New UVA Baseball coach Chris Pollard had already gotten a commitment from the top player from his Duke Baseball roster, AJ Gracia, the projected #8 prospect in the 2026 MLB Draft.
Now we can look forward to a top pitching prospect, lefty Henry Zatkowski, plus power bat Sam Harris, infielder Noah Murray and shortstop recruit RJ Holmes, all of whom have come on board in the past couple of days.
Zatkowski was 5-2 with a 4.83 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 8.7 Ks/9 in 21 appearances, including 11 starts, as a freshman in 2025.
Of note: Baseball America lists Zatkowski as one of the top pitching prospects in the 2025 Cape Cod Summer League.
Harris, a 6’5” rising junior, hit .297 with a .948 OPS, nine homers and 42 RBIs in 2025, splitting time at first base and DH.
Murray split time in the middle infield and DH, and hit .349 with a 1.145 OPS in 50 plate appearances, with three homers – including two in a 6-5 win over Pitt on April 18.
Holmes, per Perfect Game, has pure shortstop/centerfield athleticism, and according to MaxPreps, he hit .366 with a 1.051 OPS as a senior at Vista Murrieta (Murietta, Calif.), with two homers and 17 extra-base hits in 123 plate appearances.
Recapping
- AJ Gracia, a rising junior from Monroe, N.J., hit .293 with a 1.007 OPS, 15 homers, 54 RBIs and eight stolen bases at Duke in 2025.
- Kyle Johnson, a rising junior from Leesburg who is an outfielder and left-handed pitcher, hit .220 BA with an .851 OPS and four homers, and had a 7.19 ERA, 1.67 WHIP and 9.4Ks/9 on the mound.
- Jayden Stroman, a shortstop and right-handed pitcher who ranks #167 in Baseball America’s 2025 MLB Draft rankings, is the younger brother of MLB veteran Marcus Stroman, and like his brother, projects as a pitcher going forward, with a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and touches 97.
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