Updated VT Baseball 2027 Roster Projection...
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.
4 Replies
1mo
Just got him today. Depth piece with experience. Won't knock your socks off in terms of FIP metrics, but limits hard contact and walks so he has value has a bullpen arm. Slots right into your TBD RHP.
(In response to this post by QCP)
His dad and my son are good friends!
(In response to this post by Vawter Tech)
1mo
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.
(In response to this post by Vawter Tech)
1mo
I love the tidbit about the 2023 team on Hillburger.
Looks like they pulled in another low leverage lefty in George Adams from FIU. Similar comments apply that you used to describe Kaden. He struggled against better competition, but has experience and can eat innings in mid-week or Sunday games.
(In response to this post by QCP)