UVA Baseball coach Chris Pollard, coming off an OK first season – he got the program back into the NCAA Tournament, but didn’t get very far – is hitting the recruiting trail hard to get a roster together for Year 2.
The obvious needs: pitching, which was in short supply with Pollard’s first Virginia squad, and up the middle – second base and shortstop, and center field.
Notable losses (to end of eligibility/MLB Draft)
- CF AJ Gracia: 14 HRs, 48 RBIs, .354 BA/1.121 OPS, 4.04 WAR
- SS Eric Becker: 7 HRs, 42 RBIs, .317 BA/.961 OPS, 2.63 WAR
- LF Harrison Didawick: 9 HRs, 52 RBIs, .309 BA/.888 OPS, 2.09 WAR
- RHP Lucas Hartman: 10-2, 3.78 ERA/1.32 WHIP, 1.20 WAR
Possible losses (draft-eligible guys)
- 2B Joe Tiroly: 16 HRs, 66 RBIs, .319 BA/.984 OPS, 3.45 WAR
- 1B/DH Sam Harris: 14 HRs, 53 RBIs, .288 BA/.929 OPS, 2.49 WAR
- 3B Noah Murray: 6 HRs, 30 RBIs, .161 BA/.686 OPS, 1.47 WAR
- 1B/DH Antonio Perrotta: 5 HRs, 24 RBIs, .266 BA/.889 OPS, 1.23 WAR
- C Jake Weatherspoon: 5 HRs, 31 RBIs, .272 BA/.766 OPS, 0.81 WAR
- OF/LHP Kyle Johnson: 7 HRs, 29 RBIs, .241 BA/.889 OPS, 1.61 WAR: 1-3, 6.87 ERA/1.45 WHIP, 0.57 WAR
Building blocks
- LHP Henry Zatkowski: 8-2, 4.57 ERA/1.18 WHIP, 1.96 WAR
- RF Zach Jackson: 8 HRs, 28 RBIs, .238 BA/.815 OPS, 1.45 WAR
- RHP John Paone: 1-4, 5.85 ERA/1.40 WHIP, 0.90 WAR
- SS RJ Holmes: 2 HRs, 13 RBIs, .338 BA/.922 OPS, 0.66 WAR
- LHP Max Stammel: 4-6, 7.55 ERA/1.66 WHIP, 0.58 WAR
- RHP Noah Yoder: 2-0, 2.30 ERA/1.57 WHIP, 0.57 WAR
Prep recruiting
Perfect Game ranks the 2026 UVA Baseball prep class at #9 nationally, though the lone Top 100 recruit, Bo Lowrance (3B, Greenville, S.C.), is a likely late first/early second round pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, and thus, not likely to make it to Charlottesville.
It’s also possible/somewhat likely that Will Yow (SS, St. Anne’s-Belfield/Charlottesville), ranked as the #102 prospect in the 2026 draft class by MLB.com, could also end up not matriculating on Grounds as well.
Transfer portal class
- 2B Michael Elko (Richmond): 7 HRs, 38 RBIs, .340 BA/.992 OPS, 3.13 WAR
- SS Reid Howard (Western Kentucky): 0 HRs, 17 RBIs, .302 BA/.838 OPS, 1.45 WAR
- CF Sal Mineo (Delaware): 7 HRs, 32 RBIs, .304 BA/.857 OPS, 1.31 WAR
- LHP Joey Giordano (Richmond): 11-0, 3.35 ERA/1.20 WHIP, 1.18 WHIP
- LHP John Downing (2025 at Seton Hall): 6-0, 2.70 ERA/1.34 WHIP, 0.84 WHIP
- LHP Serigne Sarre (Mount St. Mary’s): 4-4, 4.11 ERA/1.44 WHIP, 0.52 WAR
- LHP Grant Meert (2025 at Johns Hopkins): 1-0, 1.19 ERA/1.06 WHIP
Analysis: pitching staff
I’m assuming Kyle Johnson (#148 MLB Draft prospect, per MLB.com) is gone; 148 would translate to early fifth round, and a signing bonus in the range of $500,000.
I love the Joey Giordano get; pairing him with Henry Zatkowski gives Pollard two lefty aces for the weekend rotation.
We need to see John Paone develop into a more reliable Sunday guy.
Serigne Sarre and Max Stammel will push for the #3 spot in the rotation, but are more likely to be weekday openers and long guys on the weekends.
John Downing and Grant Meert need to develop into lefty leverage guys in the pen.
Noah Yoder, to me, is the closer – he has electric stuff, just needs to cut down on walks (22 BB in 27.1 IP in 2026).
Analysis: everyday lineup
I’m assuming that Joe Tiroly (#144 MLB Draft prospect, per MLB.com) is gone; at 144, that’s early fifth round, and a signing bonus of $500,000-plus.
I’m also assuming that Sam Harris, Noah Murray, Antonio Perrotta and Jake Weatherspoon are back.
Michael Elko is a step down from Joe Tiroly at second base; neither RJ Holmes nor Reid Howard is the hitter that Eric Becker is at shortstop, but Howard is at least a couple steps up as a fielder.
Noah Murray needs to hit better than .161 and not commit 17 friggin’ errors at third.
Sal Mineo is a big step down from AJ Gracia in center, but that goes without saying.
Zach Jackson is light-hitting for a corner outfielder, and it’s not immediately obvious who replaces Harrison Didawick on the other corner.
Bottom line
Without further, and splashier, additions, this roster could struggle to be competitive in the ACC next season.
The pitching should be better, maybe a lot better; the defense (77 errors, third-most in the ACC; 61 unearned runs, most in the ACC) needs to be better.
The offense, which regressed big-time in the last two months – in ACC games in 2026, Virginia was 12th in runs per game (5.8) and slugging (.445), 13th in OPS (.796), 14th in on-base percentage (.351) and 16th (dead last!) in hitting (.251) – appears to be taking a major step back.
I’m not having the best feeling about this project right now, is what I’m getting at.
The 2027 team is going to have to pitch its ass off and not kick the ball around to scrap its way to the postseason.
Support AFP
Share
Chris Graham
