UK coach Nick Mingione discusses returning pitchers from 2025 roster

Bat Cats Central caught up with Kentucky baseball coach Nick Mingione to recap roster changes over the summer and to preview fall practice. This is the second story in the series. The first story was on the incoming position player transfer class.

Adding to the pitching staff was a key emphasis for Kentucky's coaches in the transfer portal over the summer, but of the 17 players returning from the Wildcats' 2025 roster, 10 are pitchers. In all, there's a blend of returning starting experience, young pitchers with upside and pitchers coming off injuries.

Junior lefthander Ben Cleaver and sophomore righty Nate Harris established themselves as starting pitchers in the program last season and enter the fall as favorites to once again start on the weekends. Cleaver went 6-3 with a 3.25 ERA over 83 innings. He struck out 92 batters, the most of any Kentucky pitcher since Zack Thompson in 2019.

Harris, who will look to make a big sophomore leap with a full-year in the program under his belt, began the season as the midweek starter but wound up posting a 4.60 ERA after making seven SEC starts. Both Cleaver and Harris started games during the Clemson Regional, making it the first time Kentucky has returned multiple postseason starts since the 2018 season. When asked what last year's experience could do for the duo this season, Kentucky coach Nick Mingione said their confidence was apparent in their interactions while working camps over the summer.

“Just the physicality piece of Ben, how hard he’s worked on that, his strength level is the thing," Mingione said. "Sometimes you can’t just look at somebody and truly tell everything you need to know about their body and how it’s changed. But he’s gotten dramatically stronger in the weight room. He’s been a phenomenal leader. The way Nate is carrying himself is so different in such a good, mature way."

In terms of innings pitched, redshirt sophomore Tommy Skelding (19.2), senior Nile Adcock (17.2) and sophomore Leighton Harris (12.1) are the returning pitchers who threw double-digit innings last year. Each player made strides in leagues over the summer, but Harris looked fantastic in the New England Collegiate League. He posted a 0.64 ERA in 28 innings pitched with 39 strikeouts to 10 walks, earning NECBL All-Star honors.