Notebook: UK commits in updated draft rankings, recruiting notes

With the MLB draft just a few weeks away, various publications are updating their prospect rankings. Plus a couple of high school and transfer portal recruiting notes.

With the MLB draft approaching, baseball publications began updating and expanding their prospect lists to reflect recent movement. The two-day event takes place on July 13 and 14, with the first round and Competitive Balance Round A (picks 33-43) airing on ESPN and MLB Network on Sunday night. MLB Network, with a simulcast on MLB.com, will carry the remaining picks live. In total, 105 picks will come off the board on July 13.

Unlike last year — when Ryan Waldschmidt and Emilien Pitre were selected in the first 75 picks, along with signee Tyler Bell — the anticipation is a quiet first night of the draft for the Kentucky baseball program. None of the draft-eligible players from the 2025 team are expected to be selected within the first three rounds. While there’s a possibility a high school commitment could get poached within the top 105 picks, it’s much more likely that Day 2 will be the one Kentucky fans should closely follow.

Three publications recently updated their rankings: MLB Pipeline, Baseball America and Future Stars Series, published by Joe Doyle. For reference, MLB Pipeline ranks 250 players, Baseball America ranks 500 players and Future Stars Series ranks 600 players.

I’ll summarize where Kentucky’s transfer portal and high school recruits are ranked, but I highly encourage everyone to click the links to read more in-depth about Kentucky’s recruits. I know there has to be a great deal of work that goes into this, so check it out to see the scouting reports written by these publications.

As a reminder, the high school commitment page and roster tracker are valuable resources for a story like this.

MLB Pipeline

• 221. Conor Essenburg (OF/LHP)

• 243. Josh Flores (RHP)

• 246. Jase Mitchell (C)

Future Star Series

• 203. Josh Flores (RHP)

• 339. Owen Jenkins (C/OF)

• 370. Conor Essenburg (OF/LHP)

• 383. Caeden Cloud (SS)

• 469. Chase Alderman (RHP; redshirted at UK while rehabbing from ACL surgery)

• 543. Tyler Cerny (IF)