Freshman Tyler Bell leads UK in RBI's and is second in home runs. (UK Athletics Photo)
Tyler Bell was one of the nation’s best high school players in the 2024 recruiting class and was drafted No. 66 overall in the second round in the 2024 Major League Baseball draft by the Tampa Bay Rays but opted to play at Kentucky this season instead.
Bell, a shortstop from Illinois, has been as good as advertised both offensively and defensively.
Bell is second on the team with 10 home runs, tying him Chris Gonzalez (1993) for the most by a freshman in UK history. He leads the team with 46 runs batted-in and has reached base in 51 of 53 games this season as UK waits to see if it makes the NCAA Tournament. He has 66 hits and has also drawn 20 walks. Defensively, he has a .980 fielding percentage.
Bell has been invited to USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team Training Camp and is the first UK player selected since star left-handed pitcher Zack Thompson.
Bell has etched his name all over UK’s freshman records list and has gotten stronger as the season has progressed. He has reached base safely in 51 of 53 career games (he has started every game this season), including of the first 27. He has hits in 16 of his last 19 games and is second on the team with 17 multi-hit games. He also is the first freshman since at least 2005 to have two four-hit games.
Former UK baseball coach Keith Madison, an analyst for the UK Radio Network, expected Bell to be good but has been surprised with how good his overall play has been.
“He is very talented, has good character and is both a good hitter and defender,” Madison said. “He has all the things you like to see in a shortstop in the SEC. I really don’t remember him making a freshman mistake all season. Nobody is perfect but his maturity is off the charts for someone his age. He just knows how to play the game.”
Madison feels Bell and second baseman Luke Lawerence, Bell’s roommate, give UK consistently good play in the middle of the defense.
“They play very well together. That doesn’t always show up in the boxscore, but they don’t make the kind of mistakes that cost you runs and pitchers love that,” Madison said.
* * *
The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp will feature 56 of the premier non-draft-eligible college players for a five-game Stars vs. Stripes intrasquad series in North Carolina from June 29-July 3. USA Baseball will name the final Collegiate National Team following Training Camp on July 3.
Former Wildcats to be selected by USA Baseball:
2025 – Tyler Bell, SS
2018 – Zack Thompson
2016 – Evan White
2013 – Austin Cousino
2012 – Austin Cousino
1999 – John Wilson
1996 – Chad Green
1989 – Billy White
1986 – Tom Deller
1986 – Terry Shumpert
