Mason Moore returning to Kentucky; Ryan Waldschmidt out with injury

The Kentucky Wildcats Baseball program is coming off a great season under Nick Mingione, and things are shaping up nicely for a strong 2024 campaign as well.

After the announcements of Devin Burke and Grant Smith for their intentions to return to school for next season, things got even better when Mason Moore also announced a return for the UK program next season.

Moore, out of Morehead (KY), became a breakout star for the Wildcats this postseason, including throwing 10 scoreless innings during the regional in Lexington. He followed that up with 4.1 innings of scoreless relief work against LSU in Baton Rouge for the Super Regional.

With Moore’s return, he should now be penciled into the weekend rotation for Kentucky, as he hopes to propel his draft stock with hopefully another stellar season in the blue and white.

Alongside this news also came a report of some bad news.

According to KSR’s Derek Terry, outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt will not start off the 2024 season after suffering a torn ACL while playing in the Cape Cod League this summer. According to the report, Waldschmidt should be back in time for the start of SEC play.

For what it’s worth, Kentucky second baseman Emilien Pitre tweeted out this after the report.

Waldschmidt had a great first season in Lexington, becoming a staple in the outfield for the Cats. He finished the year with a .290/.427/.445 slash line, including five homers, and also adding 17 stolen bases.

Although it’s too early to tell the length of time the Cats will be without Waldschmidt, it is obvious he will once again be a major contributor for this squad once healthy in 2024.