2025 Fall Baseball Reset: Georgia

The Georgia Bulldogs did just fine in the 2025 regular season. However, Georgia couldn’t make it back to the Super Regionals, a step back after making it that far in 2024. And after losing significant pieces in the summer, the Bulldogs did a significant reload thanks to the transfer portal.

The Returnees

It helps to get key pieces back, and the Bulldogs did, even one notable name who didn’t go pro this past July.

Infielder/outfielder Tre Phelps returned for his junior season, as the 21-year-old went undrafted in the 2025 MLB Draft. Phelps was a standout freshman back in 2024, as he slashed .353/.441/.699 (1.140 OPS) with 12 home runs across 42 contests. But last season, the average trickled down to .318, and he struck out 44 times over 50 games.

That total was far more than the 10 strikeouts from 2024.

Aside from Phelps, the Bulldogs got back Kolby Branch, who will be 23 years of age once the season starts. Branch hit 30 home runs across his last two seasons in Athens. However, he strikes out a lot, with 76 over 60 games.

Daniel Jackson, who hit 14 home runs and performed well in the Cape this past summer, returns for his junior campaign.

Very few pitchers from last year’s team returned (I’ll get to that in a minute). The Bulldogs do get junior Jordan Stephens back. Stephens struck out 27 over 20.2 IP but walked 19 last season for Georgia out of the bullpen.

The Newcomers

The 2025 Bulldogs roster was filled with juniors and seniors. Which led to a lot of departures this past summer.

JT Quinn (2nd, Orioles), Brian Curley (3rd, Diamondbacks), Leighton Finley (6th, Red Sox), and Kolten Smith (12th, Twins) were all selected this past July. Additionally, Slate Alford, arguably the Bulldogs’ best hitter last season, went to the Angels in the ninth round. Robbie Burnett, who hit 20 home runs as a senior after three years with UNC-Asheville, signed with the Yankees.

Additionally, now-sophomore Nate Taylor, who pitched well in brief work last season, is not on the roster.

With all of those losses, the Bulldogs had to reload. And indeed Georgia did, thanks to an active transfer portal.

Offensively, the Bulldogs added 1B/P Bryce Calloway, a 22-year-old who has made the rounds throughout his collegiate career. A grad student who played for Central Alabama Community College, Louisiana-Lafayette, and the University of New Orleans, Calloway hit 19 home runs and hit .390 for the Privateers last season.

Arguably, the biggest addition was sophomore Rylan Lujo, one of the top hitters in Division I last season. Lujo notched 87 hits last season for A-10 Dayton, second-most among freshmen and behind only LSU outfielder Derek Curiel (89).

As for the pitching staff, Caden Aoki (USC), Matt Scott (Stanford), and Joey Volchko (Stanford) are among the new adds.

Volchko was a high-end recruit by Stanford two years ago who struck out 53 over 42.2 IP for the Cardinal in 2023, a strong campaign as a freshman. His walk numbers went down in 2025 but the strikeouts took a dip.

Scott, meanwhile, was a teammate of Volchko at Stanford. The senior pitcher, selected in the 20th round back in 2022 by Texas, could have gone pro this past year but did not pitch as well in 2025 after a 103-strikeout campaign in 2024.

Aoki, meanwhile, was a ground-ball-heavy pitcher who performed very well with USC over the last three seasons after coming over from Notre Dame. The 23-year-old struck out 90 over 97 frames last season for the Trojans.

Georgia’s 2025-26 roster includes five true freshmen. One of them is Ty Peeples, who didn’t sign with the Blue Jays after being selected in the 20th round.

Summary

Yet again, Wes Johnson has an experienced team under his belt.

The Bulldogs did very well in the transfer portal, overhauling their rotation and adding veteran college pitchers with experience and stuff. Not to mention, new big bats to help the returnees.

These past few seasons have been very fun in Athens. Now, the Bulldogs will look for a berth to Omaha after coming short in 2024 and 2025.