Kentucky baseball star outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt added another All-American honor to his resume this week.
On Friday, the junior was named a Third Team All-American by Baseball America. Waldschmidt has been tabbed as an All-American by Perfect Game, as well, while also being recognized as ABCA/Rawlings All-District and Second-Team All-SEC. Additionally, he cracked the Lexington Regional All-Tournament Team for the second straight season after Kentucky swept through the regional en route to the program’s first-ever College World Series appearance earlier this month.
Waldschmidt finished the 2024 campaign hitting .333 across 59 games played for the Wildcats. His 25 steals were the second-most in the Nick MIngione era while his 66 runs ranked third-most. The Florida native added 14 home runs and 46 RBI to his stat line.
Waldschmidt has batted over .400 against Southeastern Conference opponents during his two seasons in Lexington and has recorded 42 stolen bases as a ‘Cat. He’s now being mocked as a possible first-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, but could also return to UK in 2025 for one more college season.
After starting his college career at Charleston Southern where he was named Big South All-Freshman Team in 2022, “Waldy” transferred to Kentucky the following offseason. He batted .290 in his first run with Kentucky in 2023, however, an ACL injury that summer in the Cape Cod League severely limited him going into the fall and nearly kept him off the field this past spring.
Luckily for Mingione and the UK, he would return better than ever in 2024, producing one of the best offensive seasons in program history.
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