Eric Becker is withdrawing his name from the transfer portal and will return for his junior season with the UVA Baseball program, sources are telling On3’s Pete Nakos.
This is a massive get for the new coach, Chris Pollard, who now has commitments from the #1 and #2 names on the Baseball America Transfer Portal Rankings.
Becker, a shortstop, was #2 on that list, one spot behind outfielder AJ Gracia, who hit .305 with a .995 OPS and 14 homers playing for Pollard at Duke in 2025.
Becker put his name into the portal after former UVA coach Brian O’Connor left to take the job at Mississippi State, which was in on Becker, as were Texas and Florida.
Becker, as a sophomore at Virginia in 2025, hit .368 with an OPS at 1.070, with nine homers, 31 extra-base hits and 52 RBIs.
The Thiells, N.Y., native did have issues in the field, with 15 errors at short, and a .920 fielding percentage.
ICYMI
- UVA Baseball: Chris Pollard officially welcomed as new head coach
- For Chris Pollard, who grew up a UVA Basketball fan, the UVA Baseball job is a ‘homecoming’
- UVA Baseball coach Chris Pollard finalizes his new coaching staff, with familiar names
I’ve been hearing talk about Becker perhaps moving back to third next season, with Luke Hanson, another rising junior who is returning, being asked to prepare for a move to the outfield.
Hanson, a Williamsburg native, was the primary guy at third at Virginia in 2025, hitting .248 with a .706 OPS and three homers, with nine errors and a .900 fielding percentage at the hot corner.
Becker got starts at short and third as a freshman in 2024.
He hit .362 with a 1.137 OPS, eight homers, 20 extra-base hits and 46 RBIs in 2024.
Pollard picked up a power bat at second base off the portal last week, in the form of Joe Tiroly, who hit 17 homers as a sophomore at Rider in 2025.
Tiroly, the MAAC Player of the Year in 2025, hit .367 with a 1.198 OPS, 17 homers and 64 RBIs this past season.
As a freshman, the Yardley, Pa., native hit 10 homers, with a .284 batting average and .945 OPS.
Big numbers from the second base position there.
Henry Godbout, a projected third-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, hit .309 with an .806 OPS and nine homers for Virginia at second base in 2025.
Recapping: UVA portal, prep recruiting pickups
- Power bat Sam 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 at Duke in 2025.
- Prep recruit RJ 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.
- Kyle Johnson, a rising junior 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 at Duke in 2025.
- Prep recruit John Paone, a right-handed pitcher, is ranked #186 in Baseball America’s 2025 MLB Draft class. The scouting report on Paone from Perfect Game: his fastball can touch the mid-90s, but is more consistently in the 90-93 range, with sink.
- Left-handed pitcher Max Stammel had a 4.09 ERA and 1.41 WHIP in 22.0 innings as a freshman at Duke in 2025, with 25 Ks and 12 walks.
- Jayden Stroman, a shortstop and right-handed pitcher who ranks #167 in BA’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.
- Right-handed pitcher Noah Yoder, who ranks #134 in the BA 2025 MLB Draft rankings, is a big kid (6’6”, 230) who, per Perfect Game, touches 98 mph with the fastball.
- Left-handed pitcher Henry 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 at Duke in 2025. Of note: Baseball America lists Zatkowski as one of the top pitching prospects in the 2025 Cape Cod Summer League.
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