Baseball America likes UVA Baseball transfer pickup Frank Willius

Baseball America thinks UVA Baseball landed one of the “10 Underrated College Baseball Transfer Players to Watch For 2026” in D3 transfer pitcher Frank Willius.

BA published this particular Top 10 earlier this week, highlighting Willius, a lefty – go figure; the new UVA coach, Chris Pollard, seems to prefer lefties – a junior who pitched at D3 Cal Lutheran the past two seasons.

BA writer Peter Flaherty reports that Willius, listed at 6’4”, 205, has a fastball that “sits in the low 90s and has been up to 94 mph, while his low-80s breaking ball proved to be an effective secondary offering and generated empty swings against both lefthanded and righthanded hitters.”

In 22 appearances across two seasons at Cal Lutheran, Willius was 3-2 with a 2.65 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and 88Ks/29BBs in 54.1 innings, which translates to 14.6 Ks/9, and 3.03 K/BB.

Solid numbers, indeed.

Per Flaherty, Willius relies heavily on his fastball/slider combination, which to me is better-suited to working out of the pen, but if he can develop a changeup to use to righties, that could make him more effective as a starter to get outs second and third time through the order.

“With physical projection remaining and an intriguing one-two punch to build off of, Willius is an exciting ball of clay for the Virginia coaching staff to mold. Whether it’s as a starter or an effective reliever, look for Willius to take on a meaningful role this spring for the ‘Hoos,” Flaherty wrote.