THE NEW GUY Brooks Carter is a senior catcher from a JUCO in Texas. He committed May 20th, so we all missed it during the season. Think hit tool with Brooks. He's a big guy with a stache who hits bombs from the left side and wants to go into agriculture. Perfect fit for Virginia Tech. He's got the hit tool and good power. Set program records for his previous school Amarillo College in career hits, RBI, Batting Avg, Multi-hit games, and walks. He hit for a .341 Avg in the Perfect Game Summer League in 2024. It appears his offense is his carrying tool. He can throw guys out (24% runners caught stealing) but I have no idea how his framing is. Low error numbers and average number of passed balls so his blocking seems fine. He will challenge Strawhecker and CJ for the starting catcher role, although he's also listed as an infielder. He's played first base before. With the condensed rosters and the likelihood that the other 3 catchers will also make the roster, guys have to bring value and be able to play multiple positions to help the team. Carrying 4 catchers only works if those guys can play other spots too. GUYS MISSING I missed that Gage Goldman decommitted June 12th. Having not pitched this season due to injury he was going to have a tough time making the roster. Tre Cole, the incoming hs pitcher who recently committed July 17, isn't yet listed. I'm sure he'll be up there soon though. I think Cole, Hoffman, and Lee will push for major innings this year. At least one of them should be expected to contribute right away. POSITIONS Owen Green has been relatively quiet. I'm not sure if he played hs ball his senior year, but I couldn't find any info. He is listed as both an OF and a pitcher. I don't have enough info to know where he is most likely to end up. Willie Hurt is listed only as an infielder and not as Utility, like Sam Grube is. I think Willie ends up playing in the OF as well along with Clay Grady who was rumored to be playing there last fall.

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.

Hard to not have Gibson in a high impact defensive position, guy is an excellent glove. My guess is either he or Lutterman at 3b, Daniel, Ball and then either Hankins or Gibby at 1b. Maybe Gibby could play cf, wouldn't surprise me. This kid Hornick looks like a potential early impact bat, as does Arnett, among the freshmen.

They have to play somewhere in the field. They're both too valuable for getting outs to be DH. I've heard the idea of Daniel at 3B because of his arm and Grady/Gibby at SS. That would be a great defensive infield. Arnett really looks the part of an impact guy in the OF. Would be awesome to have multiple freshmen contribute much like the '22 recruiting class had Michele, Donay, and Grady.

He spent the last season with Arizona State and had a decent year (.277 Avg, 3 HR, .831 OPS), but not to the level he is capable of. His slugging was down. He transferred to South Carolina for his 5th year. Hoping this last season goes well for him. He was a noted draft prospect not long ago. This will be his first healthy off season in a while. I'd love to see more Michel Missiles. The Gamecocks should be a lot better this year. They've spent their NIL money efficiently and have a top 5 transfer portal class. SEC seems to get better every year.