Projecting Kentucky's lineup post-fall

Position battles will be sorted out in the coming months, but here's where a look at where I think things stand following fall practice.

Kentucky infielder Luke Lawrence. Photo by Caleb Bowlin of UK Athletics.

When I met with Kentucky baseball coach Nick Mingione in early September to preview the upcoming 45 days of fall practice, he described it as a time of “laying the foundation of what we believe it takes to win… it’s like an opportunity for all of these guys to basically demonstrate and show us whether they can do the things we know it takes to win. Then, as coaches, how do we fit those people in?”

Fall practice has come and gone and the team has moved into winter workouts. The Wildcats will more or less have a brand new starting nine this year, with a few possible exceptions, and an entirely new weekend rotation. Although there’s time for players to reverse course — good or bad, depending on their situation — fall practice typically gives a good idea of where players stand in relation to projecting Opening Day.

“Come November and December, we’ll have a better feel,” Mingione said. “We’ll give them their feedback and they’ll take that feedback and have all the way up until the second week of February to try to make some adjustments. That’s what guys typically do. When we get done with fall practice, we’ll use all of November to focus on the individual development again. Fast forward, and February will be here quickly, so we definitely have to take advantage of this time.”

With that in mind, here’s my post-fall projection on Kentuckys’ 2025 lineup.