2025 Fall College Baseball Reset: Virginia

Things went south for UVA last year. The Cavaliers lost a stunner to Michigan on Opening Day and failed to regain momentum during the ACC season, eventually losing in the first round of the conference tourney. Heading into 2026, the Virginia Cavaliers have a new head coach and a fresh roster.

The Returnees

With Brian O’Connor now at MSU, as well as several players going pro, this year’s Cavaliers will look very different. Gone are Henry Ford, as well as Henry Godbout, the latter of whom was drafted by the Red Sox last July. Jacob Ference, who hit 26 home runs over the last two seasons, exhausted his college eligibility.

Virginia lost a lot of hitting prowess over the summer but does return several key players for both 2026 and 2027 for their upcoming season’s roster.

One of those names is Eric Becker, the junior infielder who should get plenty of consideration for the 2026 MLB Draft. Becker had a fantastic 2025 campaign, as the 20-year-old slashed .368/.453/.617 (1.070 OPS) with nine home runs and 31 extra-base hits in his sophomore season.

Becker hit .238 across seven games in the Cape this summer. The Suffern, New York native didn’t spend much time there, as he made the United States collegiate national team in July.

Additionally, the Cavaliers return Aiden Harris, a standout recruit from two summers ago. Harris was one of the youngest draft-eligible players back in 2024 and only played in 11 games for UVA last spring, getting 10 at-bats. He did hit .400 in those ABs.

Harrison Didawick, who had a down 2025 after a 23-home run season two years ago, is back for his senior year. The 22-year-old hit .278/.360/.351 with MLB Draft League affiliate State College this past summer.

The Newcomers

The big get was Chris Pollard, an accomplished coach at Duke who helped build that program up to perennial contender over in Durham, North Carolina. But aside from himself, Pollard also brought two of his big stars from Duke over to Virginia, along with recruits.

A.J. Gracia comes over from Duke. Gracia was a 2025 USA collegiate national team member and a behemoth of an athlete. The 20-year-old belted 29 home runs in his first two seasons at Duke and comes into the year as arguably one of the best analytically-friendly players in the 2026 MLB Draft pool.

Gracia walked 105 times over 120 career games with Duke.

Additionally, two-player Kyle Johnson joined Pollard. Johnson, an explosive pitcher with a low arm slot, bounced back and forth between the bullpen and rotation last season but was very effective late in the season for the Blue Devils.

In addition to those, a slew of transfers joined the Cavaliers. C/OF Noah Jouras hit .319 with Davidson last year. Right-hander Tyler Kapa struck out 90 last year for Eastern Michigan. Sam Harris, also from Duke, hit nine home runs as a regular for the Blue Devils.

Henry Zatkowski, who struck out 58 over 59.2 IP for the Blue Devils last season, joins a new-look pitching staff for 2026.

As for the incoming freshmen, Virginia added 15 to their program this past summer.

Arguably, the most notable name added was Jayden Stroman, the younger brother of Marcus Stroman. Jayden was originally committed to Duke but followed Pollard to UVA. The younger Stroman is a different player compared to Marcus. Jayden is a 6’1” two-player who’s a switch-hitter with a hard fastball that sat in the mid-90s.

Noah Yoder, who clocked in at 98 MPH last fall at a Perfect Game Showcase and was also a top commit at Duke for Pollard, also joined the Virginia Cavaliers.

Summary

Despite what was a down year for the Cavaliers in 2025, UVA has a very good roster heading into 2026.

Even though it’s a young group overall, Chris Pollard brought him with several of Duke’s core pieces that nearly brought the Blue Devils to the College World Series. Plus, there are pieces from the old regime who are proven college talents.

Expect a better season from Virginia.