QCP

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.