New UVA Baseball coach Chris Pollard has picked up his first three transfers, two former Duke players, and one former Duke recruit.
Outfielder AJ Gracia is the highlight here – Gracia, a rising junior from Monroe, N.J., hit .293 with a 1.007 OPS, 15 homers, 54 RBIs and eight stolen bases in 2025.
Gracia is the #8 prospect in Baseball America’s 2026 MLB Draft rankings.
The other former Duke player on the commit list is Kyle Johnson, a rising junior from Leesburg who is an outfielder and left-handed pitcher.
Johnson 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.
The recruit who is coming on board is Jayden Stroman, a shortstop and right-handed pitcher who ranks #167 in Baseball America’s 2025 MLB Draft rankings.
The scouting report on Stroman, the younger brother of MLB veteran Marcus Stroman: hits 97 mph with his heater, raw power at the plate, but MLB talent evaluators are concerned with his swing-and-miss rate, projects as a pitcher going forward.