2025 Updates, Transfers & Recruits

FB in the triple digits. Not gonna get too excited till I know he can throw them for strikes .

This season not done yet but Pierce has A LOT of work to do for next season if he plans on coaching 2026. Tough year starting with a bare cupboard in a much tougher conference.

 

If he's throwing over 100 mph, it will be a dice roll to get him on campus to play a few years here.

 

The fastball sounds great, but he does not seem to have much control yet and is definitely a project. In those 19.1 innings this year (15 appearances) he gave up 15 hits and 19 walks, as well as 10 hit batters and 2 wild pitches. He only pitched 2.2 innings for Cisco Junior College last year. It would be nice to get some pitchers that already throw strikes and throw hard. He is old for the class and may have had grade issues because it appears that he was offered by Xavier of Louisiana while in high school, but somehow wound up at Cisco.

 

Since it's a little slow.....2024 recruits as a reminder.

Baseball announces 2024 signing class - University of Texas Athletics

MLB draft is July 14-16 this year where we will lose some and I'll post some of that here as it affects the 2025 season.

Texas Baseball 2023 Signing Class
Brandon Arvidson | LHP | R/L | 6-5 | 205 | Dripping Springs, Texas | Dripping Springs / San Jac
Klayton Bolkema | 1B/OF | L/L | 5-10 | 255 | Davenport, Iowa | Davenport North
Cole Chamberlain | C | L/R | 6-2 | 215 | Novato, Calif. | San Marin
Chance Covert II | LHP | L/L | 6-2 | 195 | Austin, Texas | Westlake
Kyle DeGroat | RHP | L/R | 6-0 | 190 | Gardiner, N.Y. | Wallkill
Bryson Dudley | RHP | R/R | 6-2 | 200 | Round Rock, Texas | Cedar Ridge / Blinn
Jason Flores | INF/RHP | R/R | 6-2 | 200 | Wiley, Texas | Naaman Forest
Theo Gillen | INF | L/R | 6-3 | 198 | Austin, Texas | Westlake
Donovan Jordan | OF | R/R | 6-1 | 210 | Humble, Texas | Summer Creek
Jackson Jordan | RHP | L/R | 6-3 | 200 | Plano, Texas | Plano Senior
Ka'imi Kahalekai | RHP | R/R | 6-8 | 205 | Kahului, Hawaii | Kamehameha Maui
Carson Luna | INF | R/R | 6-1 | 180 | Houston, Texas | St. John's School
Gavin Lyons | RHP | R/R | 6-2 | 195 | Guilford, Conn. | Hamden Hall Country Day School
Matthew Millett | RHP | R/R | 6-2 | 205 | Grand Prairie, Texas | Mansfield Lake Ridge
Cooper Powell | LHP | L/L | 5-11 | 170 | Bedford, Texas | Colleyville Heritage
Bryce Rainer | INF/RHP | L/R | 6-3 | 195 | Simi Valley, Calif. | Harvard Westlake
Samuel Richardson | INF/OF | R/R | 6-1 | 195 | Senatobia, Miss. | Lewisburg
Ryan Schwartz | UTL | R/R | 6-4 | 210 | Indian Trail, N.C. | Combine Academy
Matt Scott II | OF | R/R | 6-4 | 190 | Spring, Texas | Klein Oak
Levi Sterling | INF/RHP | 6-4 | 190 | Los Angeles, Calif. | Notre Dame
Tyler Walton | RHP | R/R | 6-1 | 185 | San Antonio, Texas | Johnson

 

Theo Gillen, not likely to arrive, he's ranked the 26th prospect by MLB.com.

Top Baseball Draft Prospects

 

Fan.

Obviously, an A&M generated fake news report. How can Texas only have one player in the Top 100?

What? No, I haven't seen the Horns play live this year.

 

Brandon Arvidson was apparently on Texas A&M roster last year, not sure where he is this year. odd.

Not finding much on Klayton Bolkema, Cole Chamberlain, or Chance Covert II other than the usual PG and original commitment. Chance has been committed since 2021 though.

Kyle DeGroat, RHP, originally committed to Stony Brook, changed his commitment after the staff saw him perform in a New York showcase. FB topped out around 93mph fall 2023.

Bryson Dudley, P, 16 apperances at Blinn, 3.60 ERA, 1.6 WHIP, 4-3 record.

Jason Flores, RHP/3B, throws in mid to upper 90's, supposedly 95-98mph. Originally committed to Tx St., not related to Jalin.

Theo Gillen, 26th prospect according to MLB.com. SS/2B.

Donovan Jordan, utility. 2023 6A first team all state, pretty significant accomplishment in a state loaded with baseball talent.

 

21 total recruits signed a LOI. I think we lose Jared Thomas and Jalin Flores this year along with the seniors Peyton Powell, Porter Brown, Jack O'Dowd, Charley Hurley, and Heston Tole*.

*Not sure who still has a Covid year left out of this group. Tanner Witt and LBJ are listed as red shirt Juniors so I assume they can return and should considering the year they've both had.

 

Millet is a stud pitcher. Don’t remember much about the others.

 

And the tall Hawaiian dude may be really good on the mound.

 

I was working my way down the list. Haven't got to the other half yet.

 

Thought I heard Tanner Witt wouldn't pitch in a Texas uniform ever again back when we were informed he was out for an extended time due to another injury. I know most folks don't care since he didn't get his mojo back but I'm curious to know if whether LBJ and Witt have any eligibility left? On the roster they are listed as redshirt juniors, are they or are they not out of eligibility?

 

Young Ardoin is going away via the portal.

Maybe U. La. will take him in...?

 

DeGroat is another incoming pitcher to watch closely. He's getting a bit of MLB draft buzz lately, but probably will not be a high enough pick to make it worthwhile $$$ (if he's drafted at all).

Probably 3-4 of the true Freshmen pitchers will pan out as early as next year, with the remainder as development projects.

We need to grab a stud starting pitcher and 2-3 stud relievers in the portal this year.

Ace may be getting surgery, and recovery is always a dice roll. The pitching staff can't just be Max Grubbs and the 7 dwarves next year.

 

Ka'imi Kahalekai (RHP, Maui) is getting quite a bit of MLB draft buzz lately.

Fastball in the low 90s. Good breaking stuff. Decent command and control (occasionally erratic, trends some towards pitching way outside to RH batters). 6'8" tall. That height, plus his 3/4 release makes for some difficult angles for batters to hit.

11 innings allowing 1 hit, and with 24 strikeouts. Hawaii high school baseball competition is above-average. Probably not on par with So. Cal., Houston, Austin, or DFW, but noticeably better than most of the nation.

 

Kyle DeGroat (RHP, NY State)

Not afraid to come inside to that LH batter. His stuff clearly has good movement as you can see.

He won't be able to live up high in the zone like that on the next level though. Could be good enough to slot in as a frequently used reliever as early as next year.

 

More Kyle DeGroat (RHP, Upstate NY)

Check out the 5th and final pitch on this video. I like that!

https://www.instagram.com/prepbaseballny/reel/C6Yr19nO7_c/

 

DeGroat is getting some attention. Hopefully he makes it to campus.

94-95 mph fastball
80-81 mph slider with 2 plane break

 

On the move again.

 

Get him back here. Big time raw talent, and a total diamond in the rough who was recruited by practically nobody but Pierce. His flakiness can be excused due to his home-schooling.

Pierce had him pitching as a good reliever by late in the 2023 season.

 

Corbin and Vandy with a big addition. Of course we don’t need pitching, we will be fine, everything’s fine.

 

If we can get Jason Flores to campus, he could make an immediate impact next year.

 

Excellent!

We need 2-3 more solid reliever arms and at least 1 (maybe 2) good starting pitchers through the portal. If we can get more, great. We have some good incoming True Freshman pitching, but some of them may go pro right away.

In a typical year, Grubbs would have been a Sunday starter at UT. He did well this year, but not at the level you'd think of as the UT Ace (Gordon, Hansen, Dressendorfer, etc.). This year, Grubbs was thrust into the role of staff Ace as a non-redshirt Sophomore. We need a couple of other good starting arms to go along with Grubbs.

 

Maybe Schloss will try to bring back Minchey. By the end of his true Freshman year here, he was pitching pretty well. Sky is the limit for that home-schooled lad.

 

So how many transfers do we bring in from aTm in the portal? 2 position players and 2-3 pitchers?