By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
In the third year under head coach Mitch Thompson, Baylor baseball is back on the diamond searching for its first postseason berth since the veteran head coach took over. The Bears went 22-31 in 2024, almost doubling their Big 12 win total from Thompson’s first season.
With a brand new season comes a brand new style of fall ball for Thompson’s Bears. The green and gold will have three free and open-to-the-public scrimmages each week during the fall to showcase the team’s talent as each guy competes for a starting job.
“I think this is the most depth we’ve had both on the mound and position player-wise. I think that it’s exciting to see. And you know, when I say that there’s competition on the field, there’s definite competition at every position,” Thompson said. “It’ll be fun sifting through the guys and sifting through the options that we have and watching the cream rise to the top.”
The Bears made strides in Big 12 play during the previous season, staying in Big 12 Tournament contention until the final weekend of regular season play. Despite the heartbreak of coming up short, Thompson retained the core of key contributors who led to the team’s competitive shift from 2023 to 2024.
“We just have to keep getting better, but we have to win. It’s tough to build if you can’t keep your guys here. So I was thrilled that the guys all wanted to stay,” Thompson said. “As we keep building, the idea is to get good and win. And that’s the plan, to continue to make those steps and be able to do that.”
All three Baylor bats who hit over .300 in 2024 decided to return for their second season in the green and gold. Redshirt senior outfielder Enzo Apodaca (.333 AVG), 2024 Second-Team All-Big 12 senior designated hitter Wesley Jordan (.331 AVG) and senior outfielder Ty Johnson (.313 AVG) all came out for fall ball with a big focus on intentionality in each action leading up to the season.
“How you do anything is how you do everything. I think that’s really building a culture around here that’s going to get us more wins,” Johnson said.
The Baylor lineup will be consistent, with five other Opening Day starters returning to Baylor Ballpark. Senior catcher Cortlan Castle and senior third baseman Hunter Teplanszky have been signposts on the infield since their sophomore seasons in 2023. Redshirt junior first baseman and outfielder Gavin Brzozowski and redshirt senior outfielder Hunter Simmons will look to make up for lost time after missing breakout opportunities due to early season injuries in the first week of 2024. Senior shortstop Tyriq Kemp also started on Opening Day and flashed power potential toward the back end of his first season in Waco.
While the lineup will be filled with experience, the pitching staff received a makeover during the summer. The green and gold added pitching coach Sean Snedeker in the offseason who came to Waco with 31 years of experience churning out MLB talent. With a resume full of big leaguers, Snedeker has prioritized developing the talent on the roster and emphasizing throwing strikes.
“A lot of guys are just pitching with swagger. I know we’ve only seen a small sample size of it so far, but we’ve seen so many guys go out there with confidence. They’re just trying to fill up the strike zone and that’s all they’re focused on,” Johnson said. “It’s showing to be super successful.”
Baylor’s 2024 pitching lineup was led by left-handed pitcher Ethan Calder, who enters his junior season after finishing fourth in the Big 12 in ERA (3.23). Calder’s 5-3 record and 41 strikeouts boosted him into the starting rotation by the end of the season. The rest of the starting rotation moved on from Baylor, with junior right-handed pitcher Mason Marriott being drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the sixth round of the MLB Draft and redshirt freshman right-handed pitcher Collin McKinney transferring to Arizona.
But even with key departures, Thompson brought in a talented group of JUCO transfers, including Tyler Junior College junior right-handed pitcher Grayson Murry, Blinn College redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Lucas Davenport and McLennan Community College left-handed pitcher Stefan Stahl. Baylor also added a strong freshman class with right-handed pitcher Brayden Bergman being named Perfect Game USA’s No. 20 best freshman prospect to make it to campus, and left-handed pitcher Carson Bailey, who struck out two batters in his first intrasquad inning of the season.
“Carson Bailey has been a really good arm. A lot of the JUCO transfer arms are really good, [they] fill up the zone a lot,” Calder said. “Grayson Murry is a different look. So we have a lot of different things that we’ve added and a lot of strike throws, which is definitely good.”
The Bears opened in the fall with 50 players on their roster, and they will need to cut down to 40 by spring. Seven of Baylor’s pitchers are a part of the 16-player freshman class who are already taking strides towards being impact players on the 40-man roster. Across the first two scrimmages, the staff recorded 20 strikeouts across 18 innings while only walking five batters.
“We’re excited about what we have. There’s multiple [freshman pitchers] that are guys that you can really dream on,” Thompson said. ‘That’s exciting. We just have to grow them now up every day.”
Baylor baseball will hold free intrasquad scrimmages open to the public through the fall. The Bears will play on Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week. First pitch times will be announced weekly on Baylor Baseball’s social media channels.
