KSR's 2023 Kentucky Baseball Preview

The smell of freshly trimmed grass fills the air. Arms are getting loose in the bullpen. Baseball season is here.

Fresh off a Cinderella run to the 2022 SEC Tournament semifinals, the Kentucky Bat ‘Cats are back. Nick Mingione is entering his seventh year as head coach of the Wildcats, sporting a 176-129 (.577) record over his previous sixth seasons.

Kentucky won 10 of its last 16 games last season, including a series victory over juggernaut Tennessee in early May. Coach Minge and the ‘Cats will look to capitalize on this strong finish last season even though there are many new faces suiting up in the blue and white this season.

When asked what a run like that has done for Kentucky this offseason, Mingione responded with one word. “Belief.” He continued, saying “They have to believe. Winners act like winners before they win. No team has won. The scoreboard is zero-to-zero. Everyone has a zero-zero record. But are we acting like winners first?”

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see this hanging in the Wildcats’ locker room this season.

New Faces in the Lineup

If you fell in love with last season’s team, you’ll be disappointed to find out that many of them are no longer with the program. Gold Glove SS Ryan Ritter, All-American RHP Tyler Guilfoil, and Corbin’s own 3B Chase Estep are just a few that have either turned pro, transferred or graduated.

3B Reuben Church is Kentucky’s most experienced returning position player, playing in 58 games over his first two seasons. Church sports a .256 AVG with 41 hits and 51 strikeouts in 160 career plate appearances. Senior RHP Zack Lee is Kentucky’s most experienced returning starting pitcher. Lee has started 19 games in three seasons in Lexington, posting a career ERA of 5.93 with 92 strikeouts and 41 walks in 101.2 career IP.

Where this team lacks in experience, they make up for it in external experience. Mingione and staff completely revamped the roster through the transfer portal in the offseason. Transfers OF Ryan Waldschmidt (Charleston Southern), OF Kendal Ewell (Eastern Kentucky), INF Grant Smith (Incarnate Ward) & INF Patrick Herrera (Northwestern) were all ranked among D1 Baseball‘s SEC’s Top 50 transfers list, which was released last month.

Impact Transfers

Shockingly, INF/RHP Ryder Giles (East Carolina) was not featured anywhere on that list. Giles will be the most experienced player on this year’s roster, already playing in 185 career games. During his time at ECU, Ryder batted .219 in 448 at-bats with 74 runs, 97 hits, 12 doubles, three home runs, and 61 RBI. On the mound, Giles appeared in 50 games with 10 starts, posting a 3.95 ERA in 84.2 innings with 77 strikeouts. He was named First-Team All-American Conference last season. This guy can do it all.

OF Kendal Ewell is going to be a superstar in Lexington. Ewell played three seasons down the road at EKU, batting .333 in 111 career games… pretty good. The incoming junior hit 21 doubles, three triples, 21 home runs, and 85 RBI while stealing 13 bases and scoring 86 runs along the way. Ewell was one of 31 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award last season, given to the best player in all of college baseball. This guy is going to be electrifying.

Also not featured in the list is IF Isaiah Byars from North Florida. Byars, named to the All-Atlantic Sun First Team last season, played in 82 career games at UNF. He slashed a .302 average with 14 doubles, eight home runs, 40 RBI, and 23 stolen bases. With the addition of Byars and Ewell, the ‘Cats are going to blaze the basepaths.

Returning Players

Catcher Devin Burkes, IF Jase Felker Sr, LHP Tyler Bosma, RHP Darren Williams, and LHP Magdiel Cotto make up the core of Kentucky’s returners.

You may remember Bosma from last season’s gem against LSU in the SEC Tournament. The grad student pitched seven one-hit innings against the Tigers, helping propel the ‘Cats into the semifinals for the first time since 2014. The Miami (OH) transfer looks to anchor Kentucky’s starting rotation this season.

Redshirt sophomore Devin Burkes looks to take full control behind the plate following the departure of senior Alonzo Rubalcaba. Burkes played in 20 games last season, hitting for a .378 average in 37 at-bats. He was named All-SEC Tournament after his breakout two-homer game against LSU. At last week’s Media Day, Burkes expressed his excitement for this year’s team.

“It’s completely different but I feel confident with our guys. We’ve got a lot of good pieces,” he told KSR.

RHP Darren Williams is entering his seventh season of college baseball. Safe to say he’s seen it all. After transferring from Eastern Kentucky last season, Williams injured himself in his ninth outing of the year. As a result of the injury, he would have to undergo Tommy John surgery, ultimately ending his season. After getting the “All good” from UK and the NCAA, Williams was granted a seventh year of eligibility. Before his injury last season, the grad student was straight dealing. In nine outings, Williams pitched in 29.0 innings for the ‘Cats with a 0.93 ERA and a 31:10 K/BB ratio. Hopefully, he can carry last season’s success into his final season (probably).

.@UKBaseball RHP @Dub_Williams24 is entering his SEVENTH year of College Baseball. After Tommy John surgery ended his 21-22 campaign, Williams says his recovery “has been quick. It’s been a lot quicker than [he] thought it would be when [he] got the news.” pic.twitter.com/kljWHQdqtR

— Daniel Hager (@DanielHagerKSR) February 8, 2023

Kentucky Looks to Overachieve Expectations

The SEC is the premier conference when it comes to baseball.

In D1Baseball’s Preseason Top 25, the SEC makes up nine of the 25 teams. This season, Kentucky will play seven of those nine SEC teams, plus #16 Louisville twice. It’s safe to say the ‘Cats will be going through a gauntlet this season.

Because of this tough schedule, SEC coaches don’t seem to have much belief in the ‘Cats. Kentucky was picked to finish sixth in the SEC East this season, just one spot ahead of Missouri for last in the 14-team conference.

Coach Mingione’s rallying cry for this season is “Win for Kentucky.” Mingione told KSR at Media Day, “We have a series of guys that do believe. The message has been we’re going to Win for Kentucky, not for anything else. Win for this jersey and this university. Our guys have bought into that.”

Kentucky will have to overcome the odds placed against them to compete in the SEC. Kentucky’s last SEC title came all the way back in 2006. They have never won an SEC Tournament. The Bat ‘Cats have made the NCAA Tournament on nine different occasions but have failed to reach the College World Series. This year may be make or break for Mingione, as some believe that last season’s strong finish prolonged his stay in Lexington for another year.

Kentucky baseball kicks its season off on February 17th at Elon.