I don’t think anyone that follows the team and understands the draft expected him back at all. He was one of the least likely players to return on the roster in my estimation due to his perceived draft status. May as well see if someone will toss you a huge bag though.
1 Like
Leverage for the draft — but can also be a game of roulette.
If MLB teams don’t match, will he be happy playing for the douchiest college baseball team in history?
Sometimes the best gets are the ones you already have!
1 Like
Have any of our guys commented on his IG post? So pumped he’s back!!
Quite a few but it includes guys who are transferring out and have already picked another school. So difficult to read too much into it.
Also a few recent alums.
But I see…
Aiden Harris, AJ Gracia, Sam Harris, Carter Lang (hoops), Griff O’Ferrall, Luke Hanson, Dean Kampschror, Chone James, Jay Woolfolk, Trey Wells, Anthony Stephan, Jacob Ference, Ryan Osinski, Jack O’Connor, Max Prozny, Jackson Sirois, James Nunnallee, Aidan Teel, Tommy Roldan, Bryson Moore, Walker Buchanan, Bradley Hodges, Alex Markus, Nick Becker, Charlie Oschell, Matt Lanzendorfer, Angelo Tonas and Kevin Jaxel so far. Henry Ford too.
In the what could have been department, I often see Trey Gregory-Alford liking stuff from UVA Baseball or players, including Becker’s post, on Instagram. He should have waited to make the leap, bonus be dammed.
2 Likes
In other news, August Richie has found a new home at Wazzou.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DLN8_5MTfN6/?igsh=MW5oOXc0eTJ1cnByMA==
1 Like
Who else you see coming back/returninf? I really want Tommy Roland and Antonio perrotta
Aiden Harris appears to be back per his IG.
18 Likes
Winning!
Harris shared a story from another outlet saying he was back. So that confirms it if there was any doubt.
14 Likes
Man if we have a good draft outcome, we have a nice pipeline of guys who could be here for 2+ years.
7 Likes
Love those left-handed hitters!!
1 Like
Aiden is one I was waiting for in terms of the lineup projection. I would have him penciled in as the starting LFer next season.
3 Likes
Makes sense. Will probably be somewhat by committee but his upside is so massive that I kinda just want to get him as many reps as possible to accelerate his development.
I think Pollard and his staff are gonna be more accepting of some of the swing and miss that comes with Harris’s hitting than O’Connor and McMullen likely would have been. The K number might be higher than we’re accustomed to, but the hope is that in turn we’ll get a guy who can hit 10-20 HR’s next season.
3 Likes
I’ve been kinda curious about possible style and player development changes. I’ve seen Keith Law reference that UVa guys under Oak often show more power once they leave college; did they have a specific approach with hitters that might be different now?
Relevant only because BLA’s founder, President and CEO is former Virginia reliever Michael Schwimer.
Using venture capital/private equity concepts for businesses and applying them to humans seems like taking the phrase ‘corporations are people’ a step too far in the wrong direction.
2 Likes
Isn’t UVA using Scwhimer’s group for football and basketball analytic work?
1 Like
Yes, I believe so. Didn’t know he was also doing this kind of financial stuff, thought it was mostly straight up analytics.
Appears to be different entities? Big League Advance and Big League Advantage?
Interesting case.. These guys are too young to sign contracts, but my understanding is this type of future earnings contract is pretty common, but you’d think it wouldn’t be necessary for kids of former pro players who made >$18m in their career.
3 Likes
What Duke has been for the past three years is remarkably consistent:
2025 123 2B 13 3B 115 HR 506 K (62 G)
2024 123 2B 11 3B 115 HR 537 K (60 G)
2023 124 2B 8 3B 109 HR 572 K (63 G)
If you go back five years, Virginia has averaged 3.67 XBH/game (2.14 2B, 0.20 3B, 1.32 HR) while striking out 6.76 times.
Duke’s XBH are up, and so are Ks — 3.83 XBH/game (1.97, 0.17, 1.66) while going down on strikes 8.85 times.
3 Likes
Yeah, this was the part that caught my attention. The arrangement feels a little ick, but why did a MLB player’s kid need a $2 million loan in the first place?
1 Like