fastball that averaged nearly 95 mph and touched as high as 98, a mid-to-high-80s slider that had a 55% whiff rate and a mid-80s changeup with a 64% whiff rate. He used that arsenal to strike out 140 batters in 90 innings, which was a top-10 total nationally, and earn himself a spot on USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team this summer. Waldrep will immediately slot into Florida’s weekend rotation and should immediately be one of the best arms in the SEC. 

4. Maui Ahuna, SS, Kansas to Tennessee

2022: .396/.479/.634, 202 AB, 42 R, 80 H, 8 HR, 48 RBI, 13 SB

Ahuna entered the transfer portal in the immediate aftermath of Kansas coach Ritch Price announcing his retirement and landed quickly at Tennessee. He’s coming off of a fantastic sophomore season that saw him make a jump in all areas of his game, but nowhere more so than in the way he impacted the baseball, as shown by his increase in power from 11 doubles and one home run as a freshman to 16 doubles and eight homers in 2022. Expect Ahuna to be a catalyst in the Volunteers’ lineup right away. 

5. Thatcher Hurd, RHP, UCLA to Louisiana State

2022: 2-0, 1.06 ERA, 34 IP, 10 BB, 48 K, .138 AVG

A blue-chip recruit in UCLA’s top-ranked 2021 recruiting class, Hurd lived up to the hype right away with the Bruins. As he moved from reliever to midweek starter to weekend starter, he remained mostly untouchable. Of the 16 hits he allowed, just one went for extra bases, and he allowed more than one run in a single outing just once. His fastball last season averaged just over 93 mph and touched 96, and his low-80s slider had a 56% whiff rate. Hurd missed the second half of the season with a back injury, but if he is healthy in February and returns to form, LSU will have brought in one of the best arms in college baseball. 

6. Luke Keaschall, SS, San Francisco to Arizona State

2022: .305/.445/.502, 213 AB, 47 R, 65 H, 8 HR, 34 RBI, 30 SB

Because he played out on the west coast for a San Francisco team that wasn’t a postseason contender in either of his two seasons there, Keaschall being one of the best position players on the west coast sailed a bit under the radar. After hitting .320/.406/.475 as a freshman, Keaschall took a step forward as a sophomore by hitting .305/.445/.502. Not only did he increase his power production by going from four home runs to eight and from 11 doubles to 18, but his stolen base total also spiked from 11 to 30. He’ll be a dynamic part of the ASU lineup right away. 

7. Juaron Watts-Brown, RHP, Long Beach State to Oklahoma State

2022: 4-4, 3.68 ERA, 73.1 IP, 29 BB, 111 K, .194 AVG

Watts-Brown announced himself as one of the best starting pitchers on the west coast during his redshirt freshman campaign, with his strikeout total second in the Big West. He also starred in the Cape Cod League this summer, where he struck out 45 batters in 34 innings pitched. A super athletic righthander, Watts-Brown has a fastball with high induced vertical break that averaged nearly 92 mph last spring and sat 93-96 early in his starts on the Cape. He also has good secondary stuff, including a slider and curveball that have more or less the same velocity but very different shapes. Both had gaudy whiff rates last spring. His changeup is the fourth pitch in a well-rounded repertoire. Watts-Brown projects to slot into a rebuilt Oklahoma State rotation next season. 

8. Carter Trice, OF, Old Dominion to North Carolina State

2022: .288/.395/.606, 208 AB, 54 R, 60 H, 17 HR, 49 RBI, 18 SB

Trice burst onto the scene by hitting .355/.426/.632 with 17 doubles, 14 home runs and 54 RBIs in 2021, which was enough to earn him a spot on USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team. Though his average dropped in his second season, he still hit for plenty of power and he swiped 18 bases. A premium athlete, Trice also provides some positional versatility. He spent time at second base for ODU in 2021 before moving to the outfield last season. 

9. Kade Morris, RHP, Nevada to Texas Christian (NOTE: Since this list was initially published, it was reported that Morris is returning to Nevada rather than moving to TCU)

2022: 7-4, 4.32 ERA, 66.2 IP, 22 BB, 53 K, .267 AVG

After struggling to the tune of a 7.71 ERA as a freshman in 2021, Morris emerged as the ace of the Nevada pitching staff last season, and his numbers look even better when you consider that he pitched most of his games at altitude, including every home game in Reno. His stuff certainly eclipses his numbers. His fastball averaged 93 mph last season and touched 97. A low-80s slider that had a 35% whiff rate is his most often used secondary pitch, though he also uses a mid-80s changeup that had a matching 35% whiff rate. Morris was named to the training camp roster for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team this summer and also pitched in the Cape Cod League before following former Nevada coach T.J. Bruce to TCU. 

10. Ross Dunn, LHP, Florida State to Arizona State

2022: 2-4, 4.88 ERA, 48 IP, 26 BB, 77 K, .230 AVG

Dunn was excellent through five starts last season at Florida State. At that point, he had a 1.42 ERA, a .161 opponent batting average and 15.99 strikeouts per nine innings, which was good for third nationally at the time. He hit the skids after that point, however, and not only finished the season with a 4.88 ERA but also only threw 22.2 innings the rest of the season. In bringing him in, Arizona State is betting on Dunn being something closer to the pitcher he was those first five weeks than the one he was the last 10 weeks and his placement on the Collegiate National Team certainly seems like an endorsement of him being a better pitcher than the second half showed. His stuff is not in question. His fastball averaged over 92 mph last season and touched the high 90s on a number of occasions. His slider had an absurd 62% whiff rate, with his changeup’s 47% whiff rate also nothing to sneeze at. Long story short, Dunn’s ceiling is quite high. 

11. Griffin Merritt, OF, Cincinnati to Tennessee

2022: .315/.382/.695, 200 AB, 46 R, 63 H, 19 HR, 53 RBI, 7 SB

After serving in a part-time role in 2019 and having the 2020 season canceled, Merritt took a step forward in 2021 by batting .274/.362/.511 with 10 home runs before enjoying a breakout season and earning AAC player of the year honors in 2022. During his award-winning campaign, he set career-best marks in just about every offensive category and his 19 home runs were more than in the previous three seasons combined. Defensively, Merritt has some experience at the infield corners but has mostly been a left fielder for the Bearcats. With his commitment coming on August 1, Merritt was one of the last true impact transfers to make a decision this offseason. 

12. Landon Gartman, RHP, Memphis to Mississippi State

2022: 7-1, 3.56 ERA, 86 IP, 29 BB, 94 K, .175 AVG

Gartman quietly put up fantastic numbers at Memphis last season. His ERA was good for fifth in the AAC, his strikeout total placed him second and his opponent batting average led the league. His stuff might not be elite on paper, including a high-80s fastball that touches the low 90s, but he clearly knows how to use it, and with a 52% whiff rate, his changeup proved to be a swing-and-miss offering last season. It’s obviously a fairly big jump into the SEC, but there’s little reason to believe that he won’t work his way into important innings for the Bulldogs next season. 

13. Ethan Groff, OF, Tulane to Mississippi

2022: .404/.503/.709, 151 AB, 49 R, 61 H, 9 HR, 35 RBI, 7 SB

After getting just 36 at-bats during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and hitting.192 while getting regular playing time in 2021, Groff broke out in 2022. He led the American Athletic Conference in all three slash line categories, including leading in average by more than 50 points. The only thing that was able to slow him down was an injury that forced him to miss the entire last month of the season. Defensively, he’s mostly played the outfielder corners—primarily left field in 2021 and right field last season—but has experience in center field and can play there in a pinch. Groff looks like a plug-and-play option for the Rebels in the outfield. 

14. Jared Wegner, OF, Creighton to Arkansas

2022: .343/.459/.635, 181 AB, 42 R, 62 H, 11 HR, 53 RBI, 11 SB

Wegner enjoyed a breakout season for the Bluejays in 2022. After collecting just 208 at-bats over his first three seasons, he earned full-time reps last season and ran with them, hitting .343/.459/.635. Arkansas doesn’t take on as many transfers as some other high-profile programs, but it tends to find players who are going to be good fits (take Chris Lanzilli and Michael Turner in 2022, for example), and that suggests that Wegner is going to find his way into regular playing time in 2023. 

15. Christian Little, RHP, Vanderbilt to Louisiana State

2022: 1-2, 3.72 ERA, 38.2 IP, 17 BB, 46 K, .203 AVG

Little graduated high school early to pitch at Vanderbilt in 2021, and he put up a 5.48 ERA in 42.2 innings during that first season, which included a start in the College World Series. Last season, he was effective in a limited relief role and lowered his ERA year-over-year by almost two runs. However, Little was considered the top high school prospect in his class before he reclassified and arrived at Vanderbilt early, and within that context, he hasn’t taken off as a college pitcher as well as hoped, even as there is no doubting his stuff. Last season, he worked with a fastball that averaged better than 94 mph and touched 98, a low-90s cutter that touched 95, a curveball in the high 70s and a mid-80s changeup that had a 47% whiff rate. He’ll now move on to LSU, where pitching coach Wes Johnson will work to help him fulfill his potential. 

16. Ian Farrow, OF, Florida Gulf Coast to Miami

2022: .322/.510/.624, 245 AB, 73 R, 79 H, 21 HR, 75 RBI, 5 SB

After hitting .293/.402/.449 in a perfectly solid freshman season at FGCU, Farrow developed into a superstar for the Eagles last season, along the way resetting his career highs in just about every statistical category. Farrow also has the ability to play all three outfield positions. After playing the corner outfield spots over the last two seasons at FGCU, Farrow played some center field this summer in the Cape Cod League. Miami recruited Jacob Burke from Southeastern Louisiana at this time last year and he became an immediate impact player. It hopes to do the same with Farrow this time around. 

17. Austin Davis, OF, West Virginia to Texas Christian

2022: .330/.402/.442, 224 AB, 56 R, 74 H, 4 HR, 26 RBI, 29 SB

Davis is one of the most dynamic players in college baseball. He was a .313/.384/.402 career hitter at West Virginia, with the 2022 season his best with the Mountaineers by many measures. He’s an aggressive hitter, shown by drawing just 49 walks in 164 games, but his strikeout rate—97 in nearly 600 plate appearances—isn’t as high as you might think given that. His best tool, however, is his speed, which helped him swipe 29 bases last season and cover a ton of ground in the outfield. He has the speed and athleticism to be a center fielder, but the presence of another premium defender at WVU, Victor Scott II, kept Davis in right field, where his arm was also an asset. Davis will be a spark plug in a number of ways at TCU next season. 

18. Nick McLain, OF, UCLA to Arizona State

2022: DNP (injury)

McLain was a highly-touted recruit in UCLA’s top-ranked 2021 recruiting class. He was ranked in the top 125 of the BA 500 draft rankings before formally removing his name from draft consideration to double-down on his commitment to UCLA. He didn’t see any playing time in 2022 due to injury, however. Coming out of high school, there was plenty of excitement about his overall skill set, which included power potential for the switch-hitter, especially from the right side of the plate, plus speed and a strong arm. He leaves the program where his brother Matt played and now heads to the one from which his brother Sean was just drafted, Arizona State. 

19. Zane Denton, 3B, Alabama to Tennessee

2022: .263/.337/.483, 232 AB, 35 R, 61 H, 13 HR, 48 RBI, 0 SB

Denton, a Nashville area native, broke out for Alabama when he hit .308/.405/.489 with 10 homers in 2021, and followed that up by setting career highs in a number of categories in 2022, including doubles (12), home runs (13) and RBIs (48). For stretches, he was the Crimson Tide’s most dangerous hitter, but he did slow down in the second half of the season, as he hit just .193/.258/.345 in SEC games. With Trey Lipscomb now off in pro baseball, there’s an opportunity for Denton to fill his shoes right away both on the field and in the middle of the order at Tennessee. 

20. Dale Thomas, 3B, Coastal Carolina to Florida

2022: .284/.377/.550, 218 AB, 49 R, 62 H, 13 HR, 49 RBI, 5 SB

Thomas spent three seasons at Coastal Carolina and set career-best marks across the board last season, most notably in terms of power. After hitting four doubles and five homers in 2021, he had 15 doubles and 13 homers last season. He’ll also provide the Gators with defensive versatility. He was the Chanticleers’ primary second baseman in 2021 and their primary third baseman last season, but he can also handle shortstop, although he didn’t get to play there much for Coastal because of the presence of Eric Brown, who was a first-round pick this summer. 

21. Bennett Lee, C, Tulane to Wake Forest

2022: .255/.366/.398, 231 AB, 41 R, 59 H, 5 HR, 31 RBI, 5 SB

Freshman seasons don’t get much better than the one Lee enjoyed in 2021, when he hit .440/.527/.600, earning him AAC player of the year honors despite playing in just 34 games. He took a step back during his sophomore season, hitting .255/.366/.398, but as long as he finds a middle ground production-wise between his first two seasons as he moves forward, he will still be a catalyst in the Wake Forest lineup. 

22. Tre Richardson, 2B, Baylor to Texas Christian

2022: .297/.398/.434, 212 AB, 61 R, 63 H, 4 HR, 35 RBI, 9 SB

Richardson, who skipped his senior year of high school baseball to enroll at Baylor early, came into his own as an offensive threat the last two seasons. He hit .308/.389/.463 as a second-year player in 2021 before hitting .297/.398/.434 last season. With just three errors in 2022, he’s also proven himself to be a steady defender. He primarily played second base at Baylor but can also handle shortstop. With second baseman Gray Rodgers and shortstop Tommy Sacco out of eligibility for TCU, there is an opportunity for Richardson at either position. 

23. RJ Schreck, OF, Duke to Vanderbilt

2022: .288/.401/.486, 177 AB, 21 R, 51 H, 8 HR, 37 RBI, 8 SB

When looking at what Schreck could bring to the table at Vanderbilt, it’s best to look past his 2022 production at Duke. It’s not that he had a bad year, because he was very solid in putting up an .887 OPS. It’s just that his 2021 season is a greater example of what the Commodores are hoping to see from him. In that season, Schreck batted .337/.435/.635 with 18 home runs, including 10 round-trippers in the months of May and June. Schreck has been primarily a left fielder at Duke, but he has some experience in right field, and though he won’t have to cover all that much ground playing in a Vanderbilt outfield next to speedster Enrique Bradfield, Jr., he is a good runner. 

24. Ethan O’Donnell, OF, Northwestern to Virginia

2022: .320/.410/.619, 181 AB, 46 R, 58 H, 10 HR, 39 RBI, 4 SB

After hitting .248/.343/.444 as a freshman, O’Donnell came into his own last season, hitting .320/.410/.619 with 10 home runs and a team-leading 24 doubles, which also tied for the lead in the Big Ten. In addition to swinging an effective bat, O’Donnell has shown the ability to play both right and center field, with the latter being his full-time position last season. With the departures of outfielders like Alex Tappen and Chris Newell from the Cavaliers’ lineup, O’Donnell will have an opportunity to move into important at-bats right away. 

25. Blake Hely, RHP, Davidson to Notre Dame

2022: 9-2, 3.80 ERA, 85.1 IP, 40 BB, 97 K, .207 AVG

Though the 2022 season was his best at Davidson by most measures, Hely has been a stalwart in the Wildcats’ rotation for the last three seasons. In his four total years in the program, he put up a 4.09 ERA and 189 strikeouts in 191.2 innings of work. Last season, the righthander worked with a fastball that averaged a tick under 88 mph and touched as high as 94. A slider in the high 70s and low 80s that had a 42% whiff rate a season ago is his best secondary pitch. He also has a changeup, but that pitch is a distant third in his repertoire. If you want to nitpick Hely’s numbers, you can do so by looking at his four walks issued per nine innings, but when he’s pitching in the strike zone, he’s tough to hit. 

26. Ryan Waldschmidt, 3B/OF, Charleston Southern to Kentucky

2022: .310/.485/.559, 145 AB, 45 R, 45 H, 9 HR, 43 RBI, 18 SB

Waldschmidt was a breakout star for Charleston Southern as a freshman. He showcased power with nine home runs, speed with 18 stolen bases and he was an on-base machine who walked (36) more than he struck out (26). He also showed defensive versatility by playing two games in right field, three games at second base, three games in left field, 14 games in center field and 25 games at third base. If he can handle the jump to SEC competition, Waldschmidt could be a real Swiss Army knife for Kentucky given all that he brings to the table. 

27. Nick Parker, RHP, Coastal Carolina to Virginia

2022: 6-3, 4.45 ERA, 85 IP, 23 BB, 81 K, .257 AVG

A solid four-year pitcher at Coastal Carolina with a 4.81 ERA in 219 innings pitched, Parker had his best full season with the Chanticleers last season, when he set career highs in a number of categories, including innings pitched and strikeouts. Parker’s fastball averaged just over 88 mph last season and touched as high as 92. His best offspeed offering was a low-80s changeup that had a 43% whiff rate and he also has two distinct breaking balls, a low-80s slider and a high-70s curveball. Virginia has a couple of holes to fill in its weekend rotation, and Parker is set up well to compete for one of those spots this fall.  

28. Koty Frank, RHP, Nebraska to Arkansas

2022: 5-0, 3.81 ERA, 59 IP, 19 BB, 70 K, .241 AVG

Frank was pushed into the Nebraska rotation last season largely due to injuries elsewhere on the pitching staff, but he took to the role like a fish to water. Frank works with a high-80s fastball that touched as high as 91 mph last season. He also has two separate secondary pitches in a low-80s changeup and a high-70s slider that had whiff rates of 45% or higher in 2022. Frank projects as a versatile weapon for Arkansas next season. He’s shown the ability to be stretched out as a starter, but he also possesses the swing-and-miss pitches to be an effective high-leverage reliever. 

29. Drake Varnado, SS, Arkansas to Arizona State

2022: .235/.391/.294, 17 AB, 6 R, 4 H, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 1 SB

A top-200 draft prospect coming out of high school in 2021, Varnado didn’t see the field all that much at Arkansas as a freshman, going 4-for-17. He also only appeared in a game once after the month of April ended. As he arrived at Arkansas, it was thought that his defense was ahead of his offense thanks to athleticism and speed that would allow him to stick in the middle infield and because of the work to be done on his swing. He’ll look to break out with Arizona State in 2023 instead. 

30. Ed Johnson, SS, Tennessee Tech to Alabama

2022: .367/.420/.591, 259 AB, 64 R, 95 H, 14 HR, 55 RBI, 6 SB

Johnson began his career at Auburn before transferring to Tennessee Tech, and now he’ll return to the Yellowhammer State to finish his college career. He had a nice season with the Golden Eagles in 2021, hitting .331/.406/.483 with nine doubles and five home runs, but he really blossomed into an impact hitter last season when his numbers jumped to .367/.420/.591 with 14 doubles and 14 homers. After a performance that strong in the OVC, Johnson looks ready to compete in the SEC this time around. 

31. Dalton Rhadans, RHP, Wofford to Georgia

2022: 7-4, 3.72 ERA, 72.2 IP, 13 BB, 71 K, .263 AVG

As a reliever who averaged more than two innings per appearance last season, Rhadans is a unique pitcher to begin with, and that’s before you talk about his repertoire. The righthander pitches off his frisbee-style slider, not his fastball, with the former being thrown more than 60% of the time. Furthermore, you don’t see velocity numbers like his much anymore. His fastball averages less than 80 mph and his slider averages less than 70 mph, all from a low slot. It’s unconventional, but you can’t argue against its effectiveness, as he has a 3.43 ERA in 154.2 innings at Wofford. Certainly he’s going to bring an approach to getting outs that SEC hitters don’t see very often in a conference full of pitchers with high-octane stuff and traditional deliveries. 

32. Connor Hujsak, SS, Virginia Commonwealth to Mississippi State

2022: .289/.363/.526, 253 AB, 39 R, 73 H, 12 HR, 55 RBI, 17 SB

With a coaching change at VCU this offseason, Hujsak was one of a good number of Rams players to test the waters in the transfer portal this summer, and he found a very good landing spot at Mississippi State. Hujsak showed some power from the start of his VCU career by hitting 12 doubles and seven homers as a freshman, but in his second year, he raised his batting average 50 points and cut his strikeout rate, all while increasing his power production to 20 doubles and 12 home runs. Hujsak wasn’t the steadiest defender a season ago—he committed 25 errors—but he brings with him 111 games of experience at the most demanding position on the infield. 

33. Matt Woods, OF, Bryant to Maryland

2022: .384/.458/.635, 219 AB, 43 R, 84 H, 8 HR, 45 RBI, 9 SB

After quiet 2019 and 2020 seasons at Bryant, Woods found his footing at the plate in 2021, batting .314/.407/.405, and in 2022, his power started to come along, leading to a career-best .384/.458/.635 slash line with 17 doubles, seven triples and eight home runs. That performance was enough to earn him NEC player of the year honors, and it suggests that he will be a very good fit in the hitter-friendly environment that is Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium at Maryland. Defensively, he also provides some versatility. Across his four years at Bryant, Woods played first base, second base, third base (plus some shortstop in summer ball) and all three outfield positions, finally setting in as the Bulldogs’ center fielder in 2022. 

 

 

34. Willie Weiss, RHP, Michigan to Clemson

2022: 3-2, 5.29 ERA, 34 IP, 21 BB, 37 K, .227 AVG

Although the 2022 season was statistically his worst as a member of the Michigan program, Weiss has been a reliable reliever for the Wolverines for a long time now. In 100.2 innings across three seasons and 70 appearances, the righthander had a 3.67 ERA, 127 strikeouts and a .196 opponent batting average. Weiss led with his mid-80s slider last season, throwing that pitch, which induced a 41% whiff rate, 53% of the time. He used his fastball 35% of the time. It averaged just over 92 mph and touched 96. He’ll follow coach Erik Bakich from Ann Arbor to Clemson, where he will almost certainly be a key piece of the Tigers’ bullpen. 

35. Tavian Josenberger, 2B, Kansas to Arkansas

2022: .276/.357/.386, 210 AB, 43 R, 58 H, 2 HR, 23 RBI, 11 SB

Though he might not be as dynamic as his former teammate Maui Ahuna, Josenberger was a nice complement to him in the Kansas lineup and middle infield. Over two seasons at KU, he hit .296/.374/.399 with 30 extra-base hits, 21 of them doubles, with 54 RBIs. With good athleticism, he also provides some defensive versatility. He settled in at second base for the Jayhawks in 2022, but in 2021, he played center field and handled himself well. He also played some shortstop in summer ball, but obviously never saw time there in the spring in deference to Ahuna. 

36. Dario Gomez, OF, Nevada to Miami

2022: .316/.362/.532, 237 AB, 49 R, 75 H, 7 HR, 51 RBI, 10 SB

After two seasons in the California junior college ranks, Gomez has been a catalyst in the Nevada lineup the last two years, putting up a combined .350/.385/.558 slash line with 34 doubles, 13 home runs and 22 stolen bases. His batting average dropped from .393 to .316 from 2021 to 2022 but his production otherwise stayed steady or improved, including adding seven more total extra-base hits last season. With 100 games played in center field the last two years as well, Gomez also brings high-end defensive ability and experience to the table. Between Ian Farrow from FGCU and Gomez, Miami is bringing in two of the most dynamic mid-major outfielders who landed in the transfer portal this offseason. 

37. Carson Lambert, RHP, Southern California to Texas A&M

2022: 6-3, 3.46 ERA, 54.2 IP, 11 BB, 58 K, .229 AVG

Lambert enjoyed a breakout season in 2022 and developed into USC’s most reliable arm along the way. His 3.46 ERA was the best on the Trojans’ staff, and with 54.2 innings, all in relief, he proved his versatility and ability to handle a heavy workload. The righthander threw his fastball 76% of the time last season. That pitch averaged just under 91 mph and touched 94. He has three offspeed pitches, including a low-80s slider that induced a 34% whiff rate in 2022 and a firm changeup that averaged 86 mph and had a 36% whiff rate. It’s relatively easy to see Lambert taking on a role similar to the one held by Jacob Palisch, a fellow Pac-12 transfer, last season. 

38. Grant Siegel, RHP, Tulane to West Virginia

2022: 7-1, 3.02 ERA, 59.2 IP, 13 BB, 53 K, .261 AVG

Siegel had an outstanding year as a freshman at Tulane, with his 3.02 ERA leading all Green Wave pitchers who appeared more than six times. Siegel used a fastball that averaged just a touch under 89 mph 46% of the time, but his best pitch proved to be his slider, which he used 35% of the time. That pitch, which sits in the high 70s and low 80s, had a 41% whiff rate last season. His third pitch is a low-80s changeup that induced a 32% whiff rate a season ago. West Virginia has not been shy about using the transfer portal to bring in quality arms, and Siegel is another one. 

39. Xavier Rivas, LHP, Indianapolis to Mississippi

2022: 7-0, 2.24 ERA, 80.1 IP, 31 BB, 128 K, .170 AVG

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound lefthander dominated at Indianapolis last season, with his 128 strikeouts and 14.34 strikeouts per nine innings good for fourth in all of Division II. His fastball doesn’t have premium velocity, but either through deception or the unique characteristics of the pitch, he gets lots of swings and misses with it. Rounding out his four-pitch mix is a slider, curveball and changeup. The jump from Division II to the SEC is massive, but we’ve seen enough examples in recent years to know that the very best of the lower divisions of college baseball can compete at the highest levels of Division I, and Rivas certainly qualifies. 

40. Kale Davis, RHP, Oklahoma State to Oklahoma

2022: 1-1, 4.25 ERA, 42.1 IP, 20 BB, 56 K, .205 AVG

Davis has been steady out of the Oklahoma State bullpen over the last three seasons. In 108.1 innings spread over 59 appearances (all but three of them in relief), Davis has a 4.40 ERA and 139 strikeouts. He has a career walk rate of 5.2 per nine innings, which is a bit elevated, but his 4.3 walks per nine last season was a career-best mark. The righthander last season threw his fastball, which averaged just over 92 mph and touched 96, about 80% of the time. His low-80s slider and high-70s curveball both had greater than 50% whiff rates in 2022, albeit in small sample sizes given how often he throws the heater. Davis was drafted in the 16th round by the Blue Jays this summer, but rather than begin a pro career, he will move to the other side of the Bedlam rivalry at Oklahoma, where he will certainly throw important innings for the Sooners in 2023. 

41. Colton Ledbetter, OF, Samford to Mississippi State

2022: .318/.407/.640, 211 AB, 51 R, 67 H, 16 HR, 57 RBI, 14 SB

Samford transfers Sonny DiChiara and Brooks Carlson worked out famously well for Auburn last season, and for 2023, Mississippi State is going to try its hand at that pipeline with Ledbetter. After getting just 59 at-bats as a freshman, Ledbetter developed into Samford’s best hitter as a sophomore. In addition to the power-speed combination that’s obvious with his 16 home runs and 14 stolen bases last season, he’s also a patient hitter, as shown by his 30 walks compared to 28 strikeouts. Mercer transfer RJ Yeager immediately became a key cog in the MSU lineup last season, and the hope is that Ledbetter can have the same kind of impact next season. 

42. Jack Washburn, RHP, Mississippi to Texas Tech

2022: 5-2, 3.35 ERA, 40.1 IP, 23 BB, 42 K, .220 AVG

As he arrives at Texas Tech this fall (joining his brother Owen), Jack Washburn will be on his third team in four seasons of college baseball after pitching for Oregon State in 2020 and 2021 and for Mississippi last season. Washburn has plenty of pedigree—he was a member of the Collegiate National Team in the summer of 2021—and his stuff is good as well, including a fastball that was up to 95 mph last season, but thus far in his collegiate career, that hasn’t added up to him nailing down a defined role in either of his first two stops. With Texas Tech’s entire weekend rotation having been drafted, there are opportunities to be had in those roles for Washburn if he can earn them. One definitive step to be made is to throw more strikes after walking 5.5 batters per nine innings in his first three seasons in college baseball. 

43. Josh Stewart, RHP, Texas to Texas A&M

2022: 0-0, 4.63 ERA, 11.2 IP, 8 BB, 13 K, .289 AVG

The top recruit in Texas’ 2021 recruiting class and a top-200 draft prospect on the BA 500 that year, Stewart never found a steady role for the Longhorns last season and ended up throwing just 11.2 innings. Now he hopes to find his stride with rival Texas A&M, and there’s still plenty of reason for optimism about that. A lot of what made him a blue-chip recruit coming out of high school still applies. He looks the part at 6-foot-2 and just shy of 200 pounds, and his four-pitch repertoire is quite good, including a high-spin fastball that reaches the mid 90s at its best from an over-the-top release. Additionally, he’s coming off of a breakout summer in the Cape Cod League, where he allowed just one run, struck out 20 batters and walked just three in 16.1 innings. Stewart could be a weapon for A&M out of the bullpen right away but with his arsenal and build, he could also be an intriguing rotation option if he takes a step forward. 

44. Zach Franklin, RHP, Western Carolina to Missouri

2022: 5-1, 2.06 ERA, 56.2 IP, 19 BB, 70 K, .203 AVG

After four solid but somewhat unspectacular seasons at Western Carolina, Franklin made a huge leap and was dominant for stretches last season, while over the course of the campaign pitching in just about every role imaginable, including starting weekend games in conference play and closing games. Franklin has a big fastball that averaged over 92 mph last season and touched 98. His most often used secondary pitch was a mid-80s changeup, but his best swing-and-miss offering a season ago was a mid-70s curveball that had a 54% whiff rate. Franklin will bring a ton of experience to the table at Missouri—he tossed nearly 200 career innings at WCU—but beyond that, he also has SEC-quality stuff. 

45. Ryan Guardino, OF, Tennessee Tech to Alabama

2022: .339/.408/.661, 186 AB, 37 R, 63 H, 16 HR, 45 RBI, 3 SB

After spending the 2021 season at Wofford, Guardino broke out in a big way with Tennessee Tech in 2022, with his 16 home runs good for second on a team that had 114 of them. Because he played last season in both a hitter-friendly home environment and in a hitter-friendly conference in the OVC, you can nitpick his power production to some degree, but Guardino has also shown impressive feel to hit, both in putting up a .339 average at TTU last season but also in hitting .343 this summer with more walks (29) than strikeouts (25) in the Northwoods League, where he slugged eight home runs in 39 games without the benefit of being in homer-happy environments. He also went a perfect 27-for-27 in stolen bases over the summer. Guardino will join TTU teammate Ed Johnson at Alabama, where they both look ready to produce against SEC pitching. 

46. Roman Kimball, RHP, Notre Dame to South Carolina

2022: 4-0, 5.76 ERA, 25 IP, 14 BB, 32 K, .207 AVG

Kimball’s potential, stuff and peripheral numbers suggest that he’s a better pitcher than his 5.76 ERA last season at Notre Dame would lead you to believe. Despite the inflated ERA, he struck out more than a batter per inning and held opponents to a .207 batting average. His walk total of 14 in 25 innings is a bit elevated but not exorbitantly so. His fastball last season averaged just under 91 mph and touched as high as 95, showing that he has the raw stuff to be effective in a relief role, but his four-pitch mix—he also boasts a high-70s curveball, a low-80s slider that had a 41% whiff rate last season and a mid-80s changeup—gives him the repertoire to be a starting pitcher if he can take a step forward with the Gamecocks. 

47. Aaron Nixon, RHP, Texas to Mississippi State

2022: 1-3, 5.04 ERA, 30.1 IP, 25 BB, 38 K, .214 AVG

Nixon is a high-upside transfer for Mississippi State who also comes with significant downside risk. In 2021, he emerged as a closer for Texas, putting up a 2.12 ERA and saving nine games to earn himself a spot on USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team, but last season, things went sideways on him. He didn’t give up a run until late March, but in consecutive games against Texas Tech, he gave up a walk-off steal of home and a walk-off grand slam, and things weren’t the same after that point. He gave up at least one run in nine of his final 17 appearances as he struggled with control and his ERA ballooned above 5.00 when it was all said and done. His stuff remains quite good—his fastball averaged nearly 93 mph and touched as high as 98 and his slider had a 45% whiff rate last season—so if MSU gets a pitcher more like the one he was in 2021, he could be one of the best relievers in the SEC. 

48. Porter Brown, OF, Texas Christian to Texas

2022: .276/.385/.480, 98 AB, 24 R, 27 H, 5 HR, 23 RBI, 8 SB

Brown’s career at TCU had myriad ups and downs. There was a ton of buzz about him as a freshman in 2019 right up until he was lost for the season due to a shoulder injury 16 games into the campaign. He got off to a slow start in 2020 and never got a chance to get back on track because the season was canceled. He didn’t see any regular playing time until mid-March in 2021 but made the most of it once he did by batting .342/.444/.492 in 120 at-bats. And last season, after waking up on the morning of April 30 with a .174 average, Brown got hot late to finish with respectable numbers, albeit in a part-time role. At TCU, when Brown was healthy and earning regular playing time, he was mostly a productive player and showed flashes of being incredibly dynamic. At Texas, Brown will have to fight to get on the field as part of a talented roster, but the ceiling is high for what he can bring to Austin if he can stay healthy and stay in the lineup. 

49. Nolen Hester, OF, Wofford to Texas Tech

2022: .321/.442/.402, 209 AB, 45 R, 67 H, 2 HR, 42 RBI, 8 SB

A Rockwall, Texas, native, Hester is returning to his home state after a solid career at Wofford. In four seasons with the Terriers, the last two as a starter, Hester hit .331/.459/.431. Most impressively, he ended every season at Wofford with more walks than strikeouts, which helped him finish his time there with 90 walks and just 59 strikeouts. Hester has experience at all three outfield positions but settled into right field as a regular at Wofford and made just one career error. Hester looks like a ready-made gritty, pesky hitter for Texas Tech, a program known for having gritty, pesky hitters in the lineup. 

50. McGwire Holbrook, C, West Virginia to Florida State

2022: .327/.401/.509, 171 AB, 28 R, 56 H, 6 HR, 43 RBI, 5 SB

After getting just 30 at-bats as a freshman, Holbrook broke out as a sophomore in 2022 by hitting .327/.401/.509, with that .509 slugging percentage good enough to lead all West Virginia hitters. Florida State didn’t get much offensively from its catchers last season, so if Holbrook can prove to be a full-time catcher in 2023—he was in the DH spot as much as behind the plate last season at WVU—he stands to upgrade the Seminoles’ lineup in a big way. 

51. Trevor Candelaria, OF, Davidson to North Carolina State

2022: .342/.452/.607, 234 AB, 62 R, 80 H, 13 HR, 62 RBI, 13 SB

Candelaria broke out in his third and fourth seasons in the Davidson program. In 2021, he batted .285/.384/.576 with 17 doubles and 11 home runs, but he took that a step further by batting .342/.452/.607 with 19 doubles and 13 home runs last season. Defensively, Candelaria mostly patrolled right field for the Wildcats, but he has some experience in center field as well, with the speed not only to handle that position but also to help him swipe 33 career bases, including 13 in each of the last two seasons. 

52. Richie Schiekofer, OF, Rutgers to Florida

2022: .330/.421/.464, 179 AB, 42 R, 59 H, 4 HR, 44 RBI, 2 SB

After losing one of its early transfer portal acquisitions, Mercer’s Colby Thomas, to the draft, Florida supplemented its outfield group late in the summer with the addition of Schiekofer, who began his career at Maryland in 2018 before transferring to Rutgers (along the way having to sit out the 2019 season due to the now-extinct transfer rules) to play the last three seasons. In those three seasons at Rutgers, he batted .330/.422/.458. The 2022 season was his best, as he set career highs across the board, including home runs, RBIs, walk rate and strikeout rate. 

53. Hank Zeisler, 1B, Nevada-Las Vegas to Missouri

2022: .396/.494/.693, 225 AB, 66 R, 89 H, 14 HR, 73 RBI, 1 SB

After three productive seasons at Division III Chapman (Calif.), Zeisler proved he was ready to hit Division I pitching last season by batting nearly .400 and slugging 17 home runs for UNLV. The next jump for Zeisler, going from playing many games at altitude in the Mountain West to facing the best pitching in college baseball in the SEC, will be arguably even bigger, but Zeisler just hits everywhere he goes. In addition to dominating at Chapman and putting up a massive year at UNLV, he also hit .337 and .305 in back-to-back summers in the Northwoods League in 2020 and 2021. After playing exclusively first base for the Rebels last season, Zeisler is most likely a 1B/DH-type at Missouri, but that’s perfectly fine if he hits like he has at every other stop in his career. 

54. Michael Massey, RHP, Tulane to Wake Forest

2022: 3-4, 5.03 ERA, 68 IP, 16 BB, 52 K, .287 AVG

A part of a very talented freshman class at Tulane, Massey was solid in his first and only season in New Orleans. With just 16 walks and three hit batters in 68 innings pitched, he didn’t give up many free bases and at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, he looks the part of a workhorse physically. To take a step forward at Wake Forest, which has one of the most advanced pitcher development programs in college baseball, he’ll have to find a way to miss more bats. His stuff is plenty good, including a fastball that sat just above 90 mph last season and touched as high as 96, but he didn’t have a pitch that induced better than a 32% whiff rate. If he can get a bit more swing and miss with the Demon Deacons, he could be an important piece of the puzzle. 

55. Towns King, UTL, Samford to Oregon

2022: .310/.392/.548, 210 AB, 41 R, 65 H, 10 HR, 44 RBI, 5 SB

King was solid for Samford at the plate in 2021, hitting .285/.362/.465, but last season was on another level, as he hit .310/.392/.548 with 16 doubles, 10 home runs and 44 RBIs, all of which were career-high marks with room to spare. Just as important as what he can do at Oregon offensively, though, is the defensive versatility he provides. At Samford, he played 18 games in center field, 19 at first base, 20 at second base, 31 in right field and 34 in left field, and he played first base, second base, center field and right field during the 2022 season alone. With the way his bat came around in 2022 and that kind of defensive ability, King will find his way onto the field. 

56. Kendall Ewell, OF, Eastern Kentucky to Kentucky

2022: .361/.482/.607, 219 AB, 55 R, 79 H, 14 HR, 51 RBI, 11 SB

Ewell was very productive at EKU. The 2022 season was his best, but he also hit .303/.390/.509 with seven home runs in 2021. Additionally, he’s coming off of a nice summer in the MLB Draft League, where he hit .299/.412/.516, and he put up a .333/.487/.610 slash line in the summer of 2021 in the Appalachian League. Ewell will have to swing and miss less to be successful in the SEC—he had 138 strikeouts in 400 at-bats at EKU— but if he can do that, there’s very little holding him back from being successful at that level. Ewell’s former EKU teammate Daniel Harris IV was one of Kentucky’s best hitters last season, so the Wildcats will hope for a similar outcome with Ewell this time around. 

57. Riley Bertram, SS, Michigan to Clemson

2022: .298/.370/.421, 235 AB, 47 R, 70 H, 2 HR, 40 RBI, 5 SB

Along with Michigan teammate Willie Weiss, Bertram is following former Wolverines coach Erik Bakich to Clemson. Mostly a part-time player through his first three seasons in Ann Arbor (outside of starting all 15 games during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season), Bertram was extremely productive at the plate last season as the starting shortstop, batting nearly .300 while slugging 19 doubles and hitting the first two home runs of his career. But more than anything else, what Clemson is getting in Bertram is a steady hand at the toughest position on the infield, a player who Bakich knows he can trust and someone who has seen it all—recall that Bertram was thrust into a starting role during regionals as a freshman in 2019 due to an injury to Jack Blomgren and responded by going 7-for-15 that weekend. Bertram will undoubtedly impress at times on the field for Clemson in 2023, but his value to the team will go beyond what the stat line shows. 

58. Anthony Calarco, 1B, Northwestern to Mississippi

2022: .325/.432/.619, 194 AB, 48 R, 63 H, 13 HR, 54 RBI, 1 SB

After two seasons as a part-time player at Northwestern, Calarco began his star turn in 2021, batting .295/.379/.564 with 13 doubles and nine home runs in the Wildcats’ abbreviated 36-game season. He backed that up over 51 games in 2022 by batting .325/.432/.619 with 18 doubles and 13 home runs. There’s not much mystery about Calarco’s game. Offensively, he exclusively brings power to the table from his 6-foot-3, 215-pound frame, and defensively, he manned first base every time he took the field at Northwestern. It goes without saying that he won’t match Tim Elko’s status in Oxford as a cult hero, but he could be that kind of player on the field in terms of profile and production in 2023. 

59. Drew Conover, RHP, Seton Hall to Rutgers

2022: 2-2, 5.73 ERA, 33 IP, 25 BB, 43 K, .235 AVG

Conover’s stuff and potential outpaces the numbers he put up at Seton Hall last season, most notably his 5.73 ERA. His sinking fastball averaged over 92 mph and touched as high as 97 last season and his low-80s slider had a 56% whiff rate. He’s also coming off of a dominant summer in the Cape Cod League, where he had a 1.35 ERA in 20 innings and rebuffed overtures from the Tigers as the team’s 20th-round draft pick along the way. Control was an issue at Seton Hall, as he walked 25 batters in 33 innings last season, but he walked just six in 20 innings on the Cape, a good sign of progress as he heads to Rutgers and expects to be a big part of the Scarlet Knights’ plans. 

60. Garret Guillemette, C, Southern California to Texas

2022: .286/.354/.429, 189 AB, 28 R, 54 H, 5 HR, 27 RBI, 0 SB

Guillemette batted a combined .292/.361/.429 with 20 doubles and eight home runs in 98 games across two seasons at USC. He’s also spent the last two summers playing in the Cape Cod League, and while he has only managed to hit .194/.231/.331 in those opportunities, his presence there shows how highly he is valued throughout college baseball and things have gone better there defensively, as he’s thrown out 29% of runners trying to steal in those two summers, including 46% in 2021 alone. With Silas Ardoin having been drafted off last year’s team, Texas has playing time to give at catcher, and Guillemette will certainly be in the mix for those chances. 

61. Sean Sullivan, LHP, Northwestern to Wake Forest

2022: 5-2, 4.45 ERA, 64.2 IP, 25 BB, 78 K, .263 AVG

A 6-foot-3 lefthander, Sullivan was an immediate centerpiece of the rotation as a freshman last season, leading the Wildcats in strikeouts and strikeout-to-walk ratio right out of the gate. He works with a fastball in the high 80s that touched as high as 94 mph, a mid-70s slider and a high-70s changeup. None of those pitches had a greater than 26% whiff rate in 2022, so finding ways to miss more bats in 2023 and beyond will be key, but the raw materials are there for Sullivan to take to Wake Forest’s extensive pitching development program and thrive as an important piece for the Demon Deacons moving forward. 

62. Jace Kaminska, RHP, Wichita State to Nebraska

2022: 3-9, 5.49 ERA, 78.2 IP, 29 BB, 86 K, .268 AVG

It was a tale of two seasons for Kaminska at Wichita State. As a freshman in 2021, he had a 2.39 ERA in 62 innings. This past season, he finished with a 5.49 ERA in 78.2 innings, though some of his peripheral numbers suggest he was much better than that number indicates, including his 86-to-29 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He threw his fastball 74% of the time last season. That pitch averaged a tick over 90 mph and touched 95. He’ll certainly be in the mix to jump into the Nebraska rotation right away. 

63. Amani Larry, 2B, New Orleans to Mississippi State

2022: .370/.477/.578, 211 AB, 67 R, 78 H, 9 HR, 56 RBI, 16 SB

After one season in junior college, Larry arrived at New Orleans last season and was immediately one of the most dynamic players in the Southland Conference on the way to winning the league’s newcomer of the year award. He was top five in the conference in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, hits, RBIs and total bases, and he walked (32) more than he struck out (20) while also swiping 16 bases. With the likes of Scotty Dubrule in 2021 and RJ Yeager in 2022, MSU has had a lot of success with transfer infielders from the mid-major ranks, and it hopes for more of the same from Larry. 

64. Chandler Murphy, RHP, Arizona to Missouri

2022: 1-2, 9.73 ERA, 28.2 IP, 15 BB, 15 K, .371 AVG

Murphy’s ability and his potential for Missouri in 2023 can’t be gleaned from his numbers in what was an injury-marred 2022 season at Arizona. Instead one should look at what he did in 2020, when he had a 2.70 ERA as a freshman in 16.2 innings, and his 4.29 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 63 innings in 2021. His stuff is also quite good and suggests that he’ll be an asset for the Tigers next season. His fastball sits in the low 90s but last season touched as high as 96 mph. One step he still needs to take is to develop a secondary pitch to consistently get swings and misses, but in a small sample last season, his high-70s curveball had a 32% whiff rate. Murphy has the stuff to be an effective bullpen arm, the versatility to serve in a swing role and if he can take a step forward, he has the ceiling to be a weekend starter in the SEC. 

65. Cam Walty, RHP, Nevada to Arizona

2022: 5-7, 5.14 ERA, 91 IP, 37 BB, 66 K, .293 AVG

Walty doesn’t have quite the raw stuff of Nevada teammate Kade Morris, who is transferring to TCU, but the righthander was a workhorse last season for the Wolf Pack, leading the team in starts, innings and strikeouts. And while his 5.14 ERA last season or his 4.71 ERA across two seasons might not stand out as being a reason for optimism as he moves to Arizona, you have to consider that pitching at Nevada means pitching at altitude not only at home but also in other MWC ballparks. Walty’s fastball last season averaged just under 88 mph and touched as high as 91, and while he does have a four-pitch repertoire that also includes two distinct breaking balls and a low-80s changeup, none of his pitches missed many bats in Reno. Walty’s floor is pretty high as a durable starting pitcher with a lot of experience, but his ceiling would seem to be tied to his ability to induce more whiffs moving forward. 

66. Blaine Traxel, RHP, Cal State Northridge to West Virginia

2022: 7-4, 3.00 ERA, 105 IP, 23 BB, 86 K, .280 AVG

Traxel was a workhorse for Cal State Northridge last season. With 105 innings pitched, he threw 24 more innings than any other pitcher on the staff and he had 10 different outings where he threw at least seven innings, including two complete games. And for his four-year career at CSUN, he had a 3.43 ERA in 270.1 innings. Traxel throws the kitchen sink at hitters without premium stuff. He doesn’t throw any one pitch more than 40% of the time, and his fastball is a low-to-mid-80s offering that peaked at 89 mph last season. More than anything else, with just 56 career walks issued, you know that Traxel will pound the strike zone. 

 

 

67. Tyler Davis, LHP, Virginia Commonwealth to Mississippi State

2022: 5-3, 3.60 ERA, 60 IP, 21 BB, 63 K, .210 AVG

In the piggyback pitching system VCU used last season, Davis was one of just two pitchers on staff to start double-digit games, with his 60 innings spread out over 17 appearances, 15 of which were starting assignments. Davis was tough in general last season, but he was particularly tough on left-handed hitters, as that group had just a .178 batting average against him. Davis was primarily a two-pitch pitcher a season ago, working with a fastball that averaged 89 mph and touched 92 and a slider in the high 70s and low 80s that had a 32% whiff rate. Though much less used, he also features a changeup in the low 80s. Any pitcher coming from VCU is going to have experience in myriad roles, and that will serve Davis well as he transitions to pitching in the SEC. 

68. Will McGillis, 2B, Southern Mississippi to South Carolina

2022: .265/.394/.543, 230 AB, 53 R, 61 H, 16 HR, 51 RBI, 6 SB

McGillis, a four-year contributor at Southern Miss who was a regular in the lineup basically from day one, set all kinds of career-high marks last season, including in all three slash line categories, home runs, RBIs, stolen bases and walks (32). His power really made a jump over the last two years, as 27 of his 30 career homers came in the last two seasons. Defensively, McGillis played all over the dirt at USM. He played shortstop in 2019 and first base in 2020 before moving to second base for his last two seasons in Hattiesburg. McGillis has never really hit for average—his career batting average at USM was .245—but on paper his power is a very good fit for the hitter-friendly ballpark at South Carolina. 

69. Justin Kirby, OF, Kent State to Auburn

2022: .323/.420/.646, 198 AB, 44 R, 64 H, 15 HR, 45 RBI, 14 SB

After the success it had with hitters transferring up from the mid-major level last season, Auburn is going to that well again with Kirby. He was a solid four-year contributor with the Golden Flashes, with a .305/.397/.564 career slash line with 42 doubles and 29 home runs, but the 2022 season represented a breakout, as he set career highs in just about every offensive category. He played all three outfield positions at Kent State, plus first base, but he has the most experience playing right field. 

70. Jake Dukart, INF, Oregon State to Texas Tech

2022: .262/.368/.418, 122 AB, 18 R, 32 H, 2 HR, 20 RBI, 1 SB

Dukart has had his moments offensively for Oregon State—he had a solid .368 on-base percentage each of the last two seasons—but the value that Texas Tech gets from him is more likely to come in his defensive versatility and his big-game experience. With the Beavers, he primarily played third base, but he also has experience at second base and shortstop, and he’s played in the postseason in each of his three full seasons in college baseball. Texas Tech certainly hopes Dukart’s transfer goes as well as Ty Coleman’s did last season. As Coleman was transferring from Texas A&M to Texas Tech at this time last year, his career numbers made him look the part of a light-hitting utility infielder, but then he went on to hit .318/.374/.489 with eight home runs. 

71. Brian Edgington, RHP, Elon to Virginia

2022: 6-4, 3.56 ERA, 86 IP, 27 BB, 86 K, .247 AVG

After one season at St. Joseph’s in 2018 and a 2019 season spent at the junior college level, Edgington arrived at Elon, where he’s been a steady starter each of the last two seasons, and all told, has a 3.90 ERA in 170.2 innings. He took a step forward last season by lowering his ERA from 4.08 to 3.56, lowering his hits per nine innings from 9.7 to 8.6 and increasing his strikeout rate from 8.4 to nine per nine innings. His fastball last season averaged just a touch over 90 mph and touched as high as 93. His changeup is his best secondary pitch. It’s thrown in the low 80s and had a 45% whiff rate a season ago. 

72. Blake Bales, RHP, Virginia to Oklahoma

2022: DNP (injury)

Bales missed all of the 2022 season due to his recovery from shoulder surgery that took place in July 2021, but before that, he was extremely effective in a short relief role for Virginia. In 63.1 innings with the Cavaliers, he had a 1.85 ERA and 78 strikeouts. He was just about unhittable in 2021, when he had a 0.71 ERA, a 54-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a .138 opponent batting average in 38 innings. Though there’s always the question of how well a pitcher’s stuff bounces back after missing an entire season due to injury, when he was last on the mound, he had swing-and-miss stuff. With a fastball that averaged just under 89 mph in 2021, he doesn’t necessarily have velocity that lights up a radar gun by today’s standards, but during that same season, he had a breaking ball that had a whiff rate approaching 50% and a changeup with a nearly 40% whiff rate. After losing a lot of key bullpen pieces from last year’s team, most notably closer Trevin Michael, Oklahoma needs some relief help and Bales in that way feels like a good fit. 

73. Nelson Berkwich, LHP, Vanderbilt to North Carolina

2022: 1-0, 3.00 ERA, 15 IP, 8 BB, 19 K, .254 AVG

Berkwich didn’t get much of a chance to showcase his skills in two seasons at Vanderbilt, but when he did get on the mound, he was effective. In 29.2 career innings in Nashville, he had a 3.03 ERA and a 38-to-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio. That alone should give UNC optimism that he’ll be a big part of the team’s pitching plans in 2023, but if that’s not enough, he’s also coming off of an excellent summer in the Cape Cod League, where he put up a 1.96 ERA with 18 strikeouts and four walks in 18.1 innings. Berkwich’s fastball last season averaged just over 90 mph and touched as high as 94, and his high-70s slider had a 41% whiff rate. The Tar Heels love to have plentiful quality bullpen options and Berkwich will qualify as one next season. 

74. Gabe Levy, RHP, Davidson to Indiana

2022: 2-0, 3.58 ERA, 32.2 IP, 9 BB, 34 K, .262 AVG

Levy did it all during his four seasons at Davidson. He began and ended his career as a closer, and in between, he was a member of the weekend rotation. All told, he put up a 3.27 ERA and 175 strikeouts compared to just 40 walks with the Wildcats in 181.2 innings. His most often used pitch last season was a low-80s changeup that induced a 44% whiff rate. His fastball is a high-80s offering that touched as high as 91 a season ago, and he also has a low-to-mid-80s slider to round out his three-pitch mix. Levy should be a nice jack-of-all-trades addition to the Indiana pitching staff next season. 

75. Billy Oldham, RHP, Eastern Connecticut State to Southern Mississippi

2022: 12-2, 2.53 ERA, 96 IP, 24 BB, 120 K, .217 AVG

Coming off of winning a Division III national championship at Eastern Connecticut State and enjoying a dominant season personally, Oldham will make the jump to Southern Miss, which had one of the best pitching staffs in the country a season ago and where he will have two more seasons of eligibility remaining. The righthander has a high-80s fastball that touches the low 90s with two distinct breaking balls and a changeup. The jump from Division III to the Sun Belt, where USM now plays, is significant but the Golden Eagles had a lot of success last season with a similar pitcher in Hunter Riggins, who had a 2.57 ERA after transferring from Division II Delta State (Miss.). 

76. Parker Nolan, OF, Davidson to North Carolina State

2022: .310/.442/.663, 187 AB, 58 R, 58 H, 15 HR, 50 RBI, 12 SB

Nolan is a great player development story out of Davidson. After getting a combined 190 at-bats in his first three seasons, he broke out in a big way in 2022, hitting better than .300 with 15 homers, which was good for second on a Wildcats team that hit 86 as a group. He’s also a good athlete who went 12-for-12 in stolen bases a season ago and can handle center field. NC State has been very aggressive in the transfer portal this summer, and Nolan should be a very good fit in the Wolfpack lineup. 

77. Nick Proctor, RHP, California to South Carolina

2022: 4-1, 4.11 ERA, 30.2 IP, 10 BB, 48 K, .235 AVG

Proctor threw 90.1 career innings over four seasons at Cal, but the 2022 campaign was far and away his best, as he set career-best marks all over the place, including strikeouts, strikeout rate at 14.1 per nine innings and strikeout-to-walk ratio with 4.8 strikeouts for every walk issued. His 4.11 ERA was also his best for any full season—he had a 2.03 ERA in 13.1 innings during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season—and he finished his time in Berkeley with a 4.88 career ERA. The righthander is a slider specialist, as he threw that pitch, which sits in the high 70s, 58% of the time and induced a 41% whiff rate from it. His fastball is a high-80s offering that touches the low 90s and he’ll also occasionally show a low-80s changeup as well. Proctor seems like a plug-and-play option for the South Carolina bullpen. 

78. Jacob Compton, 1B/OF, Memphis to South Carolina

2022: .291/.365/.540, 213 AB, 38 R, 62 H, 11 HR, 55 RBI, 0 SB

Compton had little issue adjusting to college baseball as a freshman last season, as he led Memphis in doubles (18) and home runs (11) as the team’s primary DH, with those power numbers matching his sturdy frame at six feet tall and 221 pounds. Compton appeared in just four games in the field last season, all of them at first base, so his defensive value to South Carolina is an open question, but given that the Gamecocks finished last in the SEC in batting average and home runs in 2022, anything they get from Compton defensively will likely be considered gravy as long as he produces like he did for Memphis. 

79. Joey Walls, OF, Nevada-Las Vegas to Long Beach State

2022: .350/.444/.614, 197 AB, 57 R, 69 H, 8 HR, 48 RBI, 6 SB

A transfer from the College of Southern Nevada, Walls had an immediate impact at UNLV last season. Many of his offensive numbers jump off the page, but none more so than his 26 doubles, which was good for a tie for first nationally. He does show traditional power as well, with eight home runs to show for it last season, but that gap power should make him a good fit at Long Beach State, which plays in a conference full of pitchers parks with big outfields. Defensively, Walls played exclusively right field last season, but regardless of where he ends up in the defensive alignment, he’ll be looked to as a run producer for the Dirtbags next season. 

80. Owen Diodati, OF, Alabama to Oregon

2022: .242/.360/.439, 157 AB, 27 R, 38 H, 8 HR, 26 RBI, 3 SB

Diodati, an Ontario native, has shown tantalizing flashes throughout his Alabama career, mostly with impressive displays of power, but hasn’t quite been able to put it all together for extended stretches. Diodati hit 24 home runs in three seasons, including 11 in 2021, but after hitting .309 in 17 games during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he batted .230 and .247 in his two full seasons with the Crimson Tide. The flashes he’s shown over the last few years were enough on their own to intrigue Oregon, but it can only help that Diodati is coming off of hitting .344/.500/.557 in the Cape Cod League this summer. Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski has a long track record of coaxing offensive improvement out of his players and Diodati could be the next such project. 

81. Hunter Hodges, RHP, UNC Wilmington to Texas Christian

2022: 3-2, 4.11 ERA, 30.2 IP, 33 BB, 51 K, .100 AVG

As UNC-Wilmington’s primary closer last season, Hodges proved incredibly difficult to hit. In 30.2 innings, he gave up 10 hits, just three of them for extra bases, all doubles. He also struck out 51 batters along the way. The issue was control, as he walked 33 batters and uncorked 16 wild pitches. Hodges has a unique repertoire, as last season he led with a low-80s curveball that he used 58% of the time, but with a 53% whiff rate, it’s hard to argue with that usage rate. His fastball, which he used 32% of the time, averaged just over 90 mph and touched 93. If Hodges can find the strike zone with more consistency next season, he can be a shutdown arm for TCU. 

82. Janzen Keisel, RHP, Brigham Young to Oklahoma State

2022: 3-2, 4.27 ERA, 46.1 IP, 25 BB, 58 K, .263 AVG

The 6-foot-4 Keisel got his college career started with a bang last season by throwing six one-hit, shutout innings with 10 strikeouts against Marshall during opening weekend, and while he wouldn’t live up to that high bar the rest of the season and his role shifted as the campaign went along, he was still an impact pitcher for the Cougars. In 2023 and beyond, Oklahoma State hopes to get more outings out of Keisel similar to the one he put up against Marshall early last season. The righthander certainly has big-time stuff. His fastball averaged just a tick over 92 mph last season and touched as high as 97, and his most often used secondary pitch, a low-80s slider, had a 36% whiff rate. Keisel has a high floor as a bullpen arm for the Cowboys, but his ceiling is certainly that of a member of the weekend rotation. 

83. Jonathan Childress, LHP, Texas A&M to East Carolina

2022: 0.1 IP (injury)

Unfortunately, you can’t really talk about Childress without first talking about his injury history. After pitching in three games as a freshman, he was shut down and had to have Tommy John surgery. Then, after looking healthy and at times dominant early in 2020, the season was canceled. And after he finally put together a full season in 2021—he had a 4.61 ERA with 67 strikeouts in 52.2 innings—he pitched just one-third of an inning in 2022 in February before he was shut down for the season due to an undisclosed injury. All of that means Childress has thrown just 80.1 innings over four years of college baseball. When he’s been healthy, he’s been effective and while his stuff, perhaps understandably, hasn’t really made a jump from his prep days, it’s always been good enough to get outs. His fastball was a high-80s pitch back in 2021 that touched the low 90s and his low-80s slider had a 41% whiff rate. ECU is in need of some weekend rotation options after the departure of veteran stalwart Jake Kuchmaner and 2022 ace CJ Mayhue, and if he’s healthy, Childress could be that for the Pirates. 

84. Mason Vinyard, RHP, Western Kentucky to Kentucky (NOTE: After this list was published, Vinyard signed a non-drafted free agent deal with the Yankees)

2022: 2-2, 4.26 ERA, 31.2 IP, 12 BB, 53 K, .248 AVG

Vinyard was a longtime solid arm in the Western Kentucky bullpen. In 67 innings across three seasons—he threw just 4.1 innings as a freshman in 2020—Vinyard has a 4.30 ERA and a 94-to-21 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He set a career high in strikeouts with 53 last season in 31.2 innings, which translates to 15.1 strikeouts per nine innings, an elite number. Not surprisingly given those numbers, he has good stuff. His fastball last season averaged over 91 mph and touched as high as 95, his mid-80s changeup had a 48% whiff rate and his mid-80s slider had an absurd 62% whiff rate. UK had a lot of success last season with transfer relievers from the mid-major ranks, and it hopes to replicate that with Vinyard. 

85. Josh Mollerus, RHP, San Francisco to Oregon

2022: 4-2, 3.96 ERA, 36.1 IP, 9 BB, 52 K, .221 AVG

After putting up ERAs of 5.26, 13.50 and 7.04 in his first three season at San Francisco, Mollerus took a step forward in 2022 and became one of USF’s most trusted relievers, with his strikeout rate of 12.9 per nine innings and ratio of 5.78 strikeouts for every walk issued standing out as his most impressive numbers. The righthander’s fastball last season averaged just under 91 mph and touched as high as 94, with his low-to-mid-80s slider inducing a 46% whiff rate. Mollerus, with his strike-throwing ability, firm enough fastball and a swing-and-miss slider, should be a ready-made bullpen option for Oregon in 2023. 

86. Zach DeVito, RHP, Tulane to Georgia

2022: 4-1, 4.01 ERA, 24.2 IP, 13 BB, 40 K, .216 AVG

After finishing the 2021 season with a 6.91 ERA, DeVito shined in 2022 as Tulane’s closer. He lowered his ERA to 4.01, dropped his WHIP from 1.610 to 1.297, lowered his hits allowed per nine innings from 10.5 to 6.9 and raised his strikeout rate from 9.5 to 14.6 per nine innings, all while saving nine games for the Green Wave. DeVito uses a pretty straightforward fastball-slider combination to get outs. His fastball last season averaged over 92 mph and touched as high as 95, and his low-to-mid-80s slider had a 55% whiff rate. The one nitpick with DeVito is that he has issued 4.3 walks per nine innings in his career, which is a touch high, but that shouldn’t keep him from being able to get outs consistently in the SEC. 

87. Caleb Denny, OF, Oral Roberts to South Carolina

2022: .331/.389/.565, 239 AB, 63 R, 79 H, 11 HR, 57 RBI, 9 SB

After beginning his career with a redshirt season at Arkansas in 2019, Denny moved to Oral Roberts, where he improved at the plate with each passing season. Over three seasons with the Golden Eagles, he hit .302/.371/.493 with 34 doubles, 19 home runs and 102 RBIs. His best season was last season, when he set career-high marks across the board. Now, he’ll move back to the SEC at South Carolina, hoping to make more of an impact his second time around in the league. 

88. David Bryant, SS, Radford to Virginia Tech

2022: .307/.431/.436, 140 AB, 21 R, 43 H, 2 HR, 29 RBI, 5 SB

Bryant is a proven commodity. In four years at Radford, he hit .306/.426/.437 with just 102 strikeouts in 636 plate appearances. His best offensive season was 2021, when he hit .364/.480/.594 with seven home runs. With 77 games at the position, he mostly played shortstop with the Highlanders, but also made 66 appearances at second base and 18 at third base, giving him experience all over the infield. 

89. Cole Andrews, C, Miami (OH) to Ohio State

2022: .291/.369/.537, 203 AB, 39 R, 59 H, 9 HR, 53 RBI, 1 SB

With the catching duo of Brent Todys and Archer Brookman departing after last season, Ohio State found itself in need of reinforcements and Andrews provides a solid option. With a strong 6-foot, 215-pound frame that one would expect from a veteran catcher, Andrews was a .288/.378/.477 career hitter at Miami (OH), with his 19 doubles and nine homers in 2022 making last season a breakout campaign from a power perspective. Andrews didn’t see full-time reps behind the plate with the Redhawks until last season, but he might be asked to do more of that right away in Columbus. 

90. Cole Hebble, SS, Massachusetts to Duke

2022: .354/.419/.538, 195 AB, 52 R, 69 H, 4 HR, 25 RBI, 5 SB

Hebble has been systematically making his way up the college baseball ranks over the last several years. After four years at Division III Swarthmore (Pa.), which didn’t play baseball at all in 2021, Hebble transferred to Massachusetts, where he was an immediate spark plug in the lineup, leading the Minutemen in hitting, doubles (20) and total bases (105). The next jump, to Duke and the ACC, will be tougher, but it seems like a safe bet that Hebble will find a way to be an effective offensive player one way or the other. Perhaps more important, though, is that he’s proven to be a very steady defensive shortstop. In playing and starting all 47 of UMass’ games at shortstop last season, he made just five errors. That kind of steady hand tends to translate well, especially when you consider that he will be playing on better quality surfaces in the ACC than he did in the Atlantic 10. 

91. Chase Hungate, RHP, Virginia Commonwealth to Virginia

2022: 6-4, 3.57 ERA, 63 IP, 14 BB, 46 K, .245 AVG

Hungate last season was perhaps the poster child for VCU’s piggyback pitching system. He pitched in 21 games, all of them in relief, and yet he was second on the team in innings with 63, and as a freshman, no less. A true sidewinder, the righthander gets by on location and deception more than velocity. His fastball averaged less than 84 mph last season and never once broke 90, though it does have significant run thanks to his low slot. He also features a high-70s changeup and a high-70s slider, with the latter having the best whiff rate of the three pitches at 31%. Virginia is not shy about using pitchers who value deception and funk over stuff in high-leverage spots—recall that Stephen Schoch held a prominent role on a team that went to Omaha in 2021—and Hungate looks to be next in line. 

92. Patrick Herrera, 2B, Northwestern to Kentucky

2022: .336/.457/.478, 113 AB, 35 R, 38 H, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 3 SB

Herrera didn’t work his way into the Northwestern starting lineup with any regularity until mid April last season as a first-year player, but he made the most of his time once he did break through. He finished the season leading the Wildcats in hitting and on-base percentage, which helped him push his way to the leadoff spot by the time things were all said and done. Defensively, he’ll bring some versatility to Kentucky. He played a majority of his games (33) at second base, where he earned all-Big Ten second team honors, but he also saw time at third base and shortstop. At a minimum, he’s a pesky offensive player with a knack for getting on base who can handle a lot thrown at him defensively on the infield. But if he can take a step forward and pick up where he left off last season at Northwestern, he can be one of the best top-of-the-lineup catalysts in the SEC. 

93. Brennen Dorighi, OF/1B, Wofford to Iowa

2022: .339/.399/.552, 192 AB, 39 R, 65 H, 9 HR, 53 RBI, 9 SB

Because Wofford doesn’t have a graduate school, Dorigihi had to find a place to play a fifth season after spending four years in Spartanburg. That place is Iowa, where he will try to recreate or improve upon a good year at the plate in 2022, when he was among the Terriers’ most trusted hitters on a team that hit .315 as a group. He has experience playing the outfield corners and first base, but more than anything else, the Hawkeyes will be excited to have his bat in the lineup in 2023. 

94. Ben Nippolt, INF, Virginia Commonwealth to Louisiana State

2022: .308/.430/.407, 172 AB, 48 R, 53 H, 2 HR, 31 RBI, 4 SB

A late entry to the transfer portal after VCU’s coaching change this summer, Nippolt will be a welcome addition at LSU. Offensively, Nippolt is a pesky hitter who not only batted .308 last season for the Rams but also had more walks (31) than strikeouts (19), which helped him amass a .430 on-base percentage. Perhaps more important given where LSU has question marks, however, Nippolt brings defensive versatility to the table. Last season at VCU, he played 34 games at third base, 17 at second base and four at shortstop. Nippolt will have to fight to crack a stout LSU lineup but that kind of versatility will almost certainly ensure that he sees the field with regularity even if he’s not getting starting assignments. 

95. Aidan Moza, RHP, Alabama-Birmingham to Alabama

2022: 2-2, 4.41 ERA, 34.2 IP, 14 BB, 30 K, .284 AVG

Moza emerged as a steady relief option for UAB as a freshman in 2022. He was tied for third on the team in appearances and he saved three games. The righthander last season led with a fastball that averaged over 92 mph and touched as high as 97. His top secondary pitch is a high-70s curveball that had a whiff rate just shy of 30% last season. Moza clearly has high-end stuff. If he can harness that to miss more bats as he moves forward at Alabama, he can be a real weapon for the Crimson Tide. 

96. Hunter Haas, SS/3B, Arizona State to Texas A&M

2022: .186/.342/.237, 59 AB, 10 R, 11 H, 0 HR, 7 RBI, 3 SB

With Haas, you have to look beyond his 2022 offensive stat line to find the value he brings to the table. For one, he missed significant time with injury last season, so he never really had the chance to get comfortable. Secondly, he swung the bat much more effectively as a freshman in 2021, hitting .304 with a .371 on-base percentage and 15 doubles. Perhaps more importantly, though, he has high-end defensive skills. He showcased them at third base his freshman season at ASU and was the Sun Devils’ starting shortstop last season before injuries derailed him and then returned him to third base late in the season. 

97. Grant Smith, SS, Incarnate Word to Kentucky

2022: .289/.401/.493, 201 AB, 42 R, 58 H, 8 HR, 34 RBI, 5 SB

Smith is certainly a value add for Kentucky defensively. He played 117 career games over three seasons at Incarnate Word, all of them at shortstop, and he had a fielding percentage of .950 or better in all three of those seasons. He’s also proven to be an impact hitter. In his time at UIW, he batted .294/.389/.467 and he improved with each passing year, especially when it comes to impacting the baseball for extra-base hits. The 2022 season, for example, saw career-high marks in doubles (13) and home runs (8), which led to a career-best slugging percentage of .493. 

98. Carter Bosch, RHP, Georgetown to Notre Dame

2022: 6-4, 4.50 ERA, 64 IP, 25 BB, 64 K, .266 AVG

Circumstances made it so that Bosch wasn’t always put in the best position to shine at Georgetown. After a freshman season where he had a 9.00 ERA in 38 innings, attempts at a step forward for Bosch were cut short by the pandemic in 2020 and then the Georgetown administration’s decision to severely limit the Hoyas’ schedule in 2021. He finally got something resembling a full workload in 2022 and emerged as one of Georgetown’s most effective pitchers. Bosch has a strong frame at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds and he has the stuff to match. His fastball averaged 89 mph last season and touched as high as 95. His primary offspeed pitch is a slider in the mid 70s and low 80s that had a 31% whiff rate and he’ll also toss in the occasional mid-80s changeup. 

99. Sam Stoutenborough, RHP, California to Texas Christian

2022: 2-4, 5.58 ERA, 59.2 IP, 8 BB, 38 K, .304 AVG

Stoutenborough is one of the most experienced pitchers to go through the transfer portal this offseason, with 202.1 career innings under his belt as a four-year contributor at Cal. All told, he has a 4.71 career ERA, and with 134 strikeouts and 57 walks (and never more than 14 walks in any single season since 2019), it’s clear that the righthander is more about command than raw stuff. The data bears that out as well—Stoutenborough’s fastball averaged just under 89 mph last season and touched 91—but he does have a starting pitcher’s repertoire with four pitches at his disposal. In addition to the heater, he has a low-80s changeup, a low-80s slider and a mid-70s curveball. Stoutenborough likely won’t show the swing-and-miss stuff to dominate games, but it’s not overly optimistic for the club to hope for him to be another version of Brett Walker, a pitch-to-contact righthander who transferred in from Oregon at this time last year and ended up starting 11 games.

100. Will David, 3B, Samford to Georgia

2022: .303/.412/.434, 198 AB, 38 R, 60 H, 5 HR, 29 RBI, 1 SB

After hitting .304/.400/.377 as a third-year player in 2021, his first full season as a lineup regular, David took another step forward last season by bumping his slash line to .303/.412/.434 with career-high marks in doubles (11) and home runs (5), all while walking (31) more than he struck out (29). After arriving at Samford as a highly-regarded prep catcher, David settled in defensively at third base. David will go from being a Samford Bulldog to being a Georgia Bulldog as he wraps up his college baseball career in his home state.