Baylor Baseball’s Biggest Needs in the Transfer Portal

So far, Mitch Thompson and the Baylor baseball program have added two players via the transfer portal this offseason – Jack Little, an infielder from Wichita State, and Patrick Hail, a right-handed pitcher from Lamar.

As the summer goes on, it’s imperative that Thompson and his staff continue to make portal additions if they want the team to be competitive next year, particularly on the pitching side.

Today, I’ll break down transfer portal needs and give a brief update about the state of the roster.

Pitching, Pitching, Pitching & Some More Pitching

Last season, Baylor’s pitching staff was last in the Big 12 in virtually every category and had the seventh-worst ERA (6.36) among all Power Five schools.

Daniel Bowden - Lamar

Patrick Hail, a 6-foot-5 RHP from Lamar had a 3.37 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP last season.

In late May, there was some healthy attrition to the pitching staff, but Thompson also lost Will Rigney, Hambleton Oliver and Blake Rogers to the portal.

Rogers was someone the coaching staff had high hopes for moving forward. The 6-foot-5 freshman from California shined throughout fall ball but was lost for the season after just four appearances with a back injury.

Rigney and Oliver both had solid 2023 campaigns and spent four years in Waco before hitting the portal, only to stay within the conference. Rigney announced that he would be transferring to rival Texas, and Oliver committed Monday to Randy Mazey and West Virginia.

What’s left is Grant Golomb, Jared Matheson, Andrew Petrowski, Cole Stasio, Gabe Craig, Mason Marriott, Collin McKinney, Tanner Duke and Ethan Calder.

As of right now, there’s not a clear Friday, Saturday or Sunday starter, nor is there enough proven depth to feel comfortable about the bullpen.

Jack Mackenzie - SicEm365

Thompson and his coaching staff will need to continue to add experienced pitching from the transfer portal this summer.

There are five incoming freshmen pitchers, four incoming two-way freshmen and two incoming JUCO pitchers, but it’s hard to forecast more than a couple of freshmen as being legitimate contributors.

Is the talent there? Potentially, but there are a lot more question marks than answers at the moment.

The best way for Thompson and his staff to solve any qualms would be to continue to add experienced pitching through the portal.

If they don’t, it’s going to be another long year for the Baylor baseball program.

First Base

Another potential need in the portal is a slugger-type bat at first base, which was a major hole for the Bears this past season. Casen Neumann and John Ceccoli combined to start 49 games and finished with just 14 extra-base hits and 21 RBIs between the two of them.

Ceccoli had his moments but was never able to put things together consistently. He finished the year batting .234, hit five home runs and had a .358 on-base percentage.

Prior to being lost for the season with an injury in early March, Cisco CC transfer Will Pendergrass was starting to play well and appeared to be locking down the first base position.

Jack Mackenzie - SicEm365

Fourth-year sophomore John Ceccoli was the Bears' starting 1B in 2023.

Pendergrass will return from injury next season, and Ceccoli will be back, but neither has a clear edge to win the job.

It’s also been thrown around that rising junior third baseman Hunter Teplanszky could make a move over to first.

While Teplanszky will be a mainstay in the lineup and arguably the Bears' best hitter after the departure of Kolby Branch to the portal, he struggled at times at the hot corner and finished the season with a team-leading 13 errors.

On a positive note, Baylor has versatility within its infield. Wichita State transfer Jack Little and Cole Posey can both play multiple positions. Western Oklahoma State transfer Tyriq Kemp will be able to play up the middle. And Pendergrass can play either corner infield position. 

But ideally, the best move is to add a power-hitting first baseman in the portal.

Roster Updates

There’s been some concern amongst the fanbase that 25 of the 38 players on a team that broke the program record in losses (35) are coming back.

Jack Mackenzie - SicEm365

Dillon noted that Baylor will have 47-to-50 players competing for 40 spots this fall.

However, this would be my rebuttal – a handful of those 25 guys will not be playing on scholarship. They could have entered the transfer portal at the conclusion of the season but elected to compete for a roster spot in the fall, a spot they weren’t necessarily promised.

Assistant coach Zach Dillon said in an interview with SicEm365 that they want 47-50 guys competing to make the 40-man roster next year, and my guess is that 25 number will eventually get closer to 18, which would likely be healthy attrition.

My take on the situation is if Baylor is going to struggle again next year, you may as well play through some growing pains with Thompson’s younger and JUCO recruits, as opposed to struggling with underperforming Steve Rodriguez recruits that are all but known commodities at this point.

Remember that there are 14 incoming freshmen in Thompson’s 2023 recruiting class, a class that Dillon said the coaching feels “really good” about. There should be plenty of playing time available if any of those guys perform at a high level out of the gate.