Several Kentucky Baseball players enter transfer portal

After losing a nation-high 13 players to the 2018 MLB Draft, the Kentucky Wildcats roster was left with a whole lot of freshman in 2019.

The team struggled as they finished 26-29 and missed out on the SEC Tournament in Hoover.

Next season, Kentucky will again be young, but now it seems the team will be losing a handful of players that they expected to help them take the next step in 2020.

Pitchers Grant Macciocchi and Brad Dobzanski, along with infielder Rook Ellington, have all entered their names in the transfer portal.

Macciocchi tossed 34.2 innings for the Cats in 2019 recording 30 strikeouts. Dobzanski, a former Gatorade Player of the year, was still recovering from the Tommy John surgery he had back in 2018 and missed the entire 2019 season. Lastly, Ellington made five starts as a freshman in 2019, hitting .222 with an RBI.

Starting first baseman Dalton Reed also will not return to Lexington next spring. The first basemen entered his name in the transfer portal back on May 21st. Reed slugged six home runs for the Cats in his lone season at UK in 2019.

Finally, Derek Terry of CatsPause reported pitcher Cole Ayers, who’s pitching in the prestigious Cape Cod league this summer, is expected to transfer to State College of Florida, despite not having yet entered his name in the transfer portal.

For a young team losing anyone is less than ideal. Thus, Nick Mingione and his staff has their work cut out for them as they look to put an improved product on the field in 2020.

Here’s a full list of Kentucky players who will not return in 2020.

• Pitcher Zack Thompson (Signed with St. Louis Cardinals)
• Outfielder Ryan Shinn (Graduated, Drafted by New York Mets)
• Catcher Marshal Gei (Graduated)
• Outfielder Ryan Johnson (Graduated)
• Grant Macciocchi (Transfer Portal)
• Brad Dobzanski (Transfer Portal)
• Rook Ellington (Transfer Portal)
• Dalton Reed (Transfer Portal)
• Cole Ayers (Expected to Transfer to State College of Florida)