The Louisville Cardinals missed the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row after going 32-24 on the year overall and 16-14 in the ACC. The Cardinals led the conference in stolen bases and was fourth in batting average, but the pitching was finished 13th with a 6.50 staff ERA. That ERA ballooned to a league-worst 7.72 during ACC play. Despite sweeps of NC State, Boston College, and Notre Dame, Louisville just couldn’t play themselves off the bubble, especially after going 0-2 in the ACC Tournament following losses to Miami and Clemson.
Coach Dan McDonnell and his staff have brought in an impressive recruiting and transfer class to bolster the roster as the Cardinals look to bounce back from a disappointing couple of years.
Catchers (Starter Rank: 5, Group Rank: 9)
Louisville returns the talented Matt Klein at catcher. Klein enjoyed a breakout season in 2024, hitting .297 with 15 extra base hits in 44 games. The hometown kid sprays the ball to all fields and showcases gap-to-gap doubles power. His success from last season carried over into the summer, where he hit .375 over 25 games for Cotuit in the Cape Cod League. Klein will get the bulk of the playing time behind home plate, but could also play first base or DH. He’s also been named a team captain for 2025.
George Baker redshirted last season but might just be the best defensive catcher on the roster. He’s also capable of playing the outfield as well. Sophomore Taggert Tyson is another returning backstop that could see playing time. He impressed with his bat over the fall.
Freshman Collin Mowry was ranked as the 67th best player to make it to campus by Perfect Game and saw plenty of time in the outfield during the fall. Like Zion Rose last year, it’s likely that Mowry will see playing time there or at DH rather than behind the plate as he adjusts to college level. Speaking of Rose, he looks to be transitioning fully to the outfield and is not expected to catch moving forward.
Infield (Starter Rank: 15, Group Rank: 6)
The Cardinals return just one player from their 2024 infield. Logan Beard, Dylan Hoy, and Ryan McCoy graduated while Gavin Kilen, and Brandon Anderson transferred out to other schools. McDonnell has replaced the departures with a slew of transfers and one power-laden freshman. Louisville is once against two deep at each infield position and will be able to matchup in a myriad of ways.
JUCO transfer Nate Earley, who can also play the outfield, could be the starter at first base when the season opens on February 14th in Arlington, Texas. Earley played at Florida Southwestern State last year where he hit .335 with 32 extra base hits in 54 games. He’s an above average hitter with decent power. He showcased his ability over the summer by hitting .280 with 8 doubles and 2 homers in the Cape League.
Earley is competing with freshman slugger Tague Davis for the first base job. Davis was ranked as the 71st best player to make it to campus by Perfect Game and he enjoyed a loud fall that included six or seven home runs. In a scrimmage against Indiana, Davis hit two home runs to lead the team. If that success carries over into the spring, Coach McDonnell will have to find his big bat a place in the lineup on a consistent basis.
Sophomore Alex Alicea is the lone returner on the infield heading into 2025. He could also play shortstop and enjoyed a decent freshman season that saw him hit .291 with 11 doubles while walking as many times as he struck out. Alicea is a switch-hitter that could bat lead-off or turn the lineup over at the bottom of the order. Another option at second is JUCO transfer Ethan Edinger, who hit .376 with 27 extra base hits while stealing 26 bases.
Kamau Neighbors, a transfer from Cal State Northridge, is in the conversation at both the hot corner and second base. The senior switch-hitter is coming off a season where he slashed .305/.418/.411. He is one of five captains for Louisville this season. Another JUCO transfer, Jake Munroe, could be the starter at third base after an impressive fall. Munroe is a pure hitter, evidenced by a 2024 season where he hit .415 with 17 doubles and 23 home runs for John A Logan College.
Other options at both shortstop and third base include transfers Tanner Shiver and Bayram Hot. Senior Shiver comes over from Tennessee Tech after batting .296. Louisville found success with Marist transfer Dylan Hoy in 2024, so they brought in another Marist transfer in Hot. Hot started at shortstop for Marist last year and hit .278 with 24 extra base hits.
McDonnell has a lot of versatility among his infield and trying to project a starting lineup for Louisville to start the year is almost impossible, especially when considering the Cardinals themselves may take several weeks of tinkering to figure out their best nine hitters. But my best guess sees Earley at first, Alicea at second, Munroe at third, and Hot as the shortstop.
Outfield (Starter Rank: 4, Group Rank: 3)
Adding in the likes of Baker, Mowry, and Early to the outfield makes one of the deepest units in the ACC even deeper. Even before factoring in the aforementioned trio, Louisville has five starting caliber outfielders in Zion Rose, Lucas Moore, Garrett Pike, Eddie King Jr, and Michael Lippe. The Cardinals will have to be creative to find playing time for all these talented players but that’s a good problem to have.
Rose, a sophomore, is the youngest of Louisville's five team captains. In 44 games as a freshman, the highly-touted prospect slashed .380/.455/584 with 10 stolen bases. Now a full-time outfielder who should get more consistent playing time in 2025, Rose could end up being in the ACC Player of the Year conversation. He is a legitimate five-tool player that should see him be a first round draft pick in 2026.
Eddie King Jr returns for his senior year and was also named a team captain. The Lynwood, Illinois native led Louisville with 14 home runs last season while hitting .322 and boasting a 1.073 OPS. He doesn’t walk a ton but provides plenty of power and experience in the middle of the order. Michael Lippe is a returning junior that hit .345 in 58 at-bats a season ago. He’ll likely be the fifth outfielder but his talent should see him get some playing time one way or the other.
Like Rose, Moore enjoyed an impressive freshman campaign that saw him hit .318 with 17 stolen bases. The speedster had an even better summer– batting .340 while walking more than he struck out and stealing 48 bases for the Waterloo Bucks of the Northwoods League. McDonnell teams love to wreak havoc on the base paths and Moore will be the biggest baserunning threat on the roster. He could lead off and get himself in scoring position ahead of their big boppers.
Garrett Pike is the big outfield transfer in the group and comes over from Toledo after hitting .360 with 21 home runs for the Rockets. He can hit for power and steal bases, though he does strike out quite a bit. He can play all three outfield positions but is probably best fit for right field in this Cardinal lineup.
Projected Lineup
Rotation (Rank: 8)
Louisville lost two thirds of its weekend rotation after Evan Webster graduated and Sebastian Gongora graduated. The Cardinals will turn to junior Patrick Forbes to lead the rotation after the right-hander enjoyed a breakout summer and fall. The former two-way standout enjoyed a decent sophomore season– mostly as a reliever– carrying a 3.72 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 29 innings pitched. Over the summer, Forbes shined for both Team USA and up in the Cape Cod League. In four starts for the Brewster Whitecaps, Forbes held hitters to a .188 batting average while striking out 22 in 13.2 innings pitched. His first start of the summer also featured an immaculate inning. He consistently showed increased velocity on his fastball over the fall, throwing in the mid-to-high 90s while pairing it with an above average slider and decent change.
Joining Forbes in the rotation is Indiana State transfer Brennyn Cutts. Cutts is the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year after he went 7-1 with a 3.69 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 18 games for the Sycamores in 2024. The right-handed ace has a similar arsenal to Forbes, but at lower velocity. If Forbes and Cutts can perform as expected, Louisville could have one of the best 1-2 punches in the ACC at the top of their rotation.
The third spot in the rotation is up for grabs between two electric sophomores. Colton Hartman, who made eight starts in the weekend rotation in 2024, is a highly recruited southpaw that features a low 90s fastball paired with a slow curve and a change up. Parker Detmers, the younger brother of Louisville legend Reid Detmers, is a right-handed arm that throws a mid-90s fastball with a slider and a curve. I believe that one will be in the weekend rotation while the other ends up as the primary midweek guy.
Bullpen (Rank: 9)
Louisville struggled to find consistency in their relievers last year, but return a trio of successful hurlers to form a potential high-upside back of the bullpen. Star closer Tucker Biven returns after going 4-2 with a 3.82 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 35.1 innings last year. Despite having a starter’s arsenal, the right-handed junior will serve as the team’s relief ace. He’ll be joined in high-leverage situations by sophomore Ty Starke, who was the only other consistent arm in the ‘pen last season. Starke pitched in 16 games in 2024 and boasted a 3.72 ERA.
The third candidate for late innings is fellow southpaw Justin West, who enjoyed a good summer in the Cape Cod League and looks poised to take steps forward this season. The junior carried a 3.00 ERA over 15.0 innings pitched for the Bourne Braves and struck out 25 batters while walking only six. Another possible late inning guy could be Northwestern transfer Peter Michael, who had a rough 2024 for the Wildcats but impressed the coaching staff in the fall.
Other left-handed relievers include Wyatt Danilowicz, who returns after missing all of 2024 due to injury, and Jared Lessman, a senior who appeared in 17 games for Louisville last year. Sophomore TJ Schlageter also comes back but didn’t appear in a game as a freshman.
The only other upperclassman pitcher is right-hander Eli Hoyt, who transfers in from a JUCO in Wisconsin. Hot was mostly deployed as a starter last season, going 2-1 with a 3.52 ERA in 23 innings pitched. He has three effective pitches including a mid-90s fastball.
The Cardinals have a slew of freshmen that will need to step up and provide depth for this improved bullpen. Jake Gregor, Ethan Eberle, and Brandin Crawford are all big kids that have the capability of contributing early. Jack Brown, a two-way player that may also see time in the outfield, should also see an opportunity for playing time on the mound.
Projected Staff
Outlook
Louisville looks vastly improved on paper from their 2024 version. The offense once again looks deep and balanced between contact, speed, and power. The success of the team, however, will rely on the pitching staff. I fully expect big years from Forbes, Hartman, and Detmers in the rotation and stretches of consistency from a deeper bullpen. If those things happen with their ability to generate runs, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Louisville makes a postseason run.
As D1 baseball play-by-play man Daron Vaught just told me in a recent interview, the Cardinals are probably the ACC team with the most space between their ceiling and their floor in 2025. I would not be overly surprised to see this team make an Omaha run, nor would I be shocked if they underperformed and missed the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year. I personally believe they’ll end up somewhere in the middle– making a Regional final and having an opportunity to make a Super Regional.
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