QCP

to contribute significantly in 2027. If he is healthy, I think he will absolutely push Hurt at DH and give us a true middle-of-the-order bat with plus power from the left side.

Also good to hear about Arnett as well. He may not earn a starting spot out of the gate, but I think he will push Locurto for playing time in LF and could certainly be a right-handed option at DH.

Between Hankins, Arnett and Grady, this could end up being one of our deeper offenses where we'll have viable options to insert guys into the lineup if we have anyone that falters or goes into an extended slump.

Threw 3.0 innings in relief and got a hold while allowing just a solo homer to Ben Rice, striking out 4, waking none and retiring 9 of 10 batters he faced.

So keeping Daniel at SS makes sense. I believe Grady’s injury this past season was a wrist injury so I am wondering how healthy he will be for the spring. Given the injuries, I suspect he’ll end up being a contributor off the bench.

Hankins is also out with a shoulder injury this fall after a knee injury earlier this year so he is probably another i wouldn’t expect a big contribution from in 2027.

The only surprises with yesterday’s game 1 lineup was Gibson at 3B and Lutterman at 1B…I figured they would have had them flipped. The other mild surprise is Truitt at leadoff. He has the skill set for it but we’ll have to see if he proves to be enough of an impact bat at the top of the order to remain there.

They had. Would love to hear from anybody that had an opportunity to attend in person.

Recap

≫ L, 4-6 (7 inn.)
≫ W, 4-2 (6 inn.)


Game 1 Lineup

CF - Truitt
3B - Gibson
2B - Ball
1B - Lutterman
RF - Grube
SS - Daniel
DH - Hurt
C - Strawhecker
LF - Locurto

P - Eisenreich


Game 1 Pitching Highlights

≫ @LoganEisenreich: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 3 SO
≫ @EthanGrim6: 1.0 IP, 0 R, SO


Game 1 Hitting Highlights

@NickLocurto and @LuttermanHudson (2x) go yard against the 'Hoos during game one
https://x.com/HokiesBaseball/status/2106844932438991308

(Only the first 3 links are shown. Post contained 4 links.)

With the minor league season and MLB regular season completed, below is a recap of how our VT Baseball pro players fared in the month of September. I will plan to do a season recap once Ian Seymour’s participation in the MLB postseason ends to give a full season perspective on all of our hitters and pitchers.

Recent Level Changes (since 9/1/26)

• Despite not having a ton of success at the AA level, Nick Biddison earned a promotion from AA to AAA on 9/13. After his promotion, he played in 6 games at the AAA level and posted a slash line of .211 avg / .348 obp / .211 slg / .558 ops in 24 plate appearances. While it was a short stint, he managed to work his way this year from A+ to AAA.

• Joe Mantiply was called back up to Toronto on 9/1 and pitched in 8 games during the month. It was a bit of a mixed bag in terms of performance as he finished with a 4.82 era and 1.29 whip across 9.1 innings.

• Zach Brzykcy spent most of the month in AAA where he had a solid month with a 3.24 era and 1.32 whip in 8.1 innings across 5 appearances. He was then promoted to Miami on 9/28 but did not pitch in any games before the end of the season.

• After a rocky couple of months in AAA, Drue Hackenberg was sent back down to AA on 9/1 and had two fantastic back-to-back starts where he went 8.0 innings in each and gave up just 1 earned run in each and posting a game score of 77 in each. Across the two starts combined, he finished with a pitching line of 16.0 ip, 7 h, 2 er, 2 bb, 14 so. With the two good starts, he was promoted back to AAA on 9/15 and made one final start to end the season, but unfortunately, it was another bad outing at the AAA level where he gave up 8 earned runs on 11 hits in 5.0 innings.

• Brady Kirtner earned a promotion to AA on 9/8 and saw two relief appearances at that level to close out the season. His AA debut was decent (1.2 ip, 2 h, 1 er, 1 bb, 2 so) but unfortunately, he had a rough outing in his second appearance giving up 3 earned runs on 4 hits and 2 walks while recording just one out.

• Christian Worley earned a promotion to AA on 9/1 and was able to make 4 relief appearances at that level and didn’t fare too bad as he posted a pitching line of 4.0 ip, 4 h, 2 er, 1 bb, 4 so which was good for a 4.50 era and 1.25 whip.

Trending Up (since 9/1/26)

• TJ Rumfield finished the year strong with one of his best months of the year in September. For the month, he finished with a slash line of .359 avg / .432 obp / .551 slg / .983 in 88 plate appearances. His avg and obp were his best of any full month this season and his slg and ops were his second best. Overall, it was a very strong finish to a very strong rookie season.

• After a quiet month of August, Cade Hunter finished the season with a bang as he had a slash line of .294 avg / .368 obp / .559 slg / .927 ops in the month of September and his performance included a 4-hit game on 9/3 and a 2-hit game with a double, home run and four rbi’s on 9/11.

• After his worst month of the season in August, Eddie Micheletti rebounded with a solid month of September which saw him post a slash line of .250 avg / .308 obp / .583 slg / .891 ops.

• Carson DeMartini followed up his excellent month of August with another month in September that featured him posting an ops of 1.000+. In 53 plate appearances, he posted a slash line of .289 avg / .472 obp / .579 slg / 1.051 ops along with 3 sb.

• He only played in 6 games in September, but Jared Davis had another good month with a slash line of .308 avg / .400 obp / .538 slg / .938 slg with 4 2b and 1 3b in 30 plate appearances.

• Peyton Alford had a nice finish to the season in AAA, posting a win and a save to go along with a 2.57 era and 0.86 whip in 7.0 innings during the month of September.

Trending Down (since 9/1/26)

• Carson Taylor finished the season with arguably his worst month as he struggled to a slash line of .154 avg / .214 obp / .269 slg / .484 ops in 28 plate appearances across 8 games in September.

• After a really hot couple of months, Gavin Cross finished the season in September with a lackluster month, posting a slash line of .213 avg / .226 obp / .377 slg / .603 ops. The month was his worst of the season since April but he still managed to post a solid .740 ops for the season to go along with 17 hr and 25 sb.

Injuries

• Kerry Carpenter was transferred from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list on 9/26, finishing the season on the IL and not having played since 7/26.

• Jack Hurley finished the season on the 60-day injured list after being placed on it back in August and not having played since 7/21.

Other Notes

• Ian Seymour had another decent month as a starter for Tampa Bay with a 4.19 era and 1.09 whip in 19.1 innings pitched across 5 appearances (4 starts). He will get a chance to experience postseason action against the Yankees in an ALDS series.

as @s11rww notes below, Massey has a model that you can argue is a bit dated with how much it weighs prior season results so that is why his is considerably lower currently. His reliance on prior seasons goes away after 5 games so if we do happen to beat Pitt, I would fully expect Massey's ratings to put us around 9 projected wins.

Based on our current win odds, we essentially have 3 likely wins (CAL, GT, STAN), 1 likely loss (MIA) and 4 toss-ups (PITT, CLEM, SMU, UVA) so a path to 9 wins is sweeping CAL, GT, STAN and splitting our toss-up games.

If we beat PITT, I think our projected wins would bump up to around the 9 to 9.5 range. If we lose to PITT, I would assume our projected wins would land in the 7 to 7.5 range.

Roster where they were promised a scholarship but now we won’t be able to honor? We brought in a fair amount of transfers, so curious if we might see some unexpected attrition with guys we had in the fold based on scholarship commitments.

dependent upon whatever VT Baseball shares on their X/Twitter feed. There is usually a little more coverage on scrimmages with other opponents but I don't know that anyone else on the board that is inside the program enough to have in-depth insights on the VT World Series but will let others weigh in. I also know that TSL staff are fully focused on the Football program during the fall, so there isn't much coverage of fall baseball.

In any case, below is a link to a post I had at the end of last fall that I hope to do something similar to assuming information is available online.

He is a good pickup as he is the #7 prospect in the 2028 VA class per Prep Baseball Report.

Below is a scouting report from Gemini that cites PBR and Perfect Game.

Scouting Report: Ryan Bahr (Class of 2028)
Position: 3B / Corner OF / RHP
High School: St. Paul VI Catholic High School (Chantilly, VA)
Physical Profile: ~6’4” – 6’5”, 205–210 lbs. A multi-sport athlete with a high-waisted, projectable frame that has significant room to continue maturing and filling out physically.

Hitting & Power
• Raw Power & Exit Velocity: High raw power potential. Peak exit velocities reaching 100+ mph with max flight distances pushing 380+ feet.
• Swing Profile: Strong hand speed (24.5 mph max) and bat speed (~75+ mph max). Features a heavy barrel that creates natural carry to both gaps and down the pull-side line.
• Development Area: Needs continued exposure against top-tier velocity and secondary pitches to refine swing decisions and pitch recognition.

Defense & Position Projection
• Current Position: Third base / Corner Infield. Showed reliable hands, a low-pulse demeanor, and quick instincts as a underclassman.
• Arm Strength: Infield arm strength in the mid-80s (around 85 mph) with an easy, fluid release.
• Long-Term Fit: Given his 6'5" size and functional athleticism, he projects long-term as a power corner infielder (3B/1B) or corner outfielder.

Pitching Profile (Right-Handed Pitcher)
• Fastball: Tops out around 90–91 mph, sitting naturally in the high-80s with projection for mid-90s as he fills out.
• Secondary Mix: Throws a mid-to-upper 70s slider with sweeping shape, along with a changeup in the low-to-mid 80s that shows split-like diving action.
• Role Projection: More "athlete on the mound" right now than a refined pitcher. While the arm strength makes him a interesting dual-prospect, his offensive ceiling is generally considered his primary carrying trait for college.

Summary & Virginia Tech Fit
Bahr is a high-upside, multi-sport athlete (also a Division-I prospect on the basketball court at Paul VI). Because he splits time with basketball, his baseball ceiling is exceptionally high as he focuses more exclusively on the diamond. He fits Virginia Tech's profile of recruiting physical, athletic corner bats who bring positional versatility and explosive power.

he was a consistent contributor for the Hokies in his 4 years here. Looking at his Perfect Game profile, he apparently got overlooked in the recruiting process before going to a PG Unsigned Seniors Showcase in June 2004 and did well enough to where he was signed by VT and went on to a solid college career. PG had him ranked the #267 player nationally in the 2004 class.

Of a hitter he currently projects as but always hard to not give a lefty a chance on the mound that can touch 90 from a velocity standpoint.

I am still worried that his offensive output and potential will continue him climbing MLB Draft prospects lists and be a risk in losing him to the pros.

Here is a scouting report from Gemini which compiles information from Perfect Game and Prep Baseball Report.

Physical Profile & Overview
• Position: 3B / SS / RHP
• Height / Weight: 6'3"–6'4" | ~175–180 lbs
• Bats / Throws: Right / Right
• High School: Miller School of Albemarle (Charlottesville, VA)

Lockhart features a long, lean, highly projectable frame with room to add significant functional strength as he continues to mature physically.

Scouting Breakdown

Hitting & Offense
• Swing & Setup: Uses an open, balanced-to-upright setup with a rhythmic leg-kick trigger to initiate load.
• Batted-Ball Profile: Shows a slightly uphill barrel path that creates natural leverage. He generates standard drive to the middle/pull side of the field with solid extension.
• Exit Velocity: Has recorded a peak exit velocity reaching 98–99 mph (averaging late 80s in showcase settings), showing advanced power potential for his class.

Defense & Athleticism
• Infield Play: Soft, fluid hands and controlled, clean footwork through fielding motions. He plays with confidence on tougher lateral plays and secures the ball cleanly in the pocket.
• Arm Strength: Shows quick, loose arm action across the diamond, registering infield velocity throws up to 88–91 mph.
• Speed: Above-average runner for an infielder with a taller frame, clocking a 6.84 to 6.98-second 60-yard dash and a sharp 1.50–1.65 second 10-yard split.

Pitching (RHP)
• Runs a loose, quick arm path on the mound. Fastball velocity has been tracked up into the lower 80s in showcase evaluations as a underclassman, with physical growth hinting at significant future velocity jumps.

Projection at Virginia Tech
• As a taller infielder, Lockhart projects long-term as an athletic, power-potential third baseman or dynamic corner infielder, though his speed and arm strength keep his versatility open across the dirt. His high upside relies on filling out his 6'4" frame with lean mass, which will translate his raw barrel speed into consistent, high-end power.

With fall baseball practice getting underway, below is an updated 2027 roster projection along with some roster battles to watch. On the table, I tried to list projected cut lines for a 34-man roster (maroon lines) and for a hypothetical 38-man roster (orange line) assuming we could carry four additional as a result of Designated Student Athletes and/or injured players.

Roster Battles

• Catcher: We will likely need to trim 1 catcher heading into the spring. I expect Caleb Strawhecker and CJ Oxendine to be our top 2, so look for the battle to come down to JUCO C/1B Brooks Carter and incoming freshman Justin Munoz. Carter offers some good pop from the left side as well as positional versatility, but if Evan Hankins is healthy in the spring, his skill set may overlap a bit with him at 1B and some with Strawhecker at C. Munoz is a sturdy catcher with promising power and solid defensive ability that would offer class separation from our top 2 catchers, but he was very up-and-down this summer in the Appalachian League and probably isn’t ready to contribute in 2027, whereas Carter may be a better option if the coaches are looking for more of a 2027 impact.

• Infield: We will likely need to trim 1 infielder heading into the spring. With three incoming freshmen, I would expect the battle to come down to JM Szefc, Palmer Hornick and Lucas Delacruz. I would expect Szefc to make the cut given his strong summer performance in the Appalachian League and being the son of Coach Szefc. Palmer Hornick had one of the best summers we’ve had for an incoming freshman in recent memory, and he was fairly well-regarded as a recruit, so I also expect him to find a spot on the spring roster even if he is stuck behind a number of upperclassmen. That leaves Delacruz needing to have a big fall in order to find a way on the spring roster.

• Outfield: We typically keep about 5 outfielders on a 34-man roster but could possibly roster a 6th depending on if we have any Designated Student Athletes (DSA’s) that would allow us to go beyond the 34-man limit. We have three players that should be locks to make the roster (Nick Locurto, Sam Grube, Brantley Truitt), so that would leave 2 to 3 roster spots available for 5 other outfield options (Willie Hurt, Aiden Arnett, Connor Guy, Brady Elrod, Owen Green). Since Willie Hurt played predominantly in the outfield this summer, I expect him to slot as an outfielder in the spring and make the roster. I also think Aiden Arnett offers a strong right-handed corner outfield option that should give him an edge in making the roster cut but he’ll need to carry his summer production into the fall and prove he can handle the transition to college. That will likely leave at most one roster spot between Connor Guy, Brady Elrod and Owen Green. Guy has the most experience being a JUCO transfer and showed some promise as a freshman, but hasn’t exactly been stellar in 2026. It also doesn’t help that his skill set is very redundant to that of transfer portal pickup Brantley Truitt. Among our two other incoming freshmen, Brady Elrod is a right-handed option that struggled a bit in the Appalachian League this summer but has some good athletic potential. Owen Green is a bit of a mystery so he will likely need to make a huge impression this fall to factor into the spring roster mix.

• Right-Handed Pitchers: With Aiden Robertson moving on, we likely will only need to trim one more RHP at most. I would expect the battle for the last RHP spot to come down to Jake Wise, Ryan Walsh and incoming freshman Will Vetter. Wise hasn’t gotten the best results this past spring and summer but given that he saw more action than Ryan Walsh while he redshirted, I assume Wise is still ahead of Walsh. With that, I expect Walsh to vie with Will Vetter for a roster spot.

• Left-Handed Pitchers: With George Adams no longer on the roster, I think we have a similar situation with our LHP where depending on the situation, we may be able to keep all of our current LHP but if we do need to get down to 34, I would expect us to trim one LHP. In that scenario, I would expect the battle to come down to freshmen Cam Hayworth and Dax Hammett. Given that Doug Willey recently took a commitment from Hammett and Hayworth was originally recruited by Ryan Fectau, I would give the nod to Hammett if a roster spot decision needs to be made.

Below is a Gemini AI scouting report. Also, he is currently the #9 VA/DC player in the 2028 class per Prep Baseball Report.

Ryan Waddell is a high-energy two-way prospect out of Western Branch High School in Virginia who committed to Virginia Tech.

Player Profile & Physical Vitals
• Class: 2028
• Positions: RHP / SS / Outfield
• Height/Weight: 6'3", 185 lbs
• Bats/Throws: R/R
• High School: Western Branch High School (Chesapeake, VA)
• Travel Team: Tidewater Thunderbirds
• Commitment: Virginia Tech Hokies

On-the-Mound Scouting Report (RHP)
• Fastball (FB): Currently sits in the 87–90 mph range (topping out at 90 mph) with late ride. Works from a lower-to-high three-quarter arm slot, attacking hitters with a competitive, aggressive demeanor.

• Secondary Pitches:
o Slider (SL): Sits 76–79 mph with sweeping action (around 2,500 RPM spin rate). Generates consistent swing-and-miss both inside and expanding outside the strike zone.

o Changeup (CH): Mixes in a fading changeup in the 73–78 mph range.

• Delivery & Presence: Known as an ultra-competitor on the bump with a high-energy, attacking approach. Displays a strong arm with good velocity maintenance deep into outings.

Position & Hit Profile (Shortstop / Outfield)
• Bat / Power: Right-handed hitter who generates big-time bat speed (max bat speed over 76 mph). Shows strong pull-side power, posting maximum exit velocities up to 99.1 mph.

• Defense & Arm Strength: Features a big arm on the dirt and in the grass, registering up to 92–93 mph on outfield throws.

• Athletic Measurables: Strong athlete for a 6'3" frame, running a 7.35-second 60-yard dash with quick short-burst speed (3.85-second 30-yard split).

Projection for Virginia Tech
Waddell brings raw athleticism and high-end arm talent to the ACC level. While his exit velocities (99 mph) and bat speed present real upside as a position player, his immediate calling card projects to be on the mound, where his low-slot fastball/sweeper combination and aggressive attack mentality make him a relentless option for the Hokies.

Below is a scouting report from Gemini AI:

Dominic Webb is a projectable two-way prospect out of Mechanicsville, Virginia, who committed to Virginia Tech.

Player Profile & Vitals
• Class: 2028
• Primary Positions: Outfield (OF) / Left-Handed Pitcher (LHP)
• Height/Weight: 6'3"–6'4", 175–188 lbs (Tall, lanky frame with significant room to fill out)
• Bats/Throws: L/L
• High School: Hanover High School (Mechanicsville, VA)
• Travel Team: Richmond Braves 16U Platinum
• Commitment: Virginia Tech Hokies

On-the-Mound Scouting Report (LHP)
• Fastball (FB): Sits in the 86–89 mph range, topping out around 89 mph with solid spin dynamics (around 2,200 RPM). As a left-handed pitcher with a 6'3"+ frame, his velocity projection is upside-heavy as he continues adding functional strength.

• Mechanics: Displays a clean, long arm action that stays continuous through his delivery, giving his pitches natural late movement and deception out of his hand.

Position & Hitting Profile (Outfield)
• Bat / Power: Left-handed hitter featuring a balanced, upright stance with a smooth, rhythmic load. Generates an uphill barrel path designed to lift the ball. Boasts impressive raw power metrics for his age, with top exit velocities hitting 95.2 mph and maximum distance reaching 361–365 feet.

• Outfield Defense & Arm: High-end arm strength from the outfield, registering up to 93 mph on throws with controlled footwork and reliable hands.

• Athletic Measurables: Posts solid run splits for a long-limbed frame, running a 7.38-second 60-yard dash with strong short-burst mechanics.

Projection for Virginia Tech
Dominic Webb brings a rare combination of left-handed power at the plate and high-level arm speed from both the outfield and the mound. His standout outfield arm strength (93 mph) and rising fastball velocity make him a high-upside dual prospect for the ACC level, with a physical frame that suggests plenty of room for continued growth.

[Edited by QCP: 09/07/2026 at 10:59 PM ET]

Below is a summary from Gemini AI. Also, he is currently the #282 player nationally in the 2028 class per Perfect Game.

Alex Potter is a high-upside dual-prospect out of Dickson County High School in Tennessee (playing summer ball with the Midland Redskins).

Player Profile & Physical Vitals
• Class: 2028
• Position: RHP / 3B / INF
• Height/Weight: 6'2", ~180 lbs
• Bats/Throws: R/R
• High School: Dickson County (Burns, TN)
• Travel Team: Midland Redskins
• Commitment: Virginia Tech Hokies

On-the-Mound Scouting Report (RHP)
• Fastball (FB): Currently sits in the 86–88 mph range, topping out at 90 mph with high vertical carry and late movement. Given his long-limbed 6'2" frame, his velocity projection is significant as he matures physically.

• Secondary Pitches:
o Slider (SL) / Curveball (CB): Features a sharp-breaking slurvy action (74–76 mph slider / 68–72 mph 12-6 curveball) that generates consistent swing-and-miss.
o Changeup (CH): Mixes in a fading changeup (73–75 mph) with noticeable depth down in the strike zone.

• Delivery & Mechanics: Clean, athletic leg kick with strong tempo and high-3/4 release. His quick arm speed creates natural whip, allowing the ball to jump out on hitters.

Position & Hit Profile (3B / Infield)
• Bat / Power: Right-handed hitter featuring a tall, slightly open setup. Shows quick, twitchy hands (bat speeds around 70 mph) and generates solid pull-side power, recording exit velocities up to 97 mph.

• Infield Defense & Arm: Displays fluid footwork and soft hands at third base. Strong, loose arm across the diamond that registered 91 mph from the infield.

• Athletic Measurables: Sub-7.1 runner in the 60-yard dash (7.07–7.08s) with strong burst splits.

Projection for Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech gets an athletic projectable arm with legitimate two-way capability. While his primary calling card at the ACC level will likely be his power potential on the mound (where velocity increases typically project into the mid-90s), his infield athleticism and raw exit velocity offer early optionality in his development.

RHP/3B Alex Potter, LHP/OF Dominic Webb and RHP/SS Ryan Waddell. I will post scouting reports of each below.

[Edited by QCP: 09/07/2026 at 10:56 PM ET]

Below is a summary of how our VT Baseball Professional Players fared in the month of August which featured a few promotions, some injuries and both good and bad performances.

Recent Level Changes (since 8/1/26)

• After a hot start to August (7-for-10 with 2 2b, 1 3b, 1 hr, 6 rbi in 3 games), Nick Biddison was promoted from A+ to AA on 8/5. After his move to AA, he struggled for the rest of the month, posting a slash line of .091 avg / .250 obp / .136 slg / .386 ops in 28 plate appearances.

• Jared Davis was promoted from Rookie ball to high-A on 8/18 where he had a hot start at that level, posting a slash line of .435 avg / .519 obp / .522 slg / 1.040 ops in 28 plate appearances including a 3-hit, 5-rbi game on 8/20 and getting a hit in all 7 games he played in.

• David McCann was promoted from A ball to high-A ball on 8/4. He continued his strong hitting, posting a slash line of .261 avg / .346 obp / .580 slg / .926 ops in 78 plate appearances, including a game in which he had 4 hits, 2 home runs and 5 rbi’s on 8/9. One thing to watch as he advances will be his walk to strikeout ratio. In his stint so far at the high-A level, he has walked just 4 times (5.1% rate) while striking out 20 times (25.6% rate).

• Christian Worley continued his stellar relief pitching as he finished August with a 0.87 era and 0.97 whip in 10.1 relief innings. Since the beginning of June, he is now 5-0 with a 1.47 era and 1.21 whip in 30.2 innings pitched. His performance earned him a promotion to AA on 9/1.

Trending Up (since 8/1/26)

• Ian Seymour had one of his better months in August, appearing in 6 games (starting 5) and posting a 3.86 era, 1.17 whip, 12.3 so9 and 12.0 so-bb ratio in 35.0 innings. For the month, he managed to have all 5 of his starts and all 6 of his appearances end up where he pitched at least 5.0 innings while allowing 3 or less earned runs, so he provided a lot of quality consistency.

• Anthony Simonelli rebounded nicely from a rough month of July with a solid performance in August. For the month, he posted a 3.38 era and 1.22 whip in 10.2 innings across 8 relief appearances.

• Wyatt Parliament had his best month of the year as he posted a 1.65 era, 1.10 whip, 8.8 so9 and 4.00 so-bb ration across 16.1 innings in 4 starts during August. Since the beginning of July, he has pitched to a 2.88 era and 1.17 whip in 34.1 innings across 8 starts.

• Mathieu Curtis had his best month at the A+ level in August, posting a 0.75 era and 0.92 whip in 12.0 innings pitched across 6 games and was able to lower his season era at the A+ level to 3.41.

Trending Down (since 8/1/26)

• TJ Rumfield had his weakest month since April as he slashed just .278 avg / .414 obp / .322 slg / .737 ops with 0 home runs in August across 111 plate appearances but still managed to post a 106 wRC+ for the month. His performance marked the third straight month of declining performance, however, he has still posted a good overall slash line of .290 avg / .383 obp / .437 slg / .820 ops for the season to go along with 13 hr and 61 rbi while also playing good defense where he has an 85th percentile Fielding Run Value per Statcast.

• Carson Taylor had a relatively poor month in August. He did manage to hit 3 home runs and drive in 14 runs in 89 plate appearances but he hit just .197 and finished with a .686 ops at the AA level.

• Eddie Micheletti Jr. was traded from Toronto to the Los Angeles Angels in the Jose Soriano trade and in 79 plate appearances at the AA level in August, he had his worst month of the season, posting a slash line of .152 avg / .291 obp / .288 slg / .579 ops.

• Zach Brzykcy spent the month of August in AAA and he had a very rough month as he had two really bad back-to-back outings where he gave up a combined 10 earned runs on 7 hits and 4 walks in just 1.0 innings which contributed to him having a 8.76 era and 2.11 whip in 12.1 innings pitched for the month.

• Drue Hackenberg had another bad month at the AAA level in August, posting a 6.04 era and 1.75 whip in 22.1 innings pitched across 4 starts. Since being promoted to AAA this year, he now has a 6.06 era and 1.73 whip across 52.0 innings pitched.

• After a productive July, Brady Kirtner struggled in August with a 6.23 era and 2.08 whip in 8.2 innings across 9 relief appearances. He continues to show the ability to strike out batters at a high rate (51 so in 38.2 ip) but has a pretty rough 5.35 era and not a much better 1.68 whip for the season.

• Jordan Little had a rough month in August, struggling to a 6.75 era and 1.28 whip in 13.1 relief innings. He especially struggled with giving up the long ball as he allowed 4 home runs in his 13.1 innings. He has been able to generate a lot of strikeouts but his penchant for allowing home runs and somewhat shaky command will need to improve for him to advance up the minor league ranks.

Injuries

• Kerry Carpenter was placed on the 10-day injured list with left foot plantar fasciitis on 7/27 and did not play in the month of August.

• Gavin Cross missed about two weeks of action during the middle of August due to injury, but he managed to continue his hot hitting both before and after his injury. In just 48 plate appearances for the month, he managed to hit 4 doubles and 4 home runs while posting a slash line of .302 avg / .375 obp / .674 slg / 1.049 ops and is the second straight month he has posted an ops of 1.000+. He still has some holes in his approach as he boasts multiple metrics in the bottom 30th percentile (K%, BB%, Chase%, Whiff%, Swinging Strike%), but he excels at hitting the ball hard (86th percentile 90th% EV), pulling the ball in the air (84th percentile) and has plus speed (97th percentile Spd, 83rd percentile wBsR/PA).

• Carson DeMartini returned to the AA level on 8/4 after completing a rehab assignment and managed to have his best month of the season as he posted a slash line of .304 avg / .473 obp / .589 slg / 1.062 ops in 74 plate appearances while also stealing 9 bases and having more walks (18) than strikeouts (17) and raised his season slash line to .282 avg / .417 obp / .487 slg / .904 ops with 17 sb.

• Jack Hurley was initially placed on the 7-day injured list on 7/25 and then was moved to the 60-day injured list on 8/18, resulting in not playing at all during the month of August and likely ending his season on a down note with a disappointing slash line at AA of .213 avg / .272 obp / .387 slg / .658 ops in 82 plate appearances after starting the year hot at the AAA level (slash line of .283 avg / .372 obp / .425 slg / .796 ops in 122 plate appearances).

• Joe Mantiply began a rehab assignment at the A level on 8/19 and struggled mightily in one of his 2 outings, giving up 5 earned runs in just 0.2 innings. He then moved up to AAA on 8/25 to finish his rehab assignment where he pitched better in 3 relief appearances, finishing with a pitching line of 3.0 ip, 3 h, 1 er, 2 bb, 4 so and he was ultimately moved back up to the majors on 9/1.

• Grant Manning made one appearance in August (1.0 ip, 4 h, 3 er, 1 bb, 2 so) but was then placed on the 7-day injured list on 8/8 and subsequently moved to the full-season injured list on 8/14.

Other Notes

• Tanner Schobel managed to hit 3 home runs in August and had a better ops (.654) than his poor month of July (.483 ops), but he had his second straight month with a sub .200 avg (.175 in July, .193 in August).

• Peyton Alford hasn’t been great at the AAA level but also hasn’t been bad and had remarkably similar months back-to-back in July (4.22 era, 1.59 whip in 10.2 ip) and August (4.35 era, 1.45 whip in 10.1 ip).

• Jordan Geber was activated from his team’s Developmental List on 8/1 and appeared in a game that day, pitching 2.2 scoreless innings but he was then released on 8/3 and has yet to be picked up by another organization.

• I missed this last month, but Jonah Hurney was released by the Reds organization on 7/14 after what was a rough year statistically.

It appears to line up with traditional defensive metrics. Below is a table that shows all of the players in the Szefc era that were almost exclusively outfielders. Looking at fielding percentage, Locurto has the worst amongst the 13 players with a 94.2% with the next lowest being Jackson Cherry at 95.2%.

On top of that, he has just one assist in the 88 games he has played in which puts him squarely in the bottom half of this group in terms of outfield assists. And to make matters worse, he has the lowest range factor amongst this group as well, averaging just 0.78 total chances per game. Obviously, this isn’t a good apples-to-apples comparison given different ratios of players being subs or DH’ing, but even when he played a lot of games as our starting LF this past year, he only averaged a little less than 1.1 chances per game (58 in 53 games), so he doesn’t appear to be getting to a lot of baseballs.

The prediction of Arnett taking the starting LF job over Locurto may not end up happening, but in addition to questions on defense, Locurto didn’t do as well at the plate during conference play. The ACC is obviously a tough conference to hit in, but of our 9 hitters that logged at least 100 plate appearances in conference play, Locurto ranked last among our starters with a .670 ops.

He will likely have the inside track to begin the year as our starting LF, but I think Arnett has performed better as a hitter in comparable summer leagues and could offer at least as good, if not better defense (has a 98.0% fielding percentage in 31 games the last two summers where he was the starting LF with a range factor of 1.58).

Battlefield (Leach, Moritz-Toledo, Y. Colangelo). It also mentions Chase Colangelo who was already at PDG and appears his development there was a factor with the rest of the Battlefield group.

It sounds like you have some familiarity with high school baseball in Northern Virginia, particularly with pitching. Do you have any intel on 2027 RHP commit Gavin Knox?

I couldn't find any information or evaluations on him for the past year, so was curious if he maybe had an arm injury or what. I know he had some good success and velocity when he committed in 2022 and into 2024, but he still seems a bit undersized, and I wonder if he maybe peaked a little early. I also know he originally committed to Fectau and with Willey bringing in a ton of new pitchers with the 2027 class, I also wonder how he is viewed by Willey.

It does look like he is transferring to the PDG Academy for his senior year, so it will be interesting to see how he performs and if he sticks as a commitment.

I plan to share another VT Pro Player update once August ends, but despite going on the injured list for a portion of August, Gavin Cross continues to hit at a good clip and could be an option as a call-up for the Royals in September.

Below is a link to a Royals site that provides perspective on options they may explore. He will have a lot of competition, but Cross is mentioned and it highlights some of his performance over the past couple of months.

On D1Baseball, one of the features they have is a Synergy Leaderboard that contains Wins Above Replacement data with one of the components being Defensive Runs Saved. With what felt like subpar outfield play this year, I was curious to see what the data showed for our non-pitchers from 2023-2026.

Below is a table that has DRS by player and position group that is sorted by average DRS. I also included data of our transfer players from their D1 years prior to VT for reference. Here are a few takeaways from the data:

• Overall Trend: This past year was our worst team DRS for non-pitchers at just 5.7 as compared to 20.6 in 2023, 37.4 in 2024 and 17.1 in 2025. The performance was primarily driven by deficiencies with Catcher (-8.6 DRS) and Outfield (-5.2 DRS).

• Outfield: Our -5.2 DRS amongst outfielders was by far our worst in the time period as we had 7.4 in 2023 (led by Carson Jones at 3.0 and Jack Hurley at 2.3), 0.2 in 2024 and 5.8 in 2025 (led by Cam Pittman at 2.8, Jackson Cherry at 1.9 and Sam Tackett at 1.8). Sam Gates was respectable in 2026 (1.9 DRS) as was Sam Grube (1.6 DRS), but Nick Locurto had one of the worst DRS stats for all D1 outfielders with a -8.9.

• Catcher: Henry Cooke was really up-and-down during his career from a DRS perspective. He had a very good 9.2 DRS in 2024, but otherwise he was a negative DRS player his other three years, culminating with a really poor -8.1 DRS in 2026 which was the fourth-worst mark amongst all D1 catchers and was tenth-worst in all of D1 regardless of position.

• Nick Locurto: As noted above, Nick Locurto had a -8.9 DRS in 2026 which was the fifth worst mark amongst all D1 players and was the second-worst amongst all LF’s and third-worst amongst all OF’s. This is after he posted a -1.4 DRS in 2025 which makes him the only VT outfielder since 2023 that has had -1.0 DRS or worse in a given season and he has now done it twice in back-to-back years. One of my hot takes is that Aiden Arnett will be our starting LF by the time conference play rolls around in 2027 given how poor Locurto has been in the field and how productive Arnett has been in the Northwoods League the last two summers.

• Treyson Hughes: One of the disappointments we had in the outfield was Treyson Hughes, not only at the plate, but defensively as well. He was arguably an above-average defender prior to transferring to VT with a 3.9 DRS in 2023 and a 2.7 DRS in 2024. He was impacted by injury in 2025 where he had a -0.7 DRS but even when he was healthier in 2026, he only posted a 0.3 DRS.

• Ethan Ball: Ball was second best on the team in 2026 with a 6.5 DRS which trailed only Owen Petrich (7.5). Ball’s performance helped us tremendously at 2B where Jared Davis didn’t stand out in 2025 (-0.1 DRS) and returned us to defensive performance that we saw with Christian Martin (5.3 DRS in 2023 and 9.8 DRS in 2024).

• Owen Petrich: Petrich really provided a lot of defensive stability at 3B. He posted a team-best 7.5 DRS which actually isn’t as surprising as you may think as in the prior two years to transferring to VT, he posted a 5.6 DRS in 2024 and a 7.6 DRS in 2025.

• Pete Daniel: Daniel definitely did not have a standout year defensively at SS (0.9 DRS) and was worse than Clay Grady (average 5.1 DRS), but he had been better defensively from a DRS perspective in his two years at Belmont (10.7 DRS in 2024, 5.5 DRS in 2025). It will certainly be interesting to see how the battle at SS plays out between he and Grady next season.

this year. Based on self-reporting of his fastball, he was sitting 85-86 in May, 87-89 in June, was up to 91 at a Hokies camp in July and then was 89-91 with T93 at a Hokies camp this past week where I presume he was offered and decided to commit.

With his 6’3”/6’4” lean frame and being just 16 years old, he should have a lot of projectability left in his development.

John Love. They all committed to VT in the 2022 class prior to Fuente being fired. Both Benji Gosnell and Brody Meadows were part of the same class but they committed to VT after Fuente was fired.

We only had one player appear in a game this past week, but Aiden Arnett yet again had a standout week and deservedly earned Player of the Week honors which is the 7th week out of 10 weeks I have tabbed him as Player or Co-Player of the Week this summer.

Player(s) of the Week

• Aiden Arnett (Madison, Northwoods League) – He played in 5 regular season games, logging 23 plate appearances and posting a slash line of .450 avg / .522 obp / .600 slg / 1.122 ops including a homer, rbi, 4 runs scored, 3 walks, a stolen base and no strikeouts. In addition to his 5 regular season games, he played in a playoff win on Sunday, going 1-for-3 with 2 rbi’s, a hit by pitch and a run scored while having a solid day in the field at second base (no errors, 1 putout, 3 assists).

Other Notes

• Since we didn’t have any other players appear in games, I thought I would highlight some additional Aiden Arnett stats:

• In the 9 weeks he has played in this summer, he has recorded a weekly ops of .875 or higher in 8 of the weeks which speaks to an exceptional level of consistency.

• Sticking with the theme of consistency, he ended up with the same regular season batting average the last two summers (.341) and very similar slash lines: last summer in 15 games, he had a slash line of .341 avg / .500 obp / .500 slg / 1.000 ops while this summer in 43 games, he had a slash line of .341 avg / .480 obp / .565 slg / 1.046 ops.

• In the stolen base department, over the last two summers, he has managed to steal 17 bases with just one caught stealing which happened to occur this past week.

• Despite his increase in power this summer, he managed to keep strikeouts in check. For the summer, he has a 16.2% strikeout rate which is pretty good but even more impressive is after striking out 9 times in his first 21 plate appearances this summer (42.9 so%), he has managed to only strike out 20 times in his last 158 plate appearances (12.7 so%).

looks like he has had really nice summers the last two years and is now committed to Kansas State for next year. Congratulations to you and him on that!

On a related note, I have always been curious...how did your son get lined up for the summer leagues and teams that he ended up playing for the last two summers? I am sure college coaches play a big role in that with connections but it looks like your son has been in JUCO and then in D1 last year so was curious how he went about finding and securing those opportunities.

him advancing quickly. His defense isn't great and he will likely end up being a 1B/DH type as he moves up, but he has legitimate power and so far has been hitting lefties and righties well to where he could work himself into a solid minor-leaguer and wind up like T.J. Rumfield (without the quality defense) where another organization could target him as a Rule 5 pickup or a trade target.

Below is a look at his Rookie and A-Ball Prospect Savant overviews. You can see he is above average in many of the power-related metrics but has some holes in his profile, including a fair amount of swing-and-miss and not being good at drawing walks.

for our 2027 class. I would be surprised if half of them ended up in Blacksburg. Looking at Willey's approach with JUCO pitchers, he had five committed for our 2026 class and only two made it to campus so I wouldn't be surprised if we see a similar trend with our high school pitchers.

It is also interesting to see the type of profile he seems to favor. He definitely appears to value taller/bigger pitchers with projectability. So far, he has only taken commitments from pitchers 6'2" or taller and with the exception of Jake Watts, all of them have ranged from 195 lbs to 220 lbs. He also doesn't seem to put as big of an emphasis on present velocity and seems to value strike-throwers.

In any case, will be interesting to see how things play out with the 2027 class but also see when we might see some commitments start rolling in for the 2028 class.

As part of the Jose Soriano trade. Obviously not a centerpiece of the trade as Arjun Nimmala is moving as well, but he has made himself into a solid prospect with his hitting at the AA level this year.

With the last full week of summer league action wrapping up, we had just three hitters and one pitcher make appearances the week of 7/27, but three of the four players had noteworthy performances.

Player(s) of the Week

• Palmer Hornick (Pulaski, Appalachian League) – Hornick continued his torrid pace with another outstanding week. In 3 regular season games to wrap up the season this week, he had a slash line of .563 avg / .588 obp / .750 slg / 1.338 ops in 17 plate appearances which included a double, triple, 5 runs scored and 6 runs batted in. He also stood out in two playoff games as he went a combined 3-for-9 (.333 avg) with a home run, a run scored and 2 runs batted in as well as a 1.000 ops. The strong end to the regular season contributed to an extremely impressive summer slash line of .378 avg / .517 obp / .644 slg / 1.161 with all of those being the best among planned 2027 VT players.

• Danny Lazaro (Upper Valley, NECBL) – He made another start on 7/28 and threw 3.0 perfect innings while also striking out 3. The impressive start continued a great string of 3 starts to end the summer where he went a combined 11.0 innings while giving up just 2 earned runs on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 9. The strong stretch improved his summer era to 3.31 and his whip to 0.98.

Other Notes

• Caleb Strawhecker (Highpoint-Thomasville, Coastal Plain League) – He only played in one game, but he made it count as he went 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and 3 runs batted in. The performance capped off what has been a productive summer for the incoming transfer.

• Justin Munoz (Burlington, Appalachian League) – He played in two games and went just a combined 1-for-9 at the plate (.111 avg) and struck out 4 times. The performance caused his summer average to dip below .200 (.195 avg) and his ops below .700 (.692 ops) after having much better stats as of mid-July (.262 avg and .902 ops through 7/15).

Below is another monthly installment of updates on former VT Baseball players in the pros.

Recent Level Changes (since 7/1/26)

• After a very poor month of June, Carson Taylor was traded from Seattle’s organization to Atlanta’s organization on 7/11/26 and was assigned to their AA team (a step down from where he was with Seattle) on 7/17/26. The move paid immediate dividends as he went 12-for-26 (.462 avg) with 4 2b, 2 hr and 5 rbi in 27 plate appearances across 7 games.

• Tanner Schobel was demoted from Minnesota’s AAA team to AA on 7/22/26 after a lackluster first half of July, going 3-for-21 in 20 plate appearances across 6 games. His season stats at AAA were below average (84 wRC+), but they weren’t awful (slash line of .243 avg / .339 obp / .351 slg / .691 ops). However, his Prospect Savant page showed he wasn’t impacting the ball much (18th percentile Hard Hit %, 23rd percentage xSLG) and while he has been good against fastballs (.300 xBA vs. 4-Seams, .362 xBA vs. Sinkers), he has been terrible against breaking pitches (.123 xBA vs. Sliders, .080 xBA vs. Sweepers, .054 xBA vs. Curves) and almost as bad against offspeed pitches (.108 xBA vs. Change-Ups, .148 xBA vs. Splitters). After playing in 5 games at AA and going just 3-for-19 (.158 avg), he was moved back up to AAA on 7/30.

• Grant Manning was promoted to high-A on 7/19/26. In two games at that level during the month of July, he posted a 5.06 era, 2.63 whip and 13.5 so9 in 5.1 ip.

Trending Up (since 7/1/26)

• Gavin Cross had an exceptional month in July with a huge slash line of .337 avg / .361 obp / .696 slg / 1.057 ops along with 6 2b, 3 3b, 7 hr and 23 rbi in 97 plate appearances. His performance included a 19-game hitting streak, 10 multi-hit games as well as him hitting homers in 6 straight games towards the end of the month. It was also the fourth straight month where his monthly ops increased (.243 in March, .370 in April, .696 in May, .755 in June and 1.057 in July) and has gotten his season slash line up to a very respectable .246 avg / .310 obp / .413 slg / .724 ops. It will be interesting to see if he could earn a call-up to the Majors in September.

• Nick Biddison had an absolutely fantastic month in July at the A+ level. For the month, he slashed .323 avg / .462 obp / .516 slg / .978 ops in 78 plate appearances, and he collected a hit in 15 of 18 games including a 10-game hitting streak and reached based safely in 17 of 18 games. It is the third straight month with an improved ops (.571 in April, .633 in May, .811 in June, .978 in July) and the good month raised his season slash line to .259 avg / .369 obp / .374 slg / .743 ops.

• Cade Hunter didn’t play a ton in July, as he logged just 38 plate appearances, but he showed some signs of life after a rough two-month stretch. In July, he posted a nice slash line of .313 avg / .395 obp / .500 slg / .895 ops along with 2 hr and 8 rbi.

• Eddie Micheletti rebounded from a rough month of June with arguably his best month of the season. For July, he posted a slash line of .326 avg / .388 obp / .581 slg / .969 ops including 11 multi-hit games. For the season at AA, he now has a slash line of .255 avg / .351 obp / .460 slg / .811 ops with 14 hr and 45 rbi.

• Christian Worley had an exceptional month of July, posting a 0.82 era, 1.09 whip and .150 baa in 11.0 ip and it was the third straight month where his era improved (7.27 era in April, 5.23 era in May, 2.89 era in June and 0.82 era in July).

• After a poor month of June and a rough start to begin July, Wyatt Parliament posted back-to-back good starts (5.0 innings and 1 earned run in each) to give him a 4.00 era and 1.22 whip across 18.0 ip for the month.

• Brady Kirtner had a nice month of July as he posted a 2.84 era, 1.74 whip and .167 baa in 6.1 ip across 7 relief appearances.

Trending Down (since 7/1/26)

• Kerry Carpenter had an absolutely brutal month of July for Detroit. In 57 plate appearances, he slashed just .115 avg / .164 obp / .115 slg / .279 ops including no runs batted in and just 2 walks to 14 strikeouts.


• Ian Seymour moved into a primarily starting role in July and it didn’t go particularly well during the first half of the month but he salvaged things with two good long relief appearances to end the month. For the month, he posted a 4.45 era, 1.09 whip and 4.75 so-bb ratio across 28.1 ip in 6 appearances (4 starts).

• Drue Hackenberg had a very up-and-down month of July as he had one good start (5.0 ip, 1 h, 1 r, 1 er, 2 bb, 4 so) but had three not-so-good performances that led to a 6.61 era and 1.71 whip across 16.1 ip for the month.

• Anthony Simonelli had an absolutely brutal month of July at the AA level. For the month, he posted a 11.57 era, 2.29 whip and .333 baa across 7.0 ip in 7 relief appearances.

Injuries

• A demotion to AA has not helped Jack Hurley much. In AA during the month of July, he posted a less than stellar slash line of .158 avg / .238 obp / .395 slg / .633 ops and it was the third straight month of declining ops (.946 ops in April, .689 ops in May, .653 ops in June and .633 ops in July). He was then placed on the 7-day injured list on 7/25.

• Carson DeMartini started a rehab assignment with the Phillies’ Single-A team on 7/28 and went 1-for-5 with 5 bb, a 2b and 2 sb in 3 games.

• Joe Mantiply remains on the 60-day injured list.

Other Notes

• TJ Rumfield didn’t quite continue his outstanding performance from May and June, but he was still solid in the month of July where he slashed .289 avg / .379 obp / .374 slg / .752 ops. For the season, he is slashing .293 avg / .375 obp / .464 slg / .839 ops with 22 2b, 13 hr and 54 rbi.

• Christian Martin made the surprising decision to retire on 7/17/26. While he had mostly struggled this year and had been fairly lackluster during his professional career, he was having a pretty decent month of July, going 7-for-19 (.368 avg) with a .994 ops in 26 plate appearances.

• David McCann was again productive in the month of July, posting a slash line of .284 avg / .355 obp / .537 slg / .893 ops with 4 hr and 19 rbi including a 2-homer, 7-rbi game on 7/4/26. Since being promoted to the A level, he now has a slash line of .296 avg / .386 obp / .528 slg / .914 ops at that level for the season.

• Jared Davis couldn’t quite keep pace with his exceptional month of June (.340 avg, .960 ops), but he had a respectable slash line of .289 avg / .467 obp / .378 slg / .845 ops in the month of July. Also of interest, he has made two appearances as a pitcher this year, posting a combined line of 2.2 ip, 4 h, 3 r, 3 er, 1 hr, 4 bb, 0 so for a 10.13 era and 3.00 whip.

• Zach Brzykcy continues to be an up-down reliever for the Marlins, splitting time between the Majors and AAA. For the month of July, he made one appearance at the MLB level, throwing a scoreless relief inning and then had 3 appearances at the AAA level, with a combined pitching line of 4.2 ip, 4 h, 2 er, 0 bb, 1 so.

• After dealing with numerous injuries over the last few years, Packy Naughton decided to retire on 7/23.

• Jordan Geber was placed on his AA team’s Developmental List on 7/1/26 and did not pitch during the entire month of July.

• Jacob Stretch was released from the Rangers organization on 7/27.

overall, not a bad haul this offseason. Would have been even better if we wouldn't have had two of our LHP transfers go pro, but really went all-in in terms of quantity while getting a few quality guys and a lot of experience we should be able to lean on in 2027.

I pasted a number of recent evaluations of him into Microsoft Word and had Copilot put together the following summary:

Jackson LaRoche is a physical 6’3”, 221–226 lb left-handed pitcher with a strong, durable frame and a mature mound presence. He works from a slightly closed delivery, gets good extension down the mound, and creates deception from the third-base side with quick, smooth arm action and a tough angle—especially on left-handed hitters.
His fastball has recently ranged from 85–90 mph, with reports of a peak at 93 mph, showing arm-side run and sink. He pairs it with multiple breaking-ball looks, including a tighter slider in the 72–77 mph range and a heavier curveball around 67–75 mph, both showing swing-and-miss potential. He has also flashed a changeup in the 76–78 mph range.
The standout indicators are his strike-throwing and bat-missing ability: one recent outing included 15 strikeouts over 6 innings while throwing 79% strikes, and another noted 4 strikeouts in 2 innings. Overall, LaRoche profiles as a projectable, strike-throwing lefty with present velocity, feel for spin, deception, and the physicality to continue adding power.

Below are summaries on each. With their commitments, we currently have a pretty large 2027 class of 18 players, so I would expect some decommitments over the next year as we see which players develop versus which ones don’t. Here is a quick rundown by position along with their national Perfect Game rankings (ones without rankings noted below are listed as 500 in PG):

• Catcher (2): Cole Bowman (#408), Graydon Ambrose
• Infielders (5): Teagan Leach (#231), Anthony Badillo (#332), Chase Colangelo (#459), Yogi Colangelo, Sam Pearson
• Outfielders (3): Nico Moritz-Toledo (#69), Rocco Bucci, Bradyn Sober
• Right-Handed Pitchers (5): Jake Watts (#393), Michael Fekete, Zack Floyd, Kameron Keenan, Gavin Knox
• Left-Handed Pitchers (3): Andrew Caracio, Sam Davis, Dylan Langstaff

Recent Commitments

RHP Jake Watts (6’2” 165 | Ralston Valley Senior | Arvada, CO) - Committed on 7/23. Currently ranked #393 nationally in the 2027 class by Perfect Game. Fastball primarily sits in the upper-80’s currently while occasionally topping out around 91mph. Recent evaluations note that he has a lean, wiry build with good arm speed and can really spin the ball with a breaking pitch at 2800+ rpm with good two-plane action.

LHP Andrew Caracio (6’2” 220 | Pro5 Baseball Academy | Raleigh, NC) - Committed on 7/23. Sturdy frame with good strength in lower half. Works quick to the plate with an over-the-top delivery. Fastball currently in the upper-80’s with some running action and topping out around 90mph. Also has a slurvy breaking ball in low 70’s to go along with a changeup.

RHP Kameron Keenan (6’6” 215 | North Buncombe | Candler, NC) - Committed on 7/27. Tall frame with high leg kick and short arm action. Fastball currently sits around 90mph and topping out around 91/92 with some heavy sinking action. Also has a hard slider with good shape that tunnels well with his fastball. Overall, he is a prospect that has good projectability with a frame to add velocity as he matures.

as the starting CF to begin the year just based on his defensive ability. According to D1 Baseball's Synergy Leader Board, he had 9.52 Defensive Runs Saved last year which was around Top 25 in D1 for listed CF's. And for further reference, in the four years where DRS information is available, we have not had an outfielder with more than 3.0 DRS (Carson Jones in 2023) in a season...so Truitt would bring ability as a plus defender in CF.

We'll see how the bat translates but even if he can just be an average hitter (or close to it), that should be sufficient if you are getting above average defense in CF.

With the move, I have a hard time seeing what role Connor Guy would be able to carve out as they both have very similar profiles and are both juniors.

Either way, this makes me feel a good bit better about our roster as I don't see any glaring holes with our batting lineup and defense as we now have experienced options at every position.

baseball recruiting. Really hoping we can use the momentum of an NCAA tournament appearance and a decent portal class to make another NCAA tournament run and then keep a good chunk of our 2027 recruiting class intact and then see if Franklin can help us with the 2028 class. August should be an interesting month for 2028 recruiting as offers can start officially going out.

Looking at some of his high school numbers/evaluations and his summer league stats, I expect he will start his career more as a corner outfielder but depending on how he develops, I wouldn’t rule out center field at some point in his career. Athletically, he is very similar to Jack Hurley in high school (speed and arm-strength wise), so hopefully Arnett could follow a similar progression of LF then a shift over to CF after a season or two. And while Nick Locurto is returning in LF, looking at D1 Baseball Defensive Runs Saved stats, he was one of the worst LF’s in all of D1 last year, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Arnett push Locurto if his bat ends up translating early at the college level.

Speed & Arm Strength

• Athleticism shouldn’t be a problem. Looking at some of his high school measurables, he compares favorably to Jack Hurley. In high school, Hurley had bests of 6.66 60-yd speed and 94mph OF Velo arm strength. Arnett’s numbers are very similar, with a 6.64 60-yd dash and 93mph OF Velo. For additional comparison, Sam Tackett who ended up playing RF late in his career had a 6.92 60-yd dash and 92 OF Velo.

Summer League Stats

• He was solid last summer and for the first half of this summer as he went error free in 15 games last summer and his first 19 games this summer, but has had 3 errors in his last 11 games in the field (2 errors in 1 game at CF and 1 error in another game in LF) over the last 2+ weeks. Last summer he played predominantly LF as he logged 14 games there and 1 game in CF. This summer, in 37 games, he has the following distribution: 15 in LF, 9 in CF, 7 at DH, 4 at 3B, 1 at 2B and 1 in LF/CF. In terms of range factor, he has a 1.73 RF/GM which is respectable for a corner outfielder.

High School Evaluations

• Here is a Perfect Game evaluation from July 2024 at their National Showcase: “Primary outfielder, short steps on the approach, plays with energy and maintains momentum, longer arm action through back, plays thru it well and carries low flight on throws with big carry and present arm strength.”

Summer league play is further starting to wind down as we had only 4 hitters and 1 pitcher make appearances this past week but there were some noteworthy performances, including Aiden Arnett who continues to be a mainstay in Player of the Week consideration.

Player(s) of the Week

• Aiden Arnett (Madison, Northwoods League) – He had another huge week as he played in 8 games and had a slash line of .385 avg / .484 obp / .769 slg / 1.253 ops that included a double, 3 home runs, 8 rbi’s, 7 runs scored and 3 stolen bases. The level of consistency coupled with standout productivity he has shown throughout not only this summer but last summer as well, is almost uncanny. Summer production doesn’t always translate to college success, but what he is doing in a competitive summer league is pretty impressive for someone that has yet to play in a collegiate game.

Other Notes

• Danny Lazaro (Upper Valley, NECBL) – He made another start this past week on 7/22. He wasn’t as dominant as in his previous outing, but he did manage to post a solid outing of 4.0 ip, 4 h, 2 r, 2 er, 2 bb, 2 so, 1 hbp and 1 hr. With that performance, his summer stat line moved to 4.05 era and 1.20 whip in 13.1 ip.

• Justin Munoz (Burlington, Appalachian League) – He continued his very up-and-down summer with a poor week at the plate, going just 1-for-13 (.077 avg) in 17 plate appearances. With his struggles last week, he is now hitting just .206 for the summer but has a more respectable .732 ops.

• Palmer Hornick (Pulaski, Appalachian League) – He had another good week as he slashed .273 avg / .471 obp / .455 slg / .925 ops to go along with 2 doubles and 3 rbi in 17 plate appearances. The performance has his summer slash line sitting at .276 avg / .488 obp (VT-leading) / .586 slg (VT-leading) / 1.075 ops (VT-leading).

but the fact that we brought in both Evan Hankins and Caleb Strawhecker after Carter had committed in late May leads me to believe that he wasn't necessarily viewed as a sure-fire rotation/starter level player. That's not to say he can't or won't carve out some type of role on next year's team but there is certainly a lot of redundancy with lefty hitters at the two positions he projects to play at.

I also wonder about his defensive ability at catcher. He made some really good strides with some of the core defensive stats this past year (no errors in 152 chances, 6 passed balls and throwing out 24% of runners) but the amount of passed balls he allowed in 2025 (22 passed balls in 55 games) and the amount he allowed in 2024 summer league action (13 passed balls in 11 games at catcher) is a bit concerning.

As you noted, his hit tool shows promise with his performance at the JUCO level and in summer league plays in 2024, but his stats at the JUCO level are almost identical to that of Chris Sparber who was a similar type of hitter coming out of JUCO that had limited impact in his time at VT. And historically, other than Kerry Carpenter and Jared Davis...we haven't had much success with JUCO hitters in the Coach Szefc era.

Either way, it seems like we have a lot of solid options with experience to choose from in building out our offensive and defensive alignment which will hopefully bode well for an even better offense in 2027.

This past week was a productive one for the few VT players that saw action. For our hitters, of the six that had at least one plate appearance last week, four of them hit a homer (Justin Munoz, Aiden Arnett, Caleb Strawhecker, Palmer Hornick) including two (Strawhecker, Hornick) that hit two homers. On the pitching side, we only had one pitcher make an appearance (Danny Lazaro), but he had an impressive four inning start.

Player(s) of the Week

• Caleb Strawhecker (Highpoint-Thomasville, Coastal Plain League) – He continued a positive trend by posting two multi-hit games this past week which including a 2-homer game where he drove in four runs on 7/17. For the week, in 12 plate appearances, he posted a slash line of .556 avg / .667 obp / 1.222 slg / 1.889 ops and raised his summer slash line to .289 avg / .429 obp / .474 slg / .902 ops.

• Danny Lazaro (Upper Valley, NECBL) – He was our only pitcher that made an appearance in the past week but he made it count as he got a start on 7/14 and faced the minimum batters across 4.0 innings, giving up just 1 hit and 1 hit by pitch, while striking out 4, walking none and giving up no runs. The performance improved his summer totals to a 3.86 era and 1.07 whip across 9.1 innings.

• Palmer Hornick (Pulaski, Appalachian League) – The incoming freshman is starting to heat up. In 14 plate appearances this past week, he hit homers in back-to-back games while posting a slash line of .286 avg / .643 obp / 1.143 slg / 1.786 ops. He has only played in 7 games this summer, but the early returns are positive as he has a .278 avg and team-leading results across obp (.500), slg (.667) and ops (1.167).

Other Notes

• Aiden Arnett (Madison, Northwoods League) – His 17-game hitting streak came to an end this past week, but he still managed to have a productive week as he had a homer and a double in 15 plate appearances which contributed to a slash line of .222 avg / .533 obp / .667 slg / 1.200 ops. He continues to be our most consistent and productive hitter this summer as he has now reached base safely in 28 of his 29 games played and is top two on the team in just about every key offensive stat.

• Willie Hurt (Upper Valley, NECBL) – He had a rough week this past week as he went hitless in 12 plate appearances and striking out 3 times. Overall, it has been a relatively underwhelming summer for him as he only has two extra-base hits in 123 plate appearances while striking out 28% of the time and slashing just .224 avg / .366 obp / .245 slg / .611 ops. The only real positive so far is he has shown good speed with 16 stolen bases in 19 attempts.

Ranked the #301 prospect nationally by Perfect Game in the 2026 class. He is a two-sport player (baseball, basketball) with really good athleticism and quality frame (6'2"/6'3" 195 lb). He had been committed to Wright State for a bit and looks like he has been a somewhat of a late bloomer as he was only throwing low/mid 80's two years ago but is now sitting low 90's and touching mid 90's. Certainly an intriguing arm that could be in the mix for some playing time next year.

In terms of the roster, I don't know how many DSA's we have, so not sure if we'll be able to carry more than 34. If not, I think we'll see one of our incoming infielders not make the cut (probably Delacruz at this point), one of our incoming outfielders not make the cut (probably Green) and then two or three of our pitchers not make the cut.

be an impact arm early in his career. The big question will be whether he can throw strikes and be reliable enough for a starting role out of the gate. He finished being ranked the #158 prospect in the 2026 class nationally which will put him as one of our more acclaimed arms in recent years that made it to campus.

I am also curious to see how Ethan Lee fares. He finished ranked as the #434 prospect in the 2026 class and has a similar build and velocities that Hoffman possesses so I think he will be in the mix for the Sunday spot as well.

With the MLB Draft being completed, transfer portal activity starting to slow down and summer league action over halfway done, I thought it would be a good time to make an attempt at projecting what our depth chart might look like going into next year.

Assumptions

• Assumed Returners: I am assuming that IF Pete Daniel, RHP Aiden Robertson, LHP Danny Lazaro, RHP Jake Wise and RHP Ryan Walsh are returning despite no formal announcements yet.

• Assumed Moving On: I am assuming that both LHP Chris Torres and LHP Aiden VanDeHatert will sign with the teams that drafted them and move on to pro ball.

Notes

• Lineup: Based on last season, I expect we’ll see Ethan Gibson, Ethan Ball and Hudson Lutterman at/near the top of the lineup with Sam Grube being a key bat in the middle of the order if he can enhance his performance in conference play. Beyond them, the latter part of our lineup will likely fluctuate based on competition this fall as well as performance over the course of next year. We could also see some situational R/L platoons. Either way, I fully expect we’ll see a good bit of shuffling and mixing/matching of the lineup similar to the last two years.

• Defense: The good news is with the potential return of Pete Daniel, we will have a wealth of defensive versatility and options. Assuming Daniel does return, I think that will allow Willie Hurt to shift to being primarily an outfielder and allow for Evan Hankins to ease into a rotational role as he returns from injury. For now, I assume Ethan Gibson and Ethan Ball will man 1B and 2B with Clay Grady slotting in at SS and allowing Daniel to move to 3B and Lutterman start at DH. In the outfield, Nick Locurto and Sam Grube should pick back up as our corner outfielders to start the year. At CF, I think Connor Guy will get the first shot at the starting role but not sure I expect him to keep that all year as I think Willie Hurt’s potential at the plate will make him a factor at all outfield spots and Aiden Arnett has shown some good potential as a hitter in summer league action. I don’t view Hurt or Arnett as natural center fielders but if they prove they can hit well enough, we could see a similar situation we had this past year with Sam Gates in CF.

• Starting Pitching: The weekend starters should be anchored by Ethan Grim and Logan Eisenreich. Given his performance in the Cape this summer, I would give the inside track for the Friday role to Grim with Eisenreich slotting in as the Saturday starter. The competition for the Sunday starter role will be interesting to watch. For now, I am going to project a freshman (Alex Hoffman) winning that role to continue the trend of impact weekend starter freshmen like Hackenberg, Renfrow, Marciano, Eisenreich and Grim. I am also going to project a freshman (Ethan Lee) getting the nod as the Weekday starter similar to what we saw recently with Madden Clement and Chase Swift. If Hoffman or Lee aren’t up to the challenge, look for Nic Abraham, Drake Purvis and Kaiden Lopez to be the top considerations.

• Bullpen: Specific roles could fluctuate over the course of the season, but for now, I am expecting Daniel Powell and AJ Camp will be two of our highest leverage relief arms along with pitchers like Nic Abraham, Drake Purvis and Kaiden Lopez if they don’t secure a starting role. Beyond those pitchers, I expect Aiden Robertson, Danny Lazaro and the rest of our transfers (Kaden Hilburger, Nate Bennett, George Adams, Talan McConnell, Mike Staiano) to be medium leverage relievers that will get some situational weekend work as well as eating up midweek innings.

Things have started to slow down as it appears a number of players’ summers have wrapped up, but incoming Freshman Palmer Hornick made his summer debut with Pulaski in the Appalachian League this past week.

Player(s) of the Week

• Aiden Arnett (Pulaski, Appalachian League) – For the fourth week in a row, Arnett has garnered co-Player of the Week honors amongst VT players with another productive stretch of games. For the week, he played in 3 games and posted a slash line of .333 avg / .538 obp / .444 slg / .983 ops with a hit in all three games and extended his hitting streak to 17 games. The only negative was that he had his first error of the summer with a 2-error game in CF on 7/11.

• Willie Hurt (Upper Valley, NECBL) – His week featured a 3-hit game on 7/10 and finished last week with a slash line of .286 avg / .400 obp / .333 slg / .733 ops in 5 games which included a double, 7 runs scored and 4 stolen bases. For the summer, his slash line is somewhat modest (.247 avg / .378 obp / .270 slg / .648 ops) and he hasn’t hit for much power, but he has a team-leading 16 steals and 8 hbp on the summer.

Other Notes

• Palmer Hornick (Pulaski, Appalachian League) – He made his summer debut this past week with Pulaski and appears to have essentially swapped with JM Szefc as an infielder for that team. In 3 games and 12 plate appearances, he went 3-for-11 (.273) with a double but walked just once (8% bb rate) and struck out 5 times (42% so rate).

• Pete Daniel (Brewster, Cape Cod League) – He continues to struggle in the Cape as he went just 1-for-7 in 9 plate appearances across 3 games this past week and for the summer in 31 plate appearances is slashing just .130 avg / .323 obp / .130 slg / .453 ops. With not being drafted, it will be interesting to see if he ends up returning to VT for next season.

• Jake Wise (Pulaski, Appalachian League) – After finding some recent success, Wise made one relief appearance last week and struggled by giving up 2 earned runs and 4 hits in 0.2 innings of work. The outing caused his summer era and whip to move back up slightly to 10.22 era and 2.51 whip.

• Danny Lazaro (Upper Valley, NECBL) – He had a bit of a bumpy outing last week. He didn’t give up any runs or hits in 0.2 innings but struggled with command as he walked 3 of 4 batters he faced and threw just 32% of his 19 pitches for strikes which was abnormal for him as coming into the outing, he had thrown 67% of his pitches this summer for strikes.

although, given the focus on "stuff" that it appears MLB teams prioritize with pitching, both Torres and VanDeHatert have competitive pitch arsenals and velocity for lefties so I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised.

The other thing I am curious to see is around the calculus of college NIL vs. professional signing bonuses. As you noted, for players picked in rounds 11+, there is the $150k signing bonus and then you would have $700-$1,000 per week (depending on pro level) plus food and housing in compensation. Doing some quick research, it looks like a solid P4 weekend starter could command $150k-$300k in NIL so you could potentially earn a bit more for a year staying in college while trying to improve your draft stock. That is probably the only scenario that would make sense for a pitcher to stay and I think neither Torres or VanDeHatert were locks for the Sunday starter role so I doubt we were planning to align that much NIL to either of them so I would expect both of them to sign.

I am curious about Madden Clement. I know he entered the transfer portal but to my knowledge, didn't commit anywhere. I do expect him to sign, but he is someone I could see our coaching staff being comfortable giving the opportunity as a weekend starter next year and offer him NIL that would be competitive with a 15th round pick and with how little he has pitched to this point, he is someone that could improve his draft profile to inside the top 10 rounds next year. But, given how poorly things went for Aiden Robertson after being drafted in the 13th round last year and electing to come to VT, I could see Clement taking the sure thing with the bonus and trying his hand professionally this year.

but I think the Swing Timing + Miss Distance tracking is a decent proxy as it shows which pitchers miss bats by the greatest distance which can be indicative of late/deceptive movement.

Your question/idea is an interesting one as I would assume there is a way that they could track break in a subset of the overall distance the pitch traveled to show which pitchers have the most late break.

Below is another monthly installment of updates on former VT Baseball players in the pros.

Recent Level Changes (since 6/1/26)

• David McCann had a loud start to the month of June in Rookie League play with 2 hr and 5 rbi in the first four games of the month which was the end of a rehab assignment and then was activated by the Yankees’ A ball team on 06/09/26. During the rest of June at the A level, he slashed .317 avg / .431 obp / .512 slg / .944 ops in 51 pa while splitting time between 1B, C and DH.

• Jack Hurley was moved from AAA to AA on 06/09/26 after starting the month going 1-for-6 in 3 games at the AAA level. In AA after his re-assignment, Hurley slashed .270 avg / .308 obp / .378 slg / .686 ops in 39 pa.

• Drue Hackenberg continued to have a nice bounce back from injury as he made two starts in AA in the month of June and was really effective in both as he went 5.0 innings in both only giving 1 earned run across 10.0 innings. That earned him a promotion to AAA on 06/12/26 after which he struggled a bit in 3 appearances, posting a 5.40 era and 1.73 whip in 13.1 ip.

• Zack Brzykcy was called up to the Majors on three occasions during the month of June. In his first two stints, he was optioned back down to AAA quickly without making an appearance but then he was called back up on 06/30/26 and made his Marlins debut that same night against TJ Rumfield and the Colorado Rockies which per Damian Salas, was the first time a former Hokie pitcher and former Hokie hitter faced each other in an MLB game. Overall, he had a good month in June with a 2.31 era and 1.63 whip in 11.2 ip across AAA and MLB so hopefully he can be a factor in the Marlins’ bullpen during the second half of the season.

• Jesse Hahn was released by the Blue Jays’ AAA affiliate on 06/09/26 and remains unsigned.


Trending Up (since 6/1/26)

• Kerry Carpenter bounced back nicely in June after dealing with an injury in May. For the month of June at the MLB level, he posted a slash line of .253 avg / .313 obp / .573 slg / .887 ops with 7 hr and 19 rbi. For the season through the end of June, he has a slash line of .235 avg / .307 obp / .503 slg / .810 ops with 13 hr and 36 rbi in 202 plate appearances.

• TJ Rumfield continued his standout rookie season with a very good month in June. For the month, he posted a slash line of .316 avg / .400 obp / .589 slg / .989 ops that included 5 hr and 17 rbi which brings his season slash line to .294 avg / .374 obp / .490 slg / .864 ops including 12 hr and 45 rbi.

• Tanner Schobel continues to trend up at AAA. In June, he posted a slash line of .265 avg / .342 obp / .426 slg / .769 ops and over the last three months, he has steadily improved with a .636 ops in April, a .726 ops in May and a .769 ops in June.

• Nick Biddison had a nice month in June at the A+ level. For the month of June, he posted a slash line of .260 avg / .386 obp / .425 slg / .811 ops and over the last three months, he has steadily improved with a .571 ops in April, a .633 ops in May and a .811 ops in June.

• Jared Davis had an absolutely massive month of June in Rookie ball. For the month, he slashed .340 avg / .507 obp / .453 slg / .960 ops and also reached based safely in 18 of 19 games.

• Christian Worley had a solid month of June and has improved his era each month this season, as he had a 7.27 era in April, a 5.23 era in May and a 2.89 era in June.


Trending Down (since 6/1/26)

• After a really nice month of May, Carson Taylor struggled mightily in the month of June at the AAA level, posting a slash line of just .161 avg / .210 obp / .268 slg / .478 ops in 62 plate appearances. The poor month dropped his season avg to .226 and his ops to .669.

• Cade Hunter continues a downward trend that started in May. For the month of June, he posted a slash line of .158 avg / .298 obp / .211 slg / .508 ops in 47 pa and since the beginning of May, he had a poor slash line of .155 avg / .278 obp / .247 slg / .526 ops and is hitting just .192 on the season at the AA level.

• Eddie Micheletti has cooled off a bit. In June, he posted a slash line of just .182 avg / .287 obp / .341 slg / .628 ops and has seen his ops decline over the last 3 months, with a .863 ops in April, a .795 ops in May and a .628 ops in June. Despite the subpar June, he still has a .759 ops for the season with 10 hr and 31 rbi.

• Jonah Hurney continues to struggle in A+ this year as he posted a 13.50 era and 2.17 whip in 6.0 ip during the month of June and for the season has some pretty rough stats, posting a 8.04 era and 2.17 whip in 15.2 ip.

• After finding a lot of success at the A level in April and May, Mathieu Curtis had mixed results at the A+ level in June posting a 4.50 era and 1.20 whip in 10.0 ip.

• Grant Manning had a few bad outings in June at the A level which led to him posting a 5.09 era and 1.30 whip in 17.2 ip for the month. Despite the uneven month, he has a nice 2.96 era and 1.15 whip in 48.2 ip at the A level for the season through the end of June.


Injuries

• Carson DeMartini continues to be on the 7-day IL after being placed on that back in earlyMay due to a wrist injury. He hasn’t played since then, so he has been out of action for two months. I am not sure why they haven’t moved him to the 60-day IL or if it might be something that could sideline him for the rest of the season.

• Joe Mantiply was moved from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL on 06/03/26 due to left knee inflammation. His 15-day IL stint was made retroactive to 5/18/26, so we could see him start a rehab assignment in the second half of July.


Other Notes

• Gavin Cross still has really poor stats on the season (slash line of .211 avg / .292 obp / .304 slg / .595 ops), but he had another respectable month in June with a slash line of .270 avg / .349 obp / .405 slg / .755 ops in 84 plate appearances and since the beginning of May, he has a .268 avg and .724 ops.

• Ian Seymour put together a solid month of June, posting a 3.86 era and 0.95 whip and .167 ba against across 21.0 innings which included two starts. With his third consecutive solid month, he has managed to get his season era back down to 4.32 and since the beginning of April, he has a 3.47 era and 1.05 whip.

• Jordan Geber had a bit of an odd month. Despite having a 3.48 era, he struggled with command (14 bb in 10.1 ip) and had just 5 so which led to a 2.23 whip and 0.36 so-bb ratio.

• Anthony Simonelli started a rehab assignment in Rookie ball back in late May and then was assigned to the Royals’ AA team in late June. His rehab assignment wasn’t particularly great (8.00 era, 1.67 whip in 9.0 ip) but in two outings in June at the AA level, he was perfect in 2.0 ip while striking out 3 batters.

• Wyatt Parliament started a Rookie ball rehab assignment in early May and made his professional debut shortly after. He spent most of the month of May on rehab and finished with a 4.50 era and 1.20 whip in 10.0 ip and then was activated by Yankees’ A ball team on 05/26/26. Since then, he has made 5 appearances (4 starts) and has gotten off to a slow start with a 7.15 era and 1.76 whip in 22.2 ip.

• After being released by the Baltimore organization back in late January, Jacob Stretch signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers on 05/11/26. He began in Rookie league ball and has spent most of the season there but did get a call-up to the Rangers’ AAA team on 06/19/26 and made one relief appearance (1.0 ip, 0 h, 0 er, 0 bb, 1 so) before being sent back down to Rookie ball. For the season in Rookie ball, he has struggled with a 8.78 era and 1.80 whip in 13.1 ip.

Was ranked #86 nationally by Perfect Game in the 2024 class and was described by them as an elite two-way player with a mid-90’s fastball and CF traits as a position player.

Looks like he didn’t make the Ole Miss roster in 2025 and went the JUCO route and was a two-way player his freshman year but now appears to be solely focused on pitching and as you noted, had a nice season in 2026.

After the bumpy year that Robertson had and the mixed results of Lazaro and the limited impact of Cade Drohan, I will be skeptical of how much to expect from a JUCO arm, but maybe we can get back to impact pitchers like Anthony Simonelli, Peyton Alford and Jaison Heard.

Either way, looks like we are going all-in on finding experienced arms for next season and let them compete for meaningful roles.

Below is a look at summer league performance from this past week where Ethan Grim and Aiden Arnett three-peated as co-players of the week and Justin Munoz put together another solid week.

Player(s) of the Week

• Ethan Grim (Brewster, Cape Cod League) – Another week, another exceptional start from Grim in the Cape Cod League. In his start on 6/30, he went 4.0 scoreless innings on 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4. For the summer, he now has a 0.77 era and 0.86 whip across 11.2 innings in 3 starts.

• Aiden Arnett (Madison, Northwoods League) – Arnett continues to be highly productive in the Northwoods League. This past week, he played in 6 games, going 8-for-25 with 3 three doubles, a triple, 7 rbi and 6 runs scored. He also extended his hitting streak to 14 games and has reached based safely in 21 of 22 games this summer. He also leads all VT hitters this summer in basically every key stat and has a slash line of .311 avg / .454 obp / .486 slg / .940 ops and when looking at his last two summers in the Northwoods League, in 37 games he has a slash line of .322 avg / .471 obp / .492 slg / .962 ops. One other interesting note from this past week is that he got two starts at 3B, highlighting his potential positional versatility.


Other Notes

• Justin Munoz (Burlington, Appalachian League) – He only played in 3 games this past week, but he made the most of it as he went 5-for-13 with a 2b and 2 bb which gave him a slash line of .385 avg / .467 obp / .462 slg / .928 ops. He has now posted good back-to-back weeks where based on his last 5 games played, he has lifted his avg and ops from .167 avg and .645 ops to .282 avg and .890 ops.

• Ethan Ball (Yarmouth-Dennis, Cape Cod League) – He only played in 3 games this past week, but he went 3-for-8 (.375 avg) with a walk, hbp and sb. With those 3 games, he was able to improve his avg and ops from .192 avg and .564 ops to .235 avg and .637 ops.

• Aiden VanDeHatert (Greeneville, Appalachian League) – He had another solid start on 7/1, logging 3.0 innings giving up 1 earned run on 1 hit and 2 walks while striking out 3. With his last two starts, he has been able to reduce his summer era and whip from 7.04 era and 2.22 whip to 5.27 era and 1.68 whip.

• Jake Wise (Pulaski, Appalachian League) – After struggling mightily the last two weeks, he bounced back with a nice week. In two outings, he collected 2 saves while logging a pitching line of 3.1 ip, 0 h, 0 er, 1 bb, 3 so and throwing 66% of his pitches for strikes. With his efforts this past week, he was able to lower his summer era and whip from 12.96 era and 3.00 whip to 9.26 era and 2.23 whip.

• Danny Lazaro (Upper Valley, NECBL) – After not pitching since 6/11, he made two relief appearances this past week. He wasn’t particularly effective as he combined to throw 2.2 innings while giving up 3 earned runs on 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 2. On a positive note, he continued to throw strikes as he threw 65% of his 34 pitches for strikes and leads our VT pitchers this summer with 67% strikes.

he should be our highest leverage LHP bullpen reliever.

In the last two years against Top 75 offenses (per Massey Ratings), he has pitched to a 3.00 era, 1.25 whip and 2.00 so-bb ratio across 24.0 innings which is the best performance against this group of offenses amongst our incoming transfer pitchers (even better than Daniel Powell who has a 4.03 era, 1.34 whip, 16.9 so-bb in 29.0 innings against the same grouping of offenses looking at the last two years).

To your point, both he and Powell should be anchors in our bullpen to help close out games.

One thing is clear in this portal cycle, Willey is looking to put his stamp on the pitching staff personnel. Last year, I was a little surprised he only brought in 3 pitchers (Weber, Roe, Smith) so the 2026 staff was predominantly personnel that Fectau had brought in. With the planned turnover, it looks like we could have double-digit pitchers next year that were recruited by Willey.

midweek innings eater.

He effectively missed two years (2024, 2025) due to TJ injury but had a nice summer in 2025 in the NECBL (3.79 era, 1.42 whip in 19.0 innings) that earned him a cameo in the Cape and then followed that up with a solid season at Bryant this year.

In looking at his game logs from this past season, 51.2 of his 59.1 innings this year were against offenses that ranked outside the Top 210 per Massey Ratings, so he hasn’t faced particularly good competition. And his performance against the few good offenses he faced was not particularly good (1.2 ip, 5 h, 3 er, 2 hr vs. #59 Clemson; 3.0 ip, 7 h, 5 er, 5 xbh, 3 wp vs. #98 Rutgers). He did throw 3.0 hitless and scoreless innings against #156 Davidson, and he did have 2 bb vs. 5 so against Clemson and Rutgers combined, so to your point, he should be useful as a complimentary bullpen arm.

A couple other things to note…while he was injured in 2025, he served as his team’s leader in data analytics, operating Trackman during home games. Also of interest, we actually faced him in 2023 with what was his college debut where he faced five batters and got the first two batters out (Nick Holesa fouled out, Jack Hurley lined out) but then proceeded to walk the next three (Sam Tackett on 6 pitches, Chris Sparber on 5 pitches and Gehrig Ebel on 5 pitches) before being taken out and his replacement getting an out to get out of the jam.

With recent portal and decommitment activity, below is as updated projection of our 2027 roster and what additional activity we could see in the offseason.

Recent Activity:
• Entered Portal: LHP Austin Dean, 1B Aimon Chandler
• Decommitted: RHP Joshua Perez
• Incoming Portal: C Caleb Strawhecker (West Chester), LHP Mike Staiano (Elon), LHP Aiden VanDeHatert (Dallas Baptist), RHP Nic Abraham (Tennessee), RHP Daniel Powell (Kennesaw State)

Catchers:
• Current Situation: currently 3 vs. target of 3
• Portal & Draft Outlook: With the commitment of D2 transfer Caleb Strawhecker, we should be set at catcher for the 2027 season with Strawhecker, CJ Oxendine and Justin Munoz.

Infielders:
• Current Situation: currently 10 vs. target of 8
• Portal & Draft Outlook: I project that Pete Daniel will get drafted and not return. We will likely need to trim one other player so I could see one of our incoming freshmen (Palmer Hornick, Lucas Delacruz, JM Szefc) not make the spring roster with it likely coming down to either Hornick or Delacruz. If Daniel somehow doesn’t get drafted and decides to return, I would expect both Hornick and Delacruz to not make the 2027 roster.

Outfielders:
• Current Situation: currently 6 vs. target of 5
• Portal & Draft Outlook: The coaching staff may explore trying to find a high quality transfer OF that could provide an upgrade in CF over incoming JUCO Connor Guy but otherwise, Guy would likely get the first shot as the starting CF with Willie Hurt and/or Aiden Arnett possibly pushing him as alternative options. Either way, we will likely need to trim one OF from our incoming freshmen (Brady Elrod, Aiden Arnett, Owen Green). Given how well Arnett has performed in summer league action for two summers now, I think he is a lock to make the roster so it will likely come down to Elrod and Green for a roster spot.

Right-Handed Pitchers:
• Current Situation: currently 12 vs. target of 12
• Portal & Draft Outlook: With the flurry of recent transfer commitments, portal activity should be winding down but there is still a possibility we could see some attrition amongst Aiden Robertson (could potentially be drafted again), Jake Wise and Ryan Walsh in which case we could bring in a transfer to backfill for them. With Joshua Perez having decommitted in recent weeks, I think we’ll see our remaining HS commits (Alex Hoffman, Ethan Lee, Will Vetter) make the 2027 roster but Vetter could be one to watch if we bring in another portal arm and we don’t see attrition from our returning RHP.

Left-Handed Pitchers:
• Current Situation: currently 6 vs. target of 6
• Portal & Draft Outlook: With Austin Dean entering the portal, we could potentially have a situation where Danny Lazaro is the only returning LHP in the program but even he is TBD since there wasn’t a returning confirmation announcement with him. In any case, our 3 transfer arms (Torres, VanDeHatert, Staiano) and 1 JUCO arm (Purvis) should give us some experienced options so I don’t foresee us brining in other LHP but if Lazaro doesn’t return, then we would likely need to add another transfer. I’m also not sure if incoming freshman Camden Hayworth will figure in the mix. He was listed as a UTL when he signed in November and it doesn’t appear his velocity has made an uptick so it is possible that he doesn’t make the 2027 roster which would open a spot for another transfer arm.

would end up moving on. Pitchers redshirting (for injury or development) is typically not a good sign in terms of sticking with the program long term, so I figured it was low probability of him making an impact at VT. Either way, it is disappointing as he came in as a fairly well-regarding pitching prospect.

Separate question for you...do you know if any of Aiden Robertson, Jake Wise, Ryan Walsh or Danny Lazaro entered the portal? Of the returning players, I think they were the only ones where a returning announcement wasn't posted so was curious if any would wind up in the portal.

This past week in VT Baseball Summer League action featured a repeat of the co-Players of the Week with good performances from Ethan Grim and Aiden Arnett as well as the Cape Cod debut of Pete Daniel and some action in the Coastal Plain League for our newest hitting transfer (Caleb Strawhecker).

Player(s) of the Week

• Ethan Grim (Brewster, Cape Cod League) – He made his second start of the summer and again was exceptional as he went 4.2 innings giving up just 1 earned run on 3 hits and no walks while striking out 4. Across his two starts this summer, he has a 1.17 era and 0.65 whip in 7.2 innings.

• Aiden Arnett (Madison, Northwoods League) – Arnett continues to be a consistent hitting machine as he had another strong week, posting a slash line of .348 avg / .529 obp / .435 slg / .964 ops in 34 plate appearances. For the summer, he has a strong slash line of .306 avg / .493 obp / .469 slg / .962 ops. He also has an 8-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in 15 of 16 games for the summer.

Other Notes

• Caleb Strawhecker (High Point-Thomasville, Coastal Plain League) – Our recent transfer catcher commitment is playing in the Coastal Plain League this summer and after going hitless in his first two games in the prior week, he had a solid week as he played in 2 games and went 2-for-8 with a 2b, 4 rbi and a .775 ops. Behind the plate, he managed to throw out 3 of 5 would be base-stealers.

• Pete Daniel (Brewster, Cape Cod League) – Daniel made his Cape Cod League debut, getting off to a slow start. For the week, he played in 4 games and went just 1-for-9 (.111 avg) in 11 plate appearances and also had 2 errors in one game that he started at third base.

• Justin Munoz (Burlington, Appalachian League) – He only played in 2 games that counted (he played in an exhibition game), but made the most of his time as he hit a triple and a hr in 8 plate appearances which contributed to a slash line of .375 avg / .375 obp / 1.000 slg / 1.375 ops. Behind the plate, he has settled in fairly well as he hasn’t had an error or passed ball in his last 5 games at catcher and has thrown out 4 of the last 12 base-stealers.

• Jake Wise (Pulaski, Appalachian League) – He had another bad week as he made 3 appearances and went just 2.1 innings while giving up 5 er on 2 hits and allowed 6 walks while throwing less than 50% strikes. For the summer, he has now walked 16 batters in 8.1 ip and has a 12.96 era and 3.00 whip.

• Aiden VanDeHatert (Greeneville, Appalachian League) – He got a start on 6/24 and had a good outing as he went 3.0 innings, giving up just 1 earned run on 3 hits and no walks while striking out 2 and throwing 69% strikes. His full summer stats are still a bit elevated (5.91 era, 1.88 whip), but he is sporting a 5.0 so/bb rate.

• Nate Bennett (Trenton, MLB Draft League) – He had another rough week as he made one relief appearance and gave up 3 earned runs on 4 hits and 1 walk in his 1.0 inning of work. For the summer, he now has a 10.64 era in 11.0 innings.

and not being on a Summer League team isn't a good combination typically. With our current situation, we will likely need to trim one outfielder from our current planned players, so I envision it coming down to him and Brady Elrod as I think Aiden Arnett has shown across two summers in the Northwoods League that he has good upside and will turn 20 during early next season so he should be in a better position to impact next year's roster.

And to your point, the staff could look to bring in a transfer CF to give us more of a sure thing at that spot. After last season at Daytona State College and in the Valley League, it looked like JUCO transfer Connor Guy would be a solid option there but he was underwhelming this spring at St. John's River College and he was unremarkable this summer in 11 games in the Northwoods League so not sure how confident I am in him being a full season option in CF. If we do bring in a transfer CF, that would mean potentially both of Green and Elrod could be impacted or the staff could push Guy out of the mix.

One thing to watch will be how and where Willie Hurt and Aiden Arnett factor into the OF mix. In summer league play thus far, here is where they each have played games:

- Hurt: RF = 7, CF = 3, LF = 1, CF/LF = 1, 2B = 1, SS = 1, DH =1
- Arnett: CF = 6, LF = 4, DH = 3

The fact that Hurt has played 12 of his 15 games in the outfield leads me to believe that is where he will factor in primarily on next year's roster in addition to DH. And with Arnett, I assumed he would primarily be an outfielder but wasn't sure if he would be a corner OF or a possible CF option so it is good to see him getting a fair amount of action in CF to start the summer.

he has played in 3 games thus far. He's off to a slow start (1-for-11) but he had his one hit and two rbi's in his last game on 6/24. Obviously a very small sample size but with CJ Oxendine also playing in the COPL this summer, we should have a decent comparison between the two going into next season.

was possible, Caleb Strawhecker from D2 West Chester University committed to VT yesterday.

He is a Left-Handed Hitting catcher who is a rising junior that self-reported the following awards and stats:

-2025 PSAC Freshman of the year
-2026 First Team All-PSAC, Atlantic Region NCBWA, National Runner-up
Career Stats: 103 Games, 309 ABs
.337 AVG, .458 OBP, .560 SLG, 104 hits, 13 HR, 96 R, 76 RBI, 64 BB

He fills the need we had for a catcher with experience that could compete for the starting job.

At the request of @Vawter Tech, below is a look at what I could find for our Transfer/JUCO pitchers in terms of self-reported velocity/pitch data. I plan to do a deeper dive on the stats of our Transfer pitchers in the near future, but the information below should give some insight into the incoming pitchers.

Aiden VanDeHatert (LHP) from Dallas Baptist
• FB: 91-94 T95 (Sinker)
• CH: 86-88
• SL: 81-84
•

Chris Torres (LHP) from USC Upstate
• FB: 91-93 T95
• CH: 83-85 (1400 rpm)
• SL: 78-82 (2800 rpm)
• CT: 85-88
•

Mike Staiano (LHP) from Elon
• FB: 88-91 T92
• CT: 83-85
• CH: 80-82
• CB: 74-76
•

Nate Bennett (RHP) from Niagara
• FB: 90-93 T95 (AVG IVB 22”)
• SL: 79-83
• SPL: 75-77
• https://x.com/natebennett126/status/2061570148671070213

Daniel Powell (RHP) from Kennesaw State
• Couldn’t find recent velocity/pitch data, although in the following link from March 2025, it had some pitch data at that time…FB: 88-90 T91, CB: 75-77, CH: 79-82; tumble, adv feel, S/M at will, ability to land R/R for whiffs.
• https://x.com/PrepBaseballGA/status/1903644634401644966

Drake Purvis (LHP) from Gaston College
• Note: The following is from September 2025
• FB: 88-92
• CB: 76-78
• SL: 80-85
• SPL: 80-83
• CH: 82-85
• https://x.com/DrakePurvis1/status/1973023402266132896

Talan McConnell (RHP) from Gaston College
• Couldn’t find good velocity/pitch data for him but in the following link from November 2025, it shows he topped out at 97mph with his fastball.
• https://x.com/GCRhinosBSB/status/1986886928705192175

(Only the first 3 links are shown. Post contained 7 links.)

the last two years. Agreed that he should project as a key arm/anchor for the bullpen. I still think we could see another transfer pitcher depending on whether guys like Lazaro, Dean, Wise and Walsh return. In any case, things are certainly not as dire but am going to do a deeper dive on the stats for the transfers.

My initial analysis is most of the transfers are decent replacements and in line with the type of transfer pitchers we have gotten in the past but not sure I see an upgrade really anywhere.

Regarding velocities, I was able to find self-reported data on almost all the transfers with the exception of Powell, so I will create a new thread with that information.

VanDeHatert looks intriguing. Appears to have a bit of a long/slightly odd arm action but has a nice 91-94 mph fastball and despite the 6.10 ERA, pitching for DBU as much as he did is a good sign and he had a nice so/walk ratio.

Staiano appears to have been Elon's primary closer this past year and posted some nice stats but he looks like more of a soft-tossing lefty with promising off speed pitches in the Chase Swift mold. If he could perform somewhere in between Swift and Josh Berzonski, he could be a decent depth reliever arm.

They relied heavily on about 5 really good arms this year. It caught up with one of their starters who had to leave one of the Finals games early due to an injury and then McDuffie wasn’t quite as effective as he normally was all season and then trying to go back to Glauber on no days rest ended up not working.

In any case, here is a quick comparison of the two teams’ pitching depth. Obviously, the offenses were a factor as well with how hot Oklahoma was swinging the bat, but I think their pitching depth also helped them immensely against UNC.

• UNC had just 9 pitchers that threw at least 20 innings on the year. Of those 9, three threw 90+ innings and another threw 70+. They were also a little thin on quality outside their top 4 or 5. Of the 9 pitchers that threw 20 innings, only 6 had ERA’s under 6.00.

• In comparison, Oklahoma had 11 pitchers that threw at least 20 innings on the year with none of them throwing over 80 innings. They also had more balance and quality of depth as 10 of the 11 had ERA’s under 6.00.

As we move towards the end of June, here is a look at how our VT baseball players fared in summer league action during the week of 6/15. Overall, there were some highs and lows but it included a really nice pitching performance from Ethan Grim in the Cape Cod League. Given how uneven his performance was as a freshman and how large of a role he will have on next year’s pitching staff, seeing him perform well in the Cape Cod League would be a huge boost for next season’s team.

Player(s) of the Week

• Ethan Grim (Brewster, Cape Cod League) – He made his Cape Cod and Summer League debut this past week, getting the starting nod on 6/18 for Brewster and he didn’t disappoint. In his outing, he went 3.0 hitless and scoreless innings with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts in what ended up being a Brewster 3-1 victory.

• Aiden Arnett (Madison, Northwoods League) – Arnett bounced back nicely and had a good week that saw him log 14 pa in 4 games while flashing his developing power with another hr and finishing the week with a slash line of .364 avg / .500 obp / .636 slg / 1.136 ops which brings his summer slash line to .269 avg / .457 obp / .500 slg / .957 ops. He is striking out at a fairly high rate (31%), but he continues to produce at a high level, so he is someone to watch as a possible impact outfielder for us in 2027.

Other Notes

• JM Szefc (Pulaski, Appalachian League) – Szefc continues to be a model of consistency, producing good output at the plate on a regular basis. This past week, he finished with a slash line of .400 avg / .625 obp / .400 slg / 1.025 ops on 16 plate appearances and for the summer is sporting a slash line of .317 avg / .463 obp / .439 slg / .902 ops. To underscore his consistency, he has had at least one hit in 9 of 11 games this summer and has also reached base safely in all 11 games he has played in.

• CJ Oxendine (Zebulon, Coastal Plain League) – He made his first appearance of the summer back on 6/10 and since then, he has had a good start to his summer at the plate. This past week, he had 26 plate appearances across 6 games and posted a slash line of .273 avg / .385 obp / .455 slg / .839 ops with a 2b, hr and 5 rbi to bring his summer slash line to .282 avg / .417 obp / .410 slg / .827 ops. He struggled at first behind the plate as he had 3 errors and a passed ball in his first two games at catcher this summer, but he has settled down in his last 3 games at catcher with 0 errors or passed balls on 24 total chances.

• Ethan Ball (Yarmouth-Dennis, Cape Code League) – Ball made his Cape Cod debut this past week on 6/15 but has gotten off to a slow start. For the week, he played in 5 games and across 16 plate appearances went 2-for-13 and finished with a slash line of .154 avg / .313 obp / .154 slg / .466 ops and had an elevated 44% strikeout percentage.

• Brady Elrod (Pulaski, Appalachian League) – After getting my nod as VT Summer League Player of the Week for the week of 6/8, he followed that up with a week of struggles as he went just 1-for-9 (.111 avg) in 13 plate appearances including 4 strikeouts which is something he had been doing well in limiting. Despite the poor week, he has a summer slash line of .244 avg / .370 obp / .289 slg / .659 ops and a respectable 15% strikeout percentage.

• Nate Bennett (Trenton, MLB Draft League) – Our recent transfer commitment from Niagra is pitching for Trenton in the MLB Draft League this summer. He started out really well in his first 4 appearances as he logged 2 saves across 5.0 scoreless relief innings while allowing just 1 hit, 2 walks and striking out 5. Since then, in his last two outings, he has given up 10 er in 5.0 innings including a 3.0 inning start this past week where he gave up 4 er on 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5.

• Jake Wise (Pulaski, Appalachian League) – He made his third appearance of the summer this past week on 6/20 and it did not go well as he went 2.0 innings while giving up 6 hits, 6 earned runs and 4 walks. The one positive this summer is that he is striking out batters at a good rate (19.5 so9), but otherwise it has been a rough summer for him, especially with his command (15.0 bb9 and just 57% strikes) which has contributed to his 10.50 era and 2.83 whip.

on 65 pitches today. Looks like they will go with a all-hands-on-deck pitching approach and will undoubtedly lean on Walker McDuffie for multiple innings but will be interesting to see if they go back to Glauber tomorrow for an inning or two given how dominant he was today.

He has pitched on back-to-back days 3 times this year with the most recent in mid-May against NC State where he threw 39 pitches one day (2.0 innings) and followed it up with 57 pitches (3.2 innings) the following day so I could see them trying to get an inning or two out of him tomorrow.

Moritz-Toledo at the top of our lineup in 2028 for a year would be pretty exciting. Throw in a healthy Evan Hankins with possibly a 4th-year Hudson Lutterman and/or Sam Grube and a righty like Aiden Arnett, we could field a pretty stout batting lineup.

In any case, below are some good Teagan Leach home-run highlights. He has developed into an advanced hitter with really good power potential. To your point, he will likely be a likely MLB draft prospect and will almost certainly be courted by many big-time programs despite his long-standing Hokie commitment.

will be doing a post-grad year at PDG Academy.

I figured at least one of our incoming RHP wouldn't make the roster in the spring and Perez makes some sense as his velocity didn't really progress over the past year and seemed to struggle with command at times and was likely going to profile strictly as a reliever as a best case.

Not sure exactly what the deal is. It is possible that he has an agreement with the staff that he will return if he isn't drafted/doesn't go pro but maybe he has gotten positive feedback on his draft prospects and the staff decided it didn't make sense to announce his return if there is a high probability he goes pro.

The other interesting thing is that they announced Clay Grady coming back after the Daniel announcement but potentially before the removal of the Daniel announcement post. It is possible those two are connected, either because it became clear that Daniel getting drafted was now more of a probability and they put emphasis on trying to bring back Grady as a replacement or maybe Daniel had second thoughts after the staff made the Grady announcement and questioning his potential role on next year's team. The fact that he isn't in the portal currently leads me to believe it is more about him being drafted than anything else but I guess we'll see.

Personally, it would be nice to have him back for next year, but with everyone else across the infield we have returning, we should be fine either way.

With some of the recent activity over the last week or two, I thought I would provide a view of where I think things stand as of now for what it's worth.

Recent Activity

• Confirmed Returning: 2B Ethan Ball
• Entered Portal: OF Mycah Jordan, RHP Tyler Stone
• Incoming Portal: LHP Chris Torres (SC Upstate), RHP Nate Bennett (Niagra)

Catchers

• Current Situation: currently 2 vs. target of 3
• Portal & Draft Outlook: I expect us add an experienced transfer that can project as a starter/heavy contributor to pair with SO CJ Oxendine and FR Justin Munoz.

Infielders

• Current Situation: currently 11 vs. target of 8
• Portal & Draft Outlook: I project that Pete Daniel will get drafted and not return. With Evan Hankins coming in as a transfer, I expect Aimon Chandler to enter the portal and then I could see one of our incoming freshmen (Palmer Hornick, Lucas Delacruz, JM Szefc) not make the spring roster.

Outfielders

• Current Situation: currently 6 vs. target of 5
• Portal & Draft Outlook: With Mycah Jordan entering the portal, that provides some clarity to our outfield situation. The coaching staff may explore trying to find a high quality transfer OF that could provide an upgrade over incoming JUCO Connor Guy but otherwise, Guy would likely get the first shot as the starting CF. We would still need to likely trim one OF from our incoming freshmen (Brady Elrod, Aiden Arnett, Owen Green).

Right-Handed Pitchers

• Current Situation: currently 11 vs. target of 12
• Portal & Draft Outlook: There could be a lot of continued portal activity here, both incoming and outgoing. We are still pending announcements on Aiden Robertson, Jake Wise and Ryan Walsh. I am also assuming that one of our incoming freshmen RHP won’t make the spring roster, so look for us to target at least 3 more right-handed relief pitchers.

Left-Handed Pitchers

• Current Situation: currently 5 vs. target of 6
• Portal & Draft Outlook: We still don’t have confirmation on any LHP returning for next season with Danny Lazaro and Austin Dean presumably TBD. Assuming they end up returning, we should have a need for at least one more transfer LHP.

run by the SEC in terms of championships even excluding Texas & Oklahoma. The long-time/traditional SEC schools aren’t in this year’s championship game but prior to this year, the last six champions and seven of the last eight have all been long-time SEC schools.

And to add to the dominance, if you look at the last 16 teams in the championship game over the last 8 tournaments prior to this year, 11 of the 16 teams are long-time SEC schools and if you count Texas A&M (who was in the SEC at the time) and Oklahoma (who is now in the SEC), that is 13 of 16 teams that are now in the SEC.

It will be interesting to see if the ACC can make more of the CWS championship games going forward. The ACC is the very clear #2 conference in baseball but there is still a material gap between the SEC and ACC.

Didn’t see him listed on any rosters reflected in the COPL website.

Summer League play is now in full swing with the Cape Cod League getting kicked off. For the week of 6/8, we had 7 hitters and 3 hitters make appearances.

Player(s) of the Week

• Brady Elrod (Pulaski, Appalachian League) – After starting the summer going 1 for 15 in his first three games, he had a big week last week with both a 3-hit and 4-hit game that helped him post a slash line of .429 avg / .538 obp / .429 slg / .967 ops in 26 pa with also striking out just once and stealing 7 bases.

Other Notes

• Willie Hurt (Upper Valley, NECBL) – He got his summer underway with Upper Valley in the NECBL and is off to a solid start. Through 7 games, he has a slash line of .292 avg / .419 obp / .333 slg / .753 ops with 6 sb. Also of note is the defensive flexibility he has shown as he has started games at RF (2x), CF (2x), SS, 2B and DH.

• Mycah Jordan (Waterloo, Northwoods League) – He got his summer underway with Waterloo in the Northwoods League. He only played in 3 games this past week and started off well in the first two games (2 for 8, 2 r, 1 2b, 3 rbi, 2 bb, 1 sb) but had an 0 for 3 with 3 strikeout game on Sunday that lowered his avg to .182 and his ops to .580.

• Aiden Arnett (Madison, Northwoods League) – After hitting a homer in his second game of the summer, he had a quiet week last week, going just 1 for 8 in 11 pa across 3 games while striking out 5 times. He still has good obp, slg and ops numbers in his 5 games played but has struck out at a 43% rate in 21 pa so that will be something to watch.

• JM Szefc (Pulaski, Appalachian League) – He had a really nice week last week, which featured a 3b, hr and 6 rbi in 28 pa and finished with a slash line of .261 avg / .357 obp / .478 slg / .835 ops. For the summer, he leads all VT hitters in slg (.452), ops (.846) and rbi (9) while also being tied for 1st in hr (1) and 3b (1).

• Lucas Delacruz (Danville, Appalachian League) – He saw action in 4 games this past week and struggled by going hitless in 7 at-bats (11 plate appearances). He did manage to walk 4 times and steal 2 bases but for the summer, he has arguably gotten off to the slowest start amongst our hitters (VT hitter worst .154 avg, .154 slg and .470 ops).

• Danny Lazaro (Upper Valley, NECBL) – He made his first appearance of the summer with a solid relief outing where he had a line of 2.0 ip, 2 h, 1 r, 1 er, 0 bb, 3 so while throwing 70% strikes on his 30 pitches.

• Tyler Stone (Danbury, NECBL) – He made his first two regular season appearances of the summer this past week. Across the two appearances, he logged 1.2 innings while allowing 1 earned run. On the positive side, he didn’t allow a hit in his 9 batters faced but he struggled with command as he walked 4 batters and only threw 54% of his pitches for strikes.

• Jake Wise (Pulaski, Appalachian League) – He made his second appearance of the summer this past week in what was an uneven performance. In 2.0 innings, he managed to only allow 1 earned run and just 1 hit, but he walked 4, struck out 5 and allowed 2 unearned runs.

a third catcher and I think with the youth/inexperience of Oxendine and Munoz, it feels like we would need to bring in an experienced catcher that can at least be a meaningful contributor/part-time starter to rotate with Oxendine and allow for Munoz time to adjust to the college level.

mark right now. Eisenreich and Grim should be competitive Friday/Saturday starters if they can stay healthy but we have a ton of question marks right now after that. JUCO transfer Drake Purvis should be a capable arm but we will be very short on experience unless we can land at least 3 to 5 transfer arms.

I may do something more in-depth after the summer ends, but below is an overview going into this summer. In terms of decommitments, we have lost three JUCO pitchers recently (RHP Luke Hayhow, LHP Jason Berglund and LHP Gage Goldman), but given how they performed this spring, I would assume all were initiated by our coaching staff.

Catchers

• C Justin Munoz (6’0” 200 | R-R | Millbrook School | Hackensack, NJ)

Munoz is a power-hitting catcher with a strong arm. He will need to continue to refine his defense and will need to prove he can make enough consistent contact at the plate in college, but he has the potential to be an impact player. Will likely be our #3 catcher as a freshman (assuming we bring in a veteran catcher in the portal this year), but could vie for meaningful playing time as a sophomore and beyond.

Infielders

• 3B Palmer Hornick (5’11” 175 | L-R | Dorman HS | Moore, SC)
• SS/2B Lucas Delacruz (6’0” 175 | S-R | Marvin Ridge HS | Marvin, NC)
• 2B John Michael Szefc (5'10" 165 | L-R | The Miller School of Albemarle | Blacksburg, VA)

Hornick is the most well-regarded recruit amongst our infielders. Given our likely returning experience across our infield in 2027, he may not break through for significant playing time as a freshman, but he has good potential as a hitter to carve out a meaningful role during his collegiate career, likely as a 3B/DH. Delacruz is a switch-hitting middle infielder with some good defensive potential but will likely face a battle to earn a roster spot as JM Szefc is Coach Szefc’s oldest son and a late addition to the class. He projects strictly as a 2B, but he is a fundamentally sound player who has had a nice start to summer league play in the Appalachian League and is already 19 yr 4 mo old.

Outfielders

• OF Connor Guy (5’11” 175 | L-R | St. John’s River State College | Keystone Heights, FL)
• OF Brady Elrod (6’1” 185 | R-R | Hanover HS | Mechanicsville, VA)
• OF Owen Green (6’1” 185 | L-L | Ardrey Kell HS | Charlotte, NC)
• UTL Aiden Arnett (5’11” 170 | R-R | Trinity Christian Academy | Stoughton, WI)

Connor Guy is our lone JUCO hitting recruit. He projects as a CF defensively with limited power at the plate. After a really nice freshman year at Daytona State College (.368 avg, .472 obp, .479 slg, .951 ops, 10 sb in 176 pa), he struggled a bit at St. John’s River State College this year (.266 avg, .396 obp, .344 slg, .740 ops, 5 sb in 194 pa) and hasn’t done much in the Northwoods League so far this summer (.231 avg, .367 obp, .231 slg, .598 ops, 3 sb in 49 pa). He’ll likely be given a shot to earn the starting CF role, but we could explore bringing in a veteran OF via the transfer portal to compete with him or he could even get passed up by one of our HS recruits. Amongst our HS OF, Aiden Arnett is a former Florida commit and originally a member of our 2025 class that has shown good production in two summers in the Northwoods League. Given his age (already 19 yr, 2 mo), he could push Guy for playing time in CF. Our other two OF in the class are Brady Elrod and Owen Green. They are both pretty well-rounded prospects, but will likely be competing for roster spots this fall with possibly only one of them making the roster in the spring.

Pitchers

• LHP Drake Purvis (6’1” 210 | R-L | Gaston College | Silver City, NC)
• RHP Talan McConnell (6’0” 170 | R-R | Gaston College | Belmont, NC)
• RHP Alex Hoffman (6’3” 210 | R-R | Charlotte Catholic HS | Charlotte, NC)
• RHP Ethan Lee (6’2” 210 | R-R | Don Bosco Prep | West Nyack, NY)
• RHP Joshua Perez (6’1” 225 | R-R | Spotsylvania HS | Spotsylvania, VA)
• RHP Will Vetter (6’0” 192 | R-R | Cary HS, Cary, NC)
• LHP/UTL Camden Hayworth (6’5” 215 | L-L | Dobyns-Bennett HS | Kingsport, TN)

LHP Drake Purvis has been a good pitcher the last two seasons at the JUCO level (7-0 w-l, 3.33 era, 1.09 whip in 2025…3-0 w-l, 4.24 era, 1.29 whip in 2026) that despite a poor showing in the Coastal Plain League las summer (0-3 w-l, 8.10 era, 1.97 whip in 23.1 ip), he has enough of a pitch arsenal (low 90’s fastball with competitive secondary pitches) to contribute as a weekend pitcher either as our Sunday starter or as a high-leverage reliever. RHP Talan McConnell didn’t pitch this past season after transferring to Gaston College from Wingate, presumably due to injury. He struggled in limited innings his freshman year at Wingate (10.57 era, 2.22 whip in 7.2 ip as a reliever), but he sports a mid-90’s fastball that should allow him to compete for a key bullpen role if he is healthy. Amongst our high school pitching recruits, RHP Alex Hoffman and RHP Ethan Lee are the most well-regarded and both have the size and pitching profiles (low 90’s fastballs with good breaking pitches) to compete for the Sunday starter role or the Weekday starter role their freshman seasons. Joshua Perez, Will Vetter and Camden Hayworth are more developmental prospects that will have to compete for roster spots, with Hayworth also potentially getting a look as a hitter.

With the month of May wrapped up, below is an update of how our former Hokies are faring in the MLB and affiliate ranks. Overall, it was a good month for a couple of our major leaguers (TJ Rumfield, Ian Seymour) and it also saw the professional debut of two hitters (Jared Davis, David McCann).

Recent Level Changes (Since 5/1/26)

• Christian Martin moved from A to A+ on 5/9/26. He didn’t have a particularly great month of May though as he hit just .215 with a .639 ops in 80 pa across both levels.

• Peyton Alford moved from AA to AAA on 5/26/26. Before being promoted, Alford posted exceptional stats as a reliever in AA with a 6-2 record, 2 saves, 1.42 era, 0.84 whip and just 2 bb with 30 so across 19.0 ip. In two appearances at the AAA level to end May, he pitched 2.0 innings of scoreless ball.

• Drue Hackenberg was activated from the 7-day injured list on 5/31/26 and returned to AA. In 3 Rookie League rehab starts during the month of May, he pitched to a 4.50 era and 1.63 whip in 8.0 ip.

• Mathieu Curtis earned a promotion to A+ ball on 5/11/26 after dominating A ball hitters with a 0.63 era, 0.84 whip and 11.9 so9 in 14.1 relief innings. In the second half of May at the A+ level, he struggled a bit by allowing 4 er in 6.2 ip across 3 appearances.


Trending Up (Since 5/1/26)

• TJ Rumfield built off of a nice start at the MLB level in March/April and had a very good month of May with a .310 avg, .883 ops, 4 hr and 12 rbi in 100 pa.

• Carson Taylor was able to increase his season ops in AAA from .660 to .744 with a slash line of .290 avg / .436 obp / .403 slg / .839 ops on 78 pa in the month of May.

• Gavin Cross dug himself a really big hole to start the year in AAA and he still has very poor stats for the season (.523 ops through end of May), but he did have a more respectable month of May with a .265 avg and .696 ops along with 4 sb.

• Tanner Schobel had a solid month of May in AAA with a .262 avg and .726 ops on 78 pa to raise his season ops from .636 to .687.

• Ian Seymour had a really strong month of May at the MLB level. In 13 appearances (1 start), he went 3-0 with 2 saves and a 2.87 era and 1.09 whip in 15.2 ip.

• Grant Manning had an absolutely dominant month of May at the A level, posting a 0.59 era, 0.91 whip and just 2 bb vs. 20 so in 15.1 ip while also recording a 2-0 record and 1 sv. Through the end of May, he now has a 1.74 era and 1.06 whip in 31.0 ip.

Trending Down (Since 5/1/26)

• In AA, Cade Hunter had a good April but really struggled in the month of May with just a .153 avg and .536 ops with 27 so in 68 pa.

• After having a standout start to the season (0.84 era, 0.75 whip in 10.2 ip in April), Zach Brzykcy had a brutal month of May in AAA. For the month, he posted a 9.26 era and 2.06 whip in 11.2 ip.

• After having a standout start to the season (just 1 er in 12.1 ip through April), Jordan Geber had a brutal month of May in AA. For the month, he posted a 10.91 era and 2.04 whip in 15.2 ip.

• Brady Kirtner struggled at the A+ level in May with an 0-2 record, 7.20 era and 2 hr allowed in 10.0 ip.

• Jordan Little made 4 appearances in A ball during May and logged a 6.35 era in 5.2 ip. He did manage a 1.06 whip and 8-to-1 so/bb ratio but gave up a hr.


Injuries

• Kerry Carpenter spent a portion of May on the 10-day disabled list with a left AC Joint Sprain and returned to the MLB active roster in late May. For the month, he struggled with just a .227 avg and .573 ops in 26 plate appearances.

• Carson DeMartini was placed on the 7-day disabled list on 5/7/26 and hasn’t played since. The injury was unfortunate as he had hit safely in his first four games of May with a 1.036 ops in 19 pa at the AA level.

• Joe Mantiply was placed on the 15-day DL on 5/19/26 with left knee inflammation and then was placed on the 60-day IL on 6/3/26. In 6 appearances at the MLB level in May prior to his injury, he performed very well with a 0.00 era and 0.83 whip in 6.0 innings

• Packy Naughton is still listed on the 7-day IL as of 4/9/26 but hasn’t pitched since 3/31/26.


Other Notes

• Jack Hurley spent a portion of May on the Developmental List and logged just 27 plate appearances in AAA.

• Eddie Micheletti continued to hit well at AA with a .795 ops, 5 hr and 12 rbi on 105 pa in May and has a .827 ops for the season through the end of May.

• Jared Davis made his professional debut with the Athletics Rookie League team and managed a .250 avg and .633 ops in 37 pa.

• David McCann made his professional debut with the Yankees Rookie League team and hit well as a DH with a .286 avg, 952 ops, 2 hr and 5 rbi in 24 pa.

McCann's pro debut but it looks like he had a really nice start to the month of June as well and got called up to A ball as you noted. The interesting thing is that his MiLB page notes he was moved from A ball (Tampa) to Rookie ball on a rehab assignment in mid-May and then just today Tampa activated him from the 60-day DL so he must have had some sort of injury.

I think McCann's bat could get him to at least AA but I don't think he has a future at catcher and will need to make it as a lefty hitting 1B/DH type. In three games so far playing catcher in the professional ranks, he already has 3 passed balls. And based on his time at VT, throwing runners out was a big sore spot so I suspect they will try him a little bit at catcher this year but let him focus on his hitting and see if he can make it as a 1B and/or DH going into next season and beyond.

at the end was a typo.

from the University of Tennessee. He was a freshman there this past season but only logged 7 plate appearances (no hits in 6 at-bats with 3 strikeouts and 1 walk) before tearing his ACL in late March.

He is a Bristol, VA native that was a 4-year starter at the Miller School and was the #156 ranked player nationally by Perfect Game and the #2 1B in the 2025 class and the #4 player in the state of Virginia after a highly decorated high school career. He is big (6’5” 228) lefty hitter and fielder that has tremendous raw power. Assuming he’s healthy and assuming Ethan Gibson goes pro or shifts to another position, I suspect he’ll be squarely in the mix for the starting role at 1B.

Here are a few scouting reports on him from Perfect Game and Prep Baseball Report during his high school days:

Perfect Game 2024 National Showcase (July 2024):
• Evan Hankins is a 2025 1B/LHP/OF with a 6-5 220 lb. frame from Bristol, VA who attends The Miller School of Albemarle. Physical, strong build with well defined mass and leanness. Ran a 7.21 in the sixty. First baseman who works quick around the bag. Good athlete and arm strength, quick turns to the bag. Lower slot and adjusts it well on the move. Outfielder with arm strength that translated. Good length to arm action and gets on top of throws well, one hop accuracy to the bag. Left-handed hitter, deeper hand load with slight rock back from open stance. Plenty of heaviness to his barrel, near top of class power from right side. Constant strength and ability to drive the ball to all fields. Simply a loud left-handed power bat.

Prep Baseball All-American Game (September 2023):
• A primary left-handed pitcher, Hankins shows tools to be an above-average first baseman as well. Imposing 6-foot-5, 220-pound frame with athleticism and strength throughout, Hankins will work out of an upright, even base with a high handset. Bat path creates simple loft and it’s backed by electric hand speed and bat speed that allow for thunderous barrels to the pull-side. Easy plus raw power that hit some balls deep into the second deck in American Family Field with minimal effort. Excellent flexibility and ability to pick it at first as well as an XL target for infielders gives Hankins a strong all-around glove, and only continues to improve.

The overall results were probably at best a push from recent years under Fectau and I wasn’t a fan of some of the pitching decisions (pushing Grim to Friday starter; Renfrow primarily as Saturday starter), but there were some positives.

The main thing is we managed to avoid a significant amount of season-ending injuries with our pitchers that seemed to plague us almost every year under Fectau. We certainly had a few injuries (Weber missed most of the year, Grim missed a few starts, etc.), but all in all it felt like one of our better years on that front. It’s hard to say how much influence Willey had in that department but for now, I would chalk that up as a win for him.

The other positive thing is looking at pitchers that returned this year, you can argue many of them improved and very few regressed. That should generally be expected as players mature but given how baseball performance can fluctuate from year to year, I think the results of returning pitchers in ACC conference play is encouraging. Here is a view by player:

• Brett Renfrow: Arguably got better. His in-conference ERA dipped a bit (4.05 to 4.60) but just about everything else improved…WHIP from 1.59 to 1.23, B/AVG from .289 to .237, SO/BB ratio from 2.3 to 3.5. He also had arguably his best stretch of starts to end his career.

• Logan Eisenreich: Arguably got better. His in-conference ERA was about the same (6.46 in 2025 vs. 6.33 in 2026) and his B/AVG against went up considerably (.246 to .313) but his command improved significantly (11.7 BB9 to 4.7 BB9) and his WHIP was better (2.22 to 1.81).

• Griffin Stieg: Given that he missed all of 2025 to injury, it is hard to compare him to previous performance. If you compare him to in-conference performance in 2024, his 2026 stats were definitely worse but all in all, I think his performance was about to be expected for someone returning from TJ surgery.

• Preston Crowl: It maybe didn’t feel like it, but he was statistically better. He improved his in-conference ERA by over a run (6.48 to 5.34), his WHIP by almost one (2.34 to 1.47), cut his B/AVG against considerably (.320 to .252) and also improved his command (8.1 BB9 to 4.7 BB9).

• Brendan Yagesh: His in-conference ERA was significantly worse (2.70 to 8.37) but he went from a seldom-used lefty-lefty specialist (just 6.2 ip last year in-conference) to high leverage weekend arm (23.2 ip in-conference) and managed to keep his WHIP at the same level (1.95 to 1.94).

• Chase Swift: Arguably got better. He only threw 3.2 conference innings in 2025 and basically doubled that this year with 7.2 conference innings. Clearly a small sample size, but he went from a 9.82 ERA to 4.70 ERA and went from a .375 B/AVG against to a .115 B/AVG against while cutting his WHIP in half, from 2.18 to 0.78.

• Luke Craytor: He improved dramatically. After posting in-conference stats in 2025 of 12.60 ERA, 2.80 WHIP, .348 B/AVG, 10.8 BB9, 0.9 BB-SO, he improved significantly on each of those categories in 2026 with a 4.09 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, .227 B/AVG, 6.5 BB9 and 1.5 BB-SO.

• Josh Berzonski: He was used sparingly in conference play both years (4.0 ip in 2025, 5.0 ip in 2026) so it is hard to assess his performance. In the small sample size, he definitely got statistically worse.

I will be interested to see how 2027 goes. Given that we likely won’t have a lot of our key returning arms in the fold for next year (could be just Grim and Eisenreich and Robertson if you count him as a key arm), any improvement will need to come from newcomers.

2026 Summer League action got underway in the last two weeks with a total of 6 hitters and 3 pitchers having garnered playing time in the first two weeks of summer league action.

The table below shows a summary of stats thus far along with a few notes of analysis.

Player(s) of the Week

• Aiden Arnett (Madison, Northwoods League) – He only played in two games the week of 5/25 but in 10 plate appearances, he managed to go 2-for-7 (.286 avg) with a hr, 3 rbi and 3 bb which translated to a .500 obp / .714 slg / 1.214 ops slash line while playing CF. Given how he performed last summer in the Northwoods League and his age (will be 20 in mid-March next spring), another good summer could suggest him competing for a prominent role next season in the outfield.

Other Notes

• Connor Guy (Bismarck, Northwoods League) – He has logged a lot of playing time for Bismarck, starting 11 games in CF and primarily hitting leadoff. So far, his play has been a bit mixed as he has scored 8 runs and has 3 sb and 5 rbi, but he only has a slash line of .231 avg / .367 obp / .231 slg / .598 ops and hasn’t shown any power (no xbh) and has been caught stealing twice.

• We had 3 pitchers make appearances in the Appalachian League with decent results. Ryan Walsh (Pulaski) made an appearance on 6/4 and logged 1.2 ip, giving up 1 er on 1 hit but did strike out 3 and walked none. Jake Wise (Pulaski) appeared on 6/6 and posted 2.0 scoreless and hitless innings while walking 2 and striking out 4. Austin Dean (Burlington) also had a solid outing as he went 2.0 innings giving up 1 er and didn’t allow any hits while striking out 2. The main issue he had was with command as he walked one, hit another batter and also had 2 wild pitches.

• We had four incoming freshmen hitters make their Appalachian League debuts. Justin Munoz (Burlington) played in 3 games and managed a .500 obp with 2 hits, 3 bb and 2 hbp but struggled defensively in his one game at catcher (1 error, 2 passed balls, 3 sb allowed with no caught stealing). Lucas Delacruz (Danville) played in 3 games splitting time between 2B and SS and had mixed results in 8 plate appearances. He was able to go 2-for-6 (.333 avg) and drove in 4 runs with 2 sf and 2 stolen bases but had just a .583 ops and 1 error in the field. JM Szefc (Pulaski) started two games at 2B and batted 2nd in the lineup and went 3-for-8 (.375 avg) with 3 rbi and a .500 obp. Brady Elrod (Pulaski) started 3 games in RF and managed to hit a triple but otherwise struggled mightily as he went just 1-for-15 (.067 avg) at the plate with no walks.

• Tyler Stone made an appearance in a team scrimmage on 5/30 and struggled considerably as he gave up 5 hits, 5 runs, 3 earned runs and had a wild pitch in 1.0 innings and threw just 50% of his 26 pitches for strikes.

rebuild of our LHP from 2026. Assuming they both do end up leaving, we would have only Danny Lazaro as a LHP that actually pitched for us in 2026.

I assumed Clement would be in line for a possible weekend starter role along with Eisenreich and Grim but he probably saw the success Marciano had at Auburn and figured he would test the waters with the portal and also use it as possible leverage with the MLB Draft. I suppose he could return like Stieg did if he doesn't get drafted and/or doesn't like his transfer destination options but we'll see.

We've already had Anderson French and Chase Swift enter the transfer portal and both of them are scheduled to play in the Cape Cod League. Also, just because guys are playing summer ball doesn't mean they won't end up going pro. Pete Daniel is playing in the Cape but he is draft eligible and we had a couple of similar guys in Jared Davis and David McCann play in the Cape the summer they ended up being drafted/signed to the pros, so it is possible Daniel goes pro as well.

We also could see continued transfer portal movement out (and in) so that will also be something to monitor.

Here is a list of which VT players I was able to find Summer League assignments for searching rosters and some that @Vawter Tech found. There are a few returning players I was surprised aren't yet on a roster (CJ Oxendine, Willie Hurt, Aimon Chandler) that could benefit from continued development.

In any case, we should get a good look at almost all of our incoming HS position players and all but one (OF Owen Green) appear to be playing this summer in the Appalachian League (Justin Munoz, Lucas Delacruz, JM Szefc, Palmer Hornick, Brady Elrod) or the Northwoods League (Aiden Arnett).

Cape Cod League
- LHP Madden Clement, Bourne
- RHP Ethan Grim, Brewster
- IF Pete Daniel, Brewster
- RHP Logan Eisenreich, Brewster
- IF/OF Sam Grube, Yarmouth-Dennis
- IF Ethan Ball, Yarmouth-Dennis

NECBL
- RHP Aiden Robertson, Danbury
- RHP Tyler Stone, Danbury
- LHP Danny Lazaro, Upper Valley

Northwoods League
- OF Connor Guy, Bismarck
- IF/OF Aiden Arnett, Madison (not currently active)
- OF Mycah Jordan, Waterloo (not currently active)

Appalachian League
- C Justin Munoz, Burlington
- LHP Austin Dean, Burlington
- IF Lucas Delacruz, Danville
- IF Palmer Hornick, Kingsport
- IF JM Szefc, Pulaski
- OF Brady Elrod, Pulaski
- RHP Ryan Walsh, Pulaski
- RHP Jake Wise, Pulaski

he was pretty well-regarded and participated in the MLB Draft Combine so there was upside there for sure. But he just seemed a bit overmatched against ACC pitching with too much swing and miss and really struggled against lefties. When he got such little playing time early in the season when Cooke was going through his massive slump, I figured that didn't bode well for his prospects going into next year.

My guess is the coaching staff told him they couldn't guarantee him a starting spot and/or told him he would be a backup and he decided to look for a more prominent role somewhere else.

We'll definitely need to bring in a transfer catcher with experience to compete with Oxendine and Munoz for the starting role and give us three options at catcher. I believe this will be the first or one of the first times in the Szefc era where we'll be bringing in a transfer catcher as we have had a pretty good run of developing high school catchers.

If I recall correctly, he didn't start playing with them until very late last summer and given how many games teams play in the Northwoods League, I could see him being activated later in the summer.

I am eager to see if he has another good summer there. I know he delayed coming due to a roster crunch but his performance in that league as a high schooler was really impressive. He'll turn 20 a month into the 2027 season so even though he'll be a freshman next year, he could make a push for meaningful playing time depending on what attrition we see.

for Burlington in the Appalachian League this summer. I know he was fairly highly regarded but I think it was more projection based on his frame and potential velocity increase but in his senior year, he was still only sitting mainly upper-80's with his fastball and one scout that attended a game in March 2025 had him only hitting mid-80's in the 3rd inning after starting the game in the 88-90 range.

So I think the redshirt was likely a developmental year. I still think he has some potential but there hasn't been a particularly long history of pitchers becoming notable players after redshirting during the Szefc era.

@Vawter Tech on the additional Summer League assignment.

With the season wrapped up and transfer portal underway, below is a look at what we could potentially expect in the offseason.

Recent Notes
- Chase Swift entered the portal today.
- JUCO signees RHP Luke Hayhow and LHP Jason Berglund decommitted from VT in May with Berglund committing to UTSA and Hayhow currently looking for D1 opportunities.

Catchers
- We typically carry 3 catchers which we are at currently with Anderson French (JR), CJ Oxendine (SO) and Justin Munoz (FR). I expect we’ll stick with that group if the staff feels like French (or Oxendine) can make a jump into the starter role for next season.

Infielders & Outfielders
- We are at 16 IF and OF currently (assuming Clay Grady doesn’t return) and I would expect we’ll keep around 13 so look for some attrition here. Things will also depend on whether Pete Daniel gets drafted and if we can retain Ethan Ball. If either or both of them don’t return, I could see us trying to land a starting caliber infielder in the transfer portal. I also think we’ll try to bring in a starting caliber outfielder in the portal. Connor Guy is a JUCO outfielder that could compete for a starting role but he doesn’t look like a surefire starter so the staff could look to bolster the outfield with a more established transfer.

Pitchers
- With Chase Swift entering the portal and assuming Brett Renfrow and Preston Crowl go pro, we are at 17 pitchers for next year (11 RHP, 6 LHP). We rostered 20 pitchers this past season but that was with an online roster of 36 players which is two over the limit (and two of them redshirted) so I think we’ll target keeping 18 for next season. Given the challenges we had with pitching, I think we’ll try to bring in at least 2 or 3 pitchers in the portal and then likely see one less than we bring in hit the portal.

Even though Swift is a rising junior, he will be draft eligible this year as he turns 21 on July 1st so maybe he is using the portal for leverage.

The question will be where Willey and Szefc see him in terms of a role next year. I would imagine Swift wants to land a weekend starter role wherever he is at and even though he made the jump from weekday starter to weekend reliever this year, he wasn't used much at all down the stretch so I'm not sure they saw him ultimately as a weekend starter going into next season.

to add.

Cape Cod League
- Pete Daniel, Brewster
- Anderson French, Brewster

Northwoods League
- Connor Guy, Bismarck

NECBL
- Tyler Stone, Danbury
- Danny Lazaro, Upper Valley

Appalachian League
- Palmer Hornick, Kingsport

TBD
- CJ Oxendine
- Hudson Lutterman
- Ethan Gibson
- Aimon Chandler
- Willie Hurt
- Lucas Delacruz
- Nick Locurto
- Mycah Jordan
- Owen Green
- Aiden Arnett
- Aiden Robertson
- Talan McConnell
- Alex Hoffman
- Will Vetter
- Ethan Lee
- Josh Perez
- Austin Dean
- Gage Goldman
- Drake Purvis
- Cam Hayworth

Leagues I Checked With No Hokies
- Valley League
- Coastal Plain League
- Cal Ripken League (Alexandria roster not posted yet)
- Futures League

and ended up being the wrong one but I think going into the tournament, he assumed (reasonably) that UCLA would win their first round game and that to advance, we would have to beat UCLA twice so he wanted to save Renfrow and Stieg against UCLA 2x. The other benefit of going with Eisenreich/Grim in Game 1, they would potentially be available in relief roles for a Game 4 or 5 in the scenario of a WLW first three games.

I was ok with the approach going into it but given how crucial the outcome of game 1 is, I think you have to throw your best option in game 1 and sort things out after that.

shelled today.

Of interest, former Hokie Marcel Kulik is currently pitching in that game in relief and has pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless ball.

Entering the tournament. Beating them twice will be a monumental task as no team has beaten them twice this year and they have only lost 4 weekend games on the season, but they haven’t been a juggernaut down the stretch.

In the last 21 games they have played since mid/late April, here is a rundown of some positives for us:

- lost their star pitcher to arm fatigue and he won’t be pitching in the regional.

- They have only scored in double digits 4 times and none in last 9 games.

- Only have 2 wins by more than 5 runs.

- They are only 4-2 in their last two home series and one of the series was against a weak team (CS Sacramento) in which they scored the same amount of runs across the whole series.

- The home series before their last two was against Minnesota and while they swept them, it wasn’t particularly dominant…winning 4-2, 6-4 and 5-2.

- One of their star hitters (Will Gasparino) has 19 home runs on the year but has only hit 2 in his last 17 games.

All that is to say they are definitely not invincible and even though we likely won’t pull out two wins against them (maybe not even one), I fully expect us to give them tough game(s) and could certainly surprise them if we play with the type of confidence we have down the stretch.

For anyone interested, below are some details on the Cal Poly team. PEARatings has the odds for the game at almost 50/50 so it should be a tough and competitive game against them.

Team Overview

• Their pitching is generally better than their hitting as PEARatings has them with the #58 ERA (4.85) and are #152 (6.53) in Runs per Game. Similarly, Massey Ratings has them with the #73 Offense and #62 Defense.

Hitting

• The standout in their batting lineup is JR C Ryan Tayman who typically bats 4th in the lineup. He leads the team in AVG (.355), OBP (.444), SLG (.664), OPS (1.108), R (48), HR (16) and RBI (53). Batting ahead of him at #3 in the order is GR RF Dylan Kordic who is second on the team in OPS (.950) and HR (9). Those two have combined to hit 25 of the team’s 55 home runs on the season.

• Outside of Tayman and Kordic, their lineup features 5 hitters with OPS’ between .810 and .875, so they have some decent hitters sprinkled throughout the rest of their lineup. Overall, they don’t hit a ton of homers (#161 in the country at 0.95 per game) but they hit a lot of doubles (#2 in the country at 2.62 per game) with seven hitters that have hit at least 13 doubles on the year.

• Their weakest hitters are two of their lefties that bat lower in the lineup in SO 2B Jake Downing who has a .280 AVG but just a .773 OPS. Batting 9th is SO LF Dante Vachini who has a .272 AVG but just a .709 OPS.

Fielding

• They are a fairly average team defensively with a .971 fielding percentage which ranks #144 in the country (for reference, we are #32 in the country with a .978 fielding percentage). Their biggest individual issue is at 3B where Alejandro Garza has made 12 errors on the season for a .923 fielding percentage. They also don’t turn a lot of double plays as they only have 23 on the season which ranks #293 in the country.

Starting Pitching

• Their top two starters are JR RHP Griffin Naess (6’6” 185) and JR RHP Carson Turnquist (6’5” 235). Naess has been their Friday starter the last two seasons and a high-quality starter for 3 years as he has career stats of 21-7 W-L, 3.73 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and .242 BA in 248.2 IP. He doesn’t throw particularly hard (fastball topping out around 90-91 mph) but his fastball has elite induced vertical break in the 25” range (i.e. has good rising action) and features a curveball with ~22” of drop. Turnquist has been their Saturday starter for much of this season and has arguably been their best starter (8-2 W-L, 3.50 ERA, 1.24 WHIP) after missing all of 2024 and part of 2025 due to Tommy John surgery. In 2026, Turnquist has been extremely difficult to hit as opponents are only batting .187 against him. He does occasionally struggle with command (4.9 BB9) but can generate whiffs (10.8 SO9) with a 93-96 mph fastball, a changeup with good fade and two effective breaking pitches.

• Beyond Naess and Turnquist, FR RHP Corden Pettey (6’2” 215) has been their primary Sunday starter but missed some time down the stretch due to injury. It is unclear whether he could get the nod against us or potentially get used in a relief role. Either way, he has been a solid pitcher for them on the season (4.60 ERA, 4.44 FIP, 1.45 WHIP, 10.1 SO9 in 58.2 IP). They also have JR LHP Josh Volmerding (6’4” 210) who has started some games this year and in past years but has been less effective (7.65 ERA, 4.38 FIP, 1.60 WHIP, .305 BA) in somewhat limited innings (20.0 on the season).

Relief Pitching

• The star of their bullpen is closer SR RHP Nick Bonn who has posted an NCAA leading 15 saves on the season to go with a 3.74 ERA and 1.36 WHIP. He is on the smaller side (6’1” 160) but he throws with high velocity (fastball in the mid to upper 90’s and touching 100 mph) from a very aggressive/high intent delivery. They regularly use him in multi-inning situations as he has logged 2+ innings in 13 of his 25 relief appearances so look for him to be a key part of their bullpen in the regional.

• Outside of Bonn, Cal Poly regularly turns to two lefties in key roles. Both Christopher Downs (JR, 6’7” 215) and Brady Estes (FR, 6’3” 205) have appeared in 25 games and logged 45+ innings (Downs 54.2, Estes 45.1) and have pitched fairly well (Downs 5.10 ERA / 4.84 FIP, Estes 3.77 ERA / 4.94 FIP). Beyond them, we could likely see a mix of 3-4 other key relievers: LHP Josh Morano (34.1 IP, 5.77 ERA, 4.97 FIP, 1.57 WHIP), RHP Sean McGrath (34.1 IP, 7.34 ERA, 4.56 FIP, 1.81 WHIP), RHP Troy Cooper (27.2 IP, 5.53 ERA, 4.90 FIP, 1.73 WHIP) and LHP Luke Kalfsbeek (20.2 IP, 6.97 ERA, 5.24 FIP, 1.65 WHIP).

I will be curious to see how we manage the bullpen behind them.

Assuming we go with Eisenreich as the starter against Cal Poly, I could see us going with Grim and then a combination of Roe and Swift behind him.

Assuming we win that and face UCLA and we start Renfrow, I assume we'd go with Crowl and Yagesh behind him and Craytor if absolutely needed.

And then if we happened to win that game and have to face UCLA again, starting Stieg and then going with all bullpen options behind him is probably what we would need to do.

Getting through the regional will likely involve beating UCLA twice which will be extremely challenging.

ideal as they are the #1 overall seed but the good news is that the other two teams in the regional aren't particularly great as Cal Poly is rated in the 70's and 80's across RPI/KPI/DSR and St. Mary's is basically outside the top 125.

We shouldn't have a problem at least splitting with those two teams so it will come down to whether we can pull off an upset against UCLA. That is a really tall task but in a one game setting with potentially Renfrow on the mound, I suppose anything is possible.

it looks like we should definitely be in. We may be last four in or just above that but it shouldn't matter too much as we should be a lock for a #3 seed in some regional and no matter how it shakes out, we will likely be in a fairly tough regional.

Looking at our rankings, we are currently #42 in RPI, #37 in KPI and #25 in DSR. The RPI is the most concerning but even if the committee strictly used that, if you factor in the 29 Auto Qualifiers, we have the 35th best RPI of the remaining at-large candidates which would put us as the last team in so I believe that would be the worst case scenario.

And looking at the last projections from D1, BA, On3 and Pear Ratings, all four have us in the tournament as a #3 seed in various regionals.

Personally, I could see us land in the Morgantown Regional with WVU and possibly a #2 seed like Arkansas and then a random #4 (possibly a team like Northern Illinois).

In any case, given who we have played this year and conference affiliations, I assume we would not be placed in regionals against GT, UNC, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Florida State.

have us in and not L4I.

The good news is that all four have us in the tournament as a #3 seed in various regionals (Massey Composite rankings in parentheses):

- D1 Baseball: #3 seed in Starkville Regional with Mississippi State (#8), Oregon (#21) and Lamar (#100).
- Baseball America: #3 seed in Gainesville Regional with Florida (#11), Missouri State (#41) and Rhode Island (#217)
- Pear Ratings: Last 4 In and #3 seed in Los Angeles Regional with USC (#17), Ole Miss (#16) and SE Louisiana (#89)
- On3: Last 4 In and #3 seed in Morgantown Regional with West Virginia (#10), Oregon State (#14) and Northern Illinois (#139).