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Georgia’s Tre Phelps (Photo via Getty Images)
The 2026 college baseball season is almost here. As such, we’re breaking down every preseason Top 25 team in greater detail. Check out Georgia’s 2026 season preview below.
Quick Hits
Last Season: 43-17 (18-12 SEC); Eliminated in Athens Regional
Final 2025 Ranking: No. 20
Coach (Record at school): Wes Johnson (86-34, 3rd season)
College Baseball Top 25 Skinny
Georgia spent nearly a decade searching for traction under Scott Stricklin, reaching the postseason just three times in nine full seasons and never advancing to a super regional. That context sharpens the magnitude of the speed with which Wes Johnson redefined the program’s ceiling. Back-to-back 43-win seasons and a super regional appearance in 2024 made Johnson the winningest coach through two years in school history and repositioned Georgia as a national player.
The engine of that rise has been aggressive roster construction. Georgia has leaned fully into the transfer portal under Johnson, and the latest iteration is its most experienced yet. The Bulldogs enter the season with just five true freshmen and a roster shaped almost entirely by upper-class contributors. In the current college game, age has become currency, and Georgia has amassed it deliberately.
Georgia Baseball Strengths
Georgia’s defining advantage is experience layered on top of ability. Counting redshirt sophomores as upperclassmen, the Bulldogs carry just nine underclassmen on their roster, a profile that has increasingly correlated with postseason durability. Age alone does not win championships, but age paired with production narrows volatility.
That stability begins behind the plate and in the infield. Catcher Daniel Jackson and infielders Kolby Branch, Tre Phelps and Ryan Black all return after productive 2025 seasons, giving Georgia continuity at premium defensive positions and in the middle of the lineup. Johnson again supplemented aggressively through the portal. Former Seattle two-way player Kenny Ishikawa arrives after drawing strong internal reviews, while former Stanford righthanders Joey Volchko and Matt Scott bring premium arm talent that has yet to translate consistently at the college level.
Georgia also added slugger Jack Arcamone, outfielders Scott Newman and Jordy Oriach and righthander Caden Aoki, creating competition and depth across the roster. Collectively, the Bulldogs are built on Division I experience and established production rather than projection.
Georgia Baseball Weaknesses
The cost of a transfer-heavy build is uncertainty. Fall evaluations offer limited predictive value, particularly when many contributors are adjusting to SEC competition after coming from mid-major settings. Ishikawa’s fall performance was encouraging, for example, but it came against similarly untested peers rather than established league arms and bats. There is also an unresolved postseason question. Georgia has won at a level that suggests deeper potential under Johnson, yet the program has not broken through to the College World Series since 2008. Translating regular-season success into reaching the final eight-team field is difficult for any roster. Doing so while integrating a large group of new contributors in the SEC is even tougher.
Georgia Baseball Player To Know
Volchko represents Georgia’s highest-variance piece. The righthander possesses premium raw stuff but has struggled to consistently locate it. Georgia made significant changes over the fall, including adding a true changeup and sweeper, while Volchko’s arm slot dropped naturally by three to four inches. If those adjustments allow him to live in the strike zone, he has the ceiling to change the staff’s shape and his own draft trajectory.
Georgia Baseball 2026 Projected Lineup, Rotation
PosPlayerYearAVGOBPSLGABHRRBINote/previous schoolCDaniel JacksonJr..240.365.61212114361BTre PhelpsJr..318.409.54720110442BRyan BlackSr..276.390.5001167183BMichael O’ShaughnessySr..369.482.6912171770DavidsonSSKolby BranchSr..303.398.5372181341OFKenny IshikawaSo..318.420.562201832SeattleOFScott NewmanR-Jr..300.410.5822371960USC UpstateOFJordy OriachSr..388.470.7482141663New MexicoDHJack ArcamoneJr..355.463.6751971362RichmondPosYearGSIPERAWHIPSO%BB%NoteSPCaden AokiG-Sr.1697.03.991.1022.23.5Southern CaliforniaSPJoey VolchkoJr.1570.16.011.6117.310.5StanfordSPKenny IshikawaSo.966.14.211.5724.17.3SeattleRPMatt ScottSr.1152.16.021.7023.09.0StanfordRPDylan VigueJr.859.14.251.5019.015.6MichiganRPBradley StewartR-So.redshirt