Virginia Baseball Player Profile: Duke Transfer AJ Gracia

Virginia baseball has gone through a whirlwind over the past few weeks, which kicked off with Brian O’Connor leaving Virginia for the Mississippi State head coaching gig. Since his departure and the mass exodus of Cavalier players into the transfer portal, the ship has steadied with the hiring of Duke’s Chris Pollard, as a number of his players have slowly begun to enter their names in the transfer portal before announcing their plans to make the trip north to Charlottesville.

Of those names, AJ Gracia stands out as he’s rated the No. 1 collegiate baseball player to commit to another school, above former Hoos Aidan Teel and Tomas Valincius, according to On3. In addition, Baseball America listed Gracia as being “widely considered the top prospect available.” 

Gracia arrives in Charlottesville with two years of eligibility remaining and proved at Durham that he is an elite MLB draft prospect. 

In 2024, Gracia was named a first-team freshman All-American by Perfect Game and NCBWA, along with third-team All-ACC. The outfielder, who arrived at Duke as the No. 5 prospect from New Jersey, broke the Duke freshman home run record with 14 and the freshman RBI record with 58. To total his stats, Gracia finished the year with 67 hits and 56 runs, with an on-base percentage of 44% and a 55.9 slugging percentage. 

This past year, Gracia only improved as he was named second-team All-ACC. He also started in 60 games, drilling 15 home runs, 63 hits, 57 runs, and 54 RBIs. Gracia also recorded an on-base percentage of 44.9% as he drew 57 walks up from a team-leading 48 in 2024.