Kaiden Lopez Transfer RHP to Tech
Lopez is a quality righty from JUCO College of Central Florida wiht a 92mph FB. He had 11 starts this past season with a 3.71 ERA and 27% K rate. He has good stuff and limits hard contact (.247 Avg against, 2.3% HR rate). Limiting walks will help him get to the next stage of his development. He should vie for a spot as swingman out of the pen, similar to Grant Manning. He can go for longer innings or come in early in a game to shut the door in a tough spot. He may even challenge for a spot in the rotation if he adjusts well.
Overall this is another good acquisition to reinforce the pitching staff.
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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.
(In response to this post by Vawter Tech)