Wes Johnson, who was just recently extended, built the 2026 Georgia Bulldogs roster largely off transfers. Amidst a significant number of losses after last year, Johnson had to work that magic again, nearly reconstructing an entire roster from scratch.
The Returnees
This section will be very short. Why? There are not many returnees at all.
On the position player side, nearly everyone who was a regular on the 2026 Georgia team is gone. Daniel Jackson, Kenny Ishikawa, Tre Phelps, Michael O’Shaughnessy, Rylan Lujo, Kolby Branch, and Ryan Black are all gone. So are Ty Peeples, Bryce Calloway, and Brennan Hudson.
As for last year’s pitching staff, Joey Volchko, Caden Aoki, and Matt Scott were all brought in via the transfer portal to be mercenaries. All three are gone, as are Justin Byrd, Dylan Vigue, and Caleb Jameson.
There are some returning pitchers, most notably grad student Paul Farley, plus Zach Brown and Jackson Peavy. But overall, this will be a brand-new pitching staff.
The offense, meanwhile, will see Henry Allen return for his junior season. Allen hit .321 last year for the Bulldogs and was the only player with 10+ home runs for UGA last year to return for 2026.
Cole Johnson, a sophomore who hit .310 in limited time, is also back for 2027.
Jack Arcamone, behind Jackson on the 2026 depth chart, also returned. He hit .302 for Georgia last year.
The Newcomers
Head coach Wes Johnson added some strikeout pitchers to replace the lost arms. Among them were Jason Flores & Finn Edwards, just two of what was a very significant haul over the summer.
We’ll start with Edwards & Flores, both of whom missed a lot of bats in the Cape Cod League this summer. For Flores, his Whiff% this summer was 33.3%. Edwards, meanwhile, had a 31.8% Whiff%.
Flores worked in just nine games last year for Texas after what was a very good 2025 campaign as a freshman. He struck out 27 over 32 innings that season. As for Edwards, he walked 11 over 13 innings but struck out 25 batters. Mid-90s fastball with carry, coupled with a slider.
Junior Cristofer Cespedes had a fantastic year with Maryland last season, as he struck out 70 over 51.2 IP with the Terrapins. Cespedes swung between a short and multi-inning relief role before he received some rope to start down the stretch. From May 1 through May 15, Cespedes went at least six innings and allowed two or fewer runs in all three outings he made in that span.
And then there’s Riley Goodman, the South Carolina transfer who was USC’s Opening Day starter in 2026. Goodman (25.7% Whiff% in the 2026 Cape season) was a redshirt freshman who struck out 25 over 22 innings but walked 18. Mid-90s fastball and slider are among the pitches in his arsenal last year.
Georgia also picked off another SEC pitcher, ex-LSU hurler Marcos Paz. Paz punched out 40 batters over 29.1 IP with the Tigers in 2026.
Moving to the offense, the Bulldogs were able to grab one player from the defending champion Oklahoma Sooners in 2026. Nolan Stevens spent two seasons with Mississippi State before joining Oklahoma last year. And while he was part of that championship team, Stevens barely played in the postseason. He received just two at-bats, all of which came on May 31.
Stevens hit over .300 in 2025 but batted .230 in 2026 with Oklahoma.
Mikey Bell could have gone pro this past summer. The Giants drafted Bell in the 19th round but opted to return to college. But rather than going back to Gonzaga, Bell will join the Georgia Bulldogs. It was a monster 2026 for Bell, who led Gonzaga in total hits (85). He wound up hitting .378 with nine home runs.
Georgia added even more power when the school added former Indiana outfielder Jake Hanley. Hanley, with the Hoosiers, belted a team-high 14 home runs in 2026.
Hunter Carns joins Georgia after a transfer from Florida State. The ex-FSU catcher hit over .300 as a Seminole in 2026.
Casey McCoy was the top freshman hitter on Louisiana Tech’s team in 2026. McCoy slashed .281/.361/.421 with 12 extra-base hits in 53 contests for the other Bulldogs.
Lastly, Georgia’s roster includes six new freshmen, one of whom is potent Georgia high school pitching product Matthew Sharman.
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