Kentucky Baseball's incoming transfer class ranked ninth best in the country

Kentucky Baseball is welcoming in the ninth best transfer class in the country next season, according to 64Analytics.com.

#9 Kentucky @UKBaseball

Even with the draft taking a couple of players from Kentucky, they still put together an incredible class with FIFTEEN players, including five within the Top 250. pic.twitter.com/3UKiLrQkCh

— 64Analytics (@64Analytics) August 9, 2024

The Cats fully reloaded following their run to the 2024 Men’s College World Series. After losing 76% of their at-bats, 87% of their home runs, 76% of their innings pitched, and 78% of their strikeouts this offseason due to graduation/turning pro/transfers, Nick Mingione and his staff have brought in 15 players from the Transfer Portal.

Five players were included in the Top 200, including Columbia 1B/DH Cole Hage (92), Kansas State catcher Raphael Pelletier (114), Illinois State INF Luke Lawrence (152), San Diego State OF Shaun Montoya (156), and South Dakota State RHP Nic McCay (168). The full list of transfers is below:

92. 1B/DH Cole Hage (Columbia)
114. C Raphael Pelletier (Kansas State)
152. INF Luke Lawrence (Illinois State)
156. OF Shaun Montoya (San Diego State) Transfer Spotlight
168. RHP Nic McCay (South Dakota State)
211. RHP Scott Rouse (Radford)
235. LHP Ethan Walker (Longwood) Transfer Spotlight
272. OF Carson Hansen (Milwaukee) Transfer Spotlight
319. RHP Oliver Boone (California) Transfer Spotlight
398. OF Will Marcy (Memphis)
407. RHP Simon Gregersen (Indiana State)
425. LHP Cole Hentschel (Richmond) Transfer Spotlight
752. 1B Dylan Koontz (Columbia) Transfer Spotlight
2872. RHP Chase Alderman (Eastern Kentucky) Transfer Spotlight
2893. LHP Adam Hachman (Arkansas)

Kentucky boasts the fourth highest overall winning percentage (70%) among SEC teams and third highest conference winning percentage (63%) over the span of the last two seasons. A major part of this success has been the staff’s repeated ability to hit on transfer portal additions.

Big time players such as Jackson Gray (Western Kentucky), Hunter Gilliam (Longwood), Ryan Nicholson (Cincinnati), Ryan Waldschmidt (Charleston Southern), Trey Pooser (Charleston), and Mitchell Daly (Texas) are just a few to have seen their games taken to another level after transferring to Kentucky.

We’ll have to wait until February to see whether or not the Kentucky staff has worked its magic once again in the portal, as the Cats look to head back to the College World Series next season.