SEC Midseason Roundtable: How will the rest of the season go for Kentucky?
The Bat Cats Central staff answers questions on the team at the midway point of SEC play.
Kentucky has reached the halfway point of SEC play. The Wildcats sit 25-10 overall, 7-8 in the league. Now is a good time for a midseason roundtable. Derek Terry, Adam Revelette and Jonathon Bruner offer their opinions on the season thus far and the expectations for the remainder of the regular season.
How has the season gone so far relative to your expectations coming into the year?
Terry: Kentucky is slightly behind the pace of what I expected, and a lot of that goes back to the Missouri series. Had the Wildcats just won two out of three that series, it would be 8-7 right now and on track with what I expected, which was 15 or 16 SEC wins. Kentucky is 7-8 instead, so it's not a drastic difference. Kentucky has an impressive sweep over Alabama and largely took care of business in the non-conference, but it's missed some key chances to add to its resume.
As of today, it would take a significant turnaround to get back into hosting range. The Wildcats are currently projected as a three seed by Baseball America and D1baseball.com, so the outlook is more of a team just trying to make the NCAA Tournament. A few good series would, however, solidify the Wildcats' standing.
Revelette: The timing is the toughest aspect about this answer, but despite the struggles of late, things are brighter than they seem. The Cats have a 25-10 overall record, an RPI in the top 20, and are two games out of the top four in the SEC. That gets you a double bye in the tournament, which has been a lock for hosting a regional. They’re also 16-3 at home, with three SEC home series (out of five overall) left. It’s not how you start, and it’s not how you play in the midseason either. It’s how you finish, and UK still has big opportunities ahead.
Bruner: To this point in the season, Kentucky has fallen short of my preseason thoughts/expectations. I considered hosting a regional automatic and hosting supers a real possibility. Furthermore, I considered the Bat Cats a very complete team, besides maybe some worries about the bullpen. Now, there is some cause for concern about every aspect of the team as the season has unfolded. All of those factors have shifted my expectations to searching for enough wins to make sure Kentucky makes it into the field of 64, which I think will still happen.
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What development(s) – good or bad – have surprised you the most?
Terry: Injuries (or illnesses) are unpredictable, but Kentucky's not had great injury luck so far in 2026. It started on Opening Day when star shortstop Tyler Bell hurt his shoulder diving for a ball. Fortunately for Bell and the team, he returned a few weeks later and has played in all but two SEC games so far. But Kentucky is currently dealing with injuries to three catchers and is now on fourth-stringer Ryan Schwartz, who opened the season as the starting right fielder. Opening day third baseman Tyler Cerny also missed time with a hamstring issue earlier in the spring. With first baseman Hudson Brown now out with an illness, this team certainly looks different from what we envisioned in the preseason.
The other tough development has been with junior left-hander Ben Cleaver. He has not replicated his 2025 season to date. The Tennessee native is sitting at an 8.16 ERA in SEC play and has reached the fifth inning in just one start all season. One of the selling points on why this team could make a deep postseason run hinged on having a deep weekend staff. Jaxon Jelkin has been an ace, and while Nate Harris hasn't taken a major leap, he's at least been competitive on the mound. But Kentucky simply hasn't gotten enough out of Cleaver's starts. If that continues, there's a ceiling on what this team can accomplish.
Revelette: Cerny has had a tough go so far this spring. The Indiana transfer was injured and then slumped upon his return, opening the door for some others to take advantage. Few teams can afford for one left-side infielder to miss time, and you could argue UK has had to deal with two such losses, as both Cerny and Tyler Bell have both missed time this year. Cerny did take some good at-bats at Auburn, and if Kentucky’s got a run in them, my gut still tells me he will play a big role in it.
Bruner: The immediate answer here is the regression of Cleaver. The junior has just not been good this season after having an incredible sophomore campaign. Unless he can figure it out, I think it limits Kentucky's ceiling and leaves them in a rough spot. I don't really think there is an arm to run out there that gives you a better shot and it feels eerily similar to the Dominic Niman situation in 2024. The coaching staff kept running him out there and hoping something changed, but knew it was probably at least a seven-inning or more day for the bullpen. Cleaver has shown little flashes of his old self and there are still five more starts before the postseason to figure it out.
Having no clear replacement makes this situation much more complicated and I feel like the coaching staff knows this team can make a run, but not without Cleaver at least being competitive. Another surprise for me has been the defensive mistakes. It was about the last thing I expected to regress this season because it is such a pillar of a Nick Mingione team. One could argue it was a driving force in the Missouri series loss and it has become all too common. This team has not shown the ability to overcome giving the other team extra outs and it will be paramount that this is cleaned up immediately before it does more damage.
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What have been the bright spots for the Wildcats so far?
Terry: I've loved what second baseman Luke Lawrence and Brown have provided the team so far. Lawrence is just a rock-solid college baseball player. He wasn't a headliner in Kentucky's portal class two years ago, but he's made the Wildcats a better baseball team in the time he's been here. Brown built off a strong close from his redshirt freshman season and had been one of the best all-around hitters on the roster.
Another fun development has been Nile Adcock out of the bullpen. The group as a whole looks shaky, but Adcock has taken a leap as a senior. He made 12 appearances in the league last year but posted an ERA north of 8. This year, Adcock is holding opponents to a .108 average and has an ERA of 1.64. Kentucky needs him to continue this excellent run.
Revelette: Adcock has really developed. A couple rough outings ballooned his ERA numbers last year, but he attacked hitters well in 2025 and posted an elite 24:6 K:BB. Sometimes it takes a while, but guys who attack the zone always get rewarded. And Lawrence is often overshadowed by middle infield counterpart Tyler Bell, he’s filled in admirably on the left side out of necessity for a long stretch this spring, and truly never gives away an at-bat on the offensive side.
Bruner: I think the brightest spot has been the emergence of Jaxon Jelkin and some hitters having great seasons. Everything leading up to Jelkin was a big IF because everyone saw the potential in the righty, but did not have the results yet. However, he has overperformed those expectations and is the clear-cut ace of the Wildcats. I feel like he would give Kentucky a chance to win against any team in the country. He is coming off a rough outing against Auburn, but that was not all on him and is a total anomaly to this point in the year.
The aforementioned bats are the trio of Lawrence, Brown and Jayce Tharnish. It was not on my bingo card that Brown would be one of the best bats Kentucky has in 2026, but he has been just that. The sophomore has made a huge jump, and is sorely missed as the thump in the lineup as he recovers from an illness. He leaves a ton to be excited for the rest of this season and in the future. Lawrence has also put together a great season and has flashed his versatility constantly. He has turned into the hit-and-run king and has come through with so many big swings for this team. Tharnish has also been a complete player for Kentucky with his excellent defense and ability to get on the bases and wreak havoc. Those three bats leave Kentucky in a good spot once it is back at full strength.
How do you see it going for Kentucky in the final 15 games of league play?
Terry: Judging by 'helmet logos,' the last 15 games would seem tougher than what reality suggests. Vanderbilt is currently outside of the top 100 in the RPI, and South Carolina is 80th. The Gamecocks are playing out the string with an interim head coach (in fairness to Monte Lee, he was the head coach at Clemson and College of Charleston before joining South Carolina's staff). Arkansas and Tennessee are both coming off huge series sweeps on the road, so perhaps they're trending up. But as of now, a road series at Florida is the only RPI Quad 1 series left on the schedule. I still think the Wildcats can find their way to the 14-16 win range, but that's contingent on some good fortune, health-wise, and some positive regression from underachieving players thus far.
Revelette: Timing is everything, and each of UK’s remaining opponents have had rough stretches of their own: Vandy has lost three of their last four SEC series, South Carolina’s had a 3-14 stretch that just ended April 7, Tennessee had a losing record from March 14-April 6, Florida was swept by Alabama and lost their last home series to Ole Miss, and Arkansas went 2-7 from March 22-April 4. Granted- most of those teams have played better of late, which is just what the Cats are capable of doing soon.
Bruner: This team is harder to predict than ever because it seems like they can't stack good performances at the plate and on the mound. However, I think as the lineup gets healthier, the bats will turn around. With Nate Harris coming into form at the right time, you now have a chance to be competitive in 2/3 games in a series, which is all you can ask. I think Kentucky will finish with enough wins to get into the tournament. However, if Cleaver turns it around and the bullpen can hold, I think the talent is still there for a big-time run that could make all the shortcomings to this point an afterthought. Overall, Kentucky baseball still very much controls its own destiny in 2026.
