Baseball transfer portal tracker

Last season, Arizona State baseball brought in a sizable transfer portal haul that ranked among the top 20 in the nation. 

That group produced as six of the nine regular starters offensively came from the portal, including all-Big 12 second-team infielder Dominic Smaldino, all-Big 12 honorable-mention outfielder Dean Toigo and Big 12 all-tournament team outfielder Matt Polk, among others. On the mound, the Sun Devils brought in several arms, including Sunday starter Kole Klecker and all-Big 12 honorable-mention reliever Taylor Penn.

Out of eligibility

Sr RHP Nick Anello 

Sr LHP Sean Fitzpatrick

Grad RHP Colby Guy

Sr RHP Kole Klecker

Grad OF Matt Polk

5th OF Dean Toigo

Likely heading to the draft

Those who have completed their junior seasons or are older than 21 are MLB draft-eligible in mid-July. 

Junior lefty Cole Carlon is mocked to go in the first round. After that, things get murky.

Junior shortstop PJ Moutzouridis, junior righty Alex Overbay, redshirt junior infielder Nu’u Contrades and junior infielder Dominic Smaldino are names that could be selected. 

Complicating things is the fact that some players opt not to sign with a team that drafts them, like right-hander Finn Edwards did last year. 

Heading in from the portal

Rising redshirt sophomore left-handed pitcher Liam Roche transfers in from Johnson County CC, where he posted a 4.02 ERA in 78 and a third innings for the JUCO World Series National Champions. He collected 16 wins in 18 starts in 19 appearances. His JCCC profile describes him as:

“Liam Roche is a strike thrower whose fastball plays in the mid-to-upper 80s from a tight, slightly deceptive three-quarter arm slot …”

Roche raked in strikeouts in the 2026 season with 120, a 13.79 strikeout per nine ratio. He walked 23 batters all season and posted a 1.20 WHIP. 

Roche threw three complete games in 2026. He did not play in his true freshman season at Iowa.

Rising junior outfielder Jackson Hotchkiss comes to the Sun Devils after a pair of seasons at Washington. He played all three outfield positions, but his bat was what stood out.

In his sophomore season, Hotchkiss raked, slashing .337/.416/.717 in 46 games. He hit 20 home runs for the Huskies last season as well. Transfers see an increase in home runs from their previous season since Jason Ellison took over as hitting coach before the 2025 season. The lone exception who did not see a significant decrease in playing time was Kyle Walker. 

Hotchkiss struck out 57 times last season, which would have been a team-leading total if he played for the Sun Devils in 2025.

Rising senior left-handed pitcher Alex Valentin transfers in from South Carolina after spending a season at Texas State and Nova Southeastern (DII). He has a career 5.76 ERA, with a 5.19 ERA last season, the best of his career. The Florida native started 28 of his 49 career appearances and threw 46 or more innings in every season. 

Rising redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Johnny Stacy arrives at Arizona State after posting a career 3.13 ERA at Angelo State University (DII). In his last two seasons, he started in all six of his appearances with a 1.96 ERA before injuries shortened them.

Rising senior infielder Marcos Rosales joins the Sun Devils after two seasons at Cal St Fullerton and one at UNLV. His career slash is .282/.407/.489, with last year being his best at .304/.434/.541 and 69 runs scored with the Rebels.

Rosales might be a familiar name to Sun Devil fans, as in four games against Arizona State, he went 5-for-13 with 6 RBI and 4 runs.

Rising senior right-handed pitcher Chase Meyer transfers in from West Virginia. He had a 5.09 ERA in 70.2 innings for West Virginia in three seasons there. 

He was on the 2026 Big 12 preseason team as a reliever before getting dismissed from the program early in his third season after a reported confrontation with head coach Steve Sabins. The Mountaineers planned for him to be a starter, but a finger injury pushed his timeline back a few weeks and started the season out of the bullpen.

Meyer was an All-Big 12 honorable mention in the 2025 season.

Rising junior catcher Caden Sheridan joins the Sun Devils after two seasons at Morehead State. He slashed .264/.366/.457 in his career. 

Last season, Sheridan slugged 12 home runs with the Eagles, tied for the second-highest on the team.

As of the time of writing, Roche, Hotchkiss and Valentin have officially signed. The others have not.

Leaving via the portal

First baseman Garrett Michel transferred to South Carolina. He slashed .277/.392/.438 in his one season with the Sun Devils. The North Carolina native was the primary DH against right-handed pitchers. 

Michel spent three years at Virginia Tech before coming to Arizona State, where he batted .326/.446/.607. His career slash is .311/.430/.556.

Infielder Beckett Zavorek departed for TCU after two seasons with Arizona State. He batted .321/.387/.445 in 52 career games as his two seasons were hampered by injury. He played third base, shortstop and second base. 

Center fielder/third baseman Dominic Longo departed for Oregon after slashing .246/.348/.482 last season as a junior and was a streaky hitter. This is his fourth school, as he spent a year at Spokane CC and Utah Valley. His NCAA career slash line is .286/.382/.518. 

Longo had a great non-conference slate that saw him lead the team with home runs at one point, at six. After the non-conference games, he went 7-54 (.130) before consistent play in the NCAA regional, when he went 5-14 (.357). 

Catcher Coen Niclai is in the transfer portal after slashing .279/.425/.541 as a sophomore in 25 games. He was the secondary catcher, behind Brody Briggs. He spent his freshman season at Oregon and batted .242/.324/.455.

Outfielder Ky McGary is in the portal after two seasons with the Sun Devils. His sophomore season saw him post a slash line of .297/.458/.459 in 25 games after a freshman season in which he mostly appeared as a pinch runner. 

Right-handed pitcher Finn Edwards is in the transfer portal. As a sophomore, he threw 13 and two-thirds innings with a 6.58 ERA in 18 games with Arizona State.

Edwards’ freshman season was at Iowa Western CC with a 3.67 ERA in 17 games. The Los Angeles Dodgers selected him in the 18th round of the 2025 MLB Draft.

Left-handed pitcher Brady Louck left for Xavier after he posted a 5.40 ERA in 10 appearances as a junior, throwing five innings. In his first two seasons, he posted a 5.94 ERA at Florida State.

Catcher Cooper Clouser departed for Michigan after putting up a slash line of .400/.625/.400 as a freshman. The seven games he played in were all in the non-conference slate before a hand injury sidelined him for most of the season. 

Outfielder Ryan Darrah went to Tulane after a freshman campaign that saw him slash .200/.333/.200 in six games.

Outfielder Jaxsyn Durst departed to Nevada after appearing in three games as a freshman, batting .000/.333/.000.

Right-hander Brandon Olivera left for Florida International after not playing in any games as a redshirt sophomore. Olivera spent one season as a Sun Devil, and FIU is his fourth school in as many years.

Righty Marcelo Rodriguez left for Little Rock after not appearing in any games as a freshman. 

Catcher Tommy Brown is in the portal after a season where he was the primary bullpen catcher and saw no in-game action as a freshman.  

Freshman coming in

INF Jet Berry, Queen Creek HS

RHP/MIF Eli Curtis, Port Neches-Groves HS

RHP Declan Fitzgerald, Fullerton Union HS

RHP Gunnar Garrison, Eaton HS

RHP Mason Henry, Pleasant Grove HS

RHP Jaxen Maxey, Valley Christian HS

LHP Evan O’Connor, Brock HS

INF JC Pacheco, DePaul Catholic HS

INF Jordan Ransom, Queen Creek HS

C/INF Jackson Weber, Horizon HS

Those are the 10 Sun Devils who signed in November; however, they might not all make the final roster, and others could sign late. They could also be selected in the MLB draft as well.