As Nick Mingione enters his seventh season leading the Kentucky baseball program, he does so with a roster that is split between a slew of new names vying for opportunities in the everyday lineup and a pitching staff full of familiar faces.
The UK boss hopes the addition of the nation's sixth-rated transfer portal class and experience on the mound will help the Wildcats get over the hump and back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.
"We finished really strong last year," Mingione said Wednesday during the Wildcats' annual media day. "We went 9-6 in our last 15 SEC games. Only four teams in the league were able to do that, and we, quite frankly, need to build off of that.
"So that momentum has carried over. We have enough guys that were in our program a year ago... they've seen it, they've tasted it, they've smelled it, and they believe."
The Cats are coming off a 33-26 season which saw them finish sixth in the SEC East before making a late surge into the league's tournament semifinals. Although UK was playing its best baseball at the right time of year and was the only team in the country to boast a series win over No. 1 Tennessee, the Cats fell short of an NCAA tourney bid.
"Two of the last three years, we've been one or two wins away," Mingione said, "and quite frankly, I'm tired of that. Right? I'm ready to a spot where I'm ready to say we're five or six spots up and we're talking about are we going to be a national seed or a regional seed."
To that end, Mingione said he spent some time with "gurus of RPI" in hopes of building a 2023 schedule that will help the Cats be in a better position to earn an NCAA bid. He believes UK has that piece in place, but to get there, the team will be relying on a unique roster that includes 12 transfer portal additions and six freshmen.
"I believe we have the right people," Mingione said.
In the SEC, one's chances typically begin on the mound, and Kentucky appears to have more depth and experience than it has featured in recent years. Grad senior left-hander Tyler Bosma, right-handed senior Zack Lee, and right-handed senior transfer Logan Martin (University of the South) look like solid weekend rotation arms, and super-senior Darren Williams could also be in that mix or a candidate to close after returning from Tommy John surgery.
"At the time, he was throwing the ball as well as anybody, under a 1 ERA," Mingione said of Williams, a 6-foot-6 right-hander from Maysville who was 3-0 with a 0.93 ERA and 31 strikeouts through 29 innings before the elbow injury ended his season. "He is working his way back. He's had a couple of really good outings.
"This is Darren's seventh year of college baseball. He's heard all the dad and grandfather jokes you could ever hear, but he's one of our leaders on and off the field. He's a guy we can count on."
Magdiel Cotto, Ryan Hagenow, Seth Logue, Mason Moore, and Austin Strickland bring 142 combined innings of experience back to the bullpen, while Travis Smith looks like a strong candidate to compete for midweek or weekend starting duties. The redshirt freshman righty was UK's top pitching signee two years ago before suffering an injury in high school and is touching mid-90s in velocity.
Two more transfers, hard-throwing right-hander Seth Chavez from East Tennessee State and right-hander Ryder Giles from East Carolina, are newcomers the staff is excited about.
The everyday lineup, meanwhile, is almost a complete rebuild. Sophomore catcher Devin Burkes, who was one of the hitting stars for UK down the stretch in 2022 is the only player returning with significant starting experience. He batted .378 with a 1.270 OPS after emerging late in the season and taking over the catching job.
Kentucky will likely lean on transfers at first base (Hunter Gilliam, Longwood, 20 career HR); shortstop (Grant Smith, Incarnate Word, 87 RBI in 116 career games); third base (Isaiah Byars, North Florida, 1st-Team All-ASUN); left field (Ryan Waldschmidt, Charleston Southern, 16 XBH, 18 SB as freshman); centerfied (Jackson Gray, Western Kentucky, .363, 8 HR as freshman); right field (Kendal Ewell, Eastern Kentucky, 1.089 OPS in 2022); and designated hitter (Chase Stanke, Minnesota, 13 HR in 2022, who can also catch and play first base).
Sophomore Emilien Pitre could see time at both middle infield spots, while senior utility man Jase Felker, who batted .316 with a .458 on-base percentage in a steady role off the bench last season, will play some infield and outfield. Sophomore Nolan McCarthy also brings some experience in the outfield. Redshirt freshman James McCoy could also compete for time in right field and the corner infield spots.
Another newcomer to watch, infielder Patrick Herrera, was a second-team All-Big Ten selection at Northwestern after posting a .457 on-base percentage.
Mingione said this year's Cats will aim for "mass chaos" on the basebaths, using their speed to play "super-aggressive" and force opponents to make plays. He thinks the athleticism will also serve UK well on defense in 2023, a major priority at Kentucky Proud Park.
