It’s hard to believe, but baseball season is nearly here. The Michigan Wolverines will get the 2025 season started against No. 2 Virginia, Rice, Villanova and Stetson in the inaugural Puerto Rico Challenge:
It doesn’t quite feel like it as the cold and snow are bearing down on Ann Arbor, but baseball season is almost back. The Michigan baseball team will get its season started this weekend in Puerto Rico in the inaugural Puerto Rico Challenge. Michigan will be joined by No. 2 Virginia, Rice, Villanova and Stetson.
Head coach Tracy Smith is in his third year as the head coach of the Michigan baseball team and is looking to continue to show an upward trend. The Wolverines finished 28-28 in his first year before improving to 32-28 last season. Michigan went on a solid run in the Big Ten Tournament last year before falling to Penn State in extra innings to end the season.
Michigan is expected to be one of the better teams in the Big Ten this season, as the staff at D1Baseball.com has the Wolverines finishing fifth in the conference and making the NCAA Tournament in their preseason poll. Michigan is starting the season unranked.
The Big Ten will be a bigger challenge this year, as the conference is welcoming its four former Pac-12 newcomers. We have seen UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington make their Big Ten debuts in other sports, and baseball is up next. The Ducks are actually projected to win the conference this year.
Key players to watch on this year’s Michigan baseball team are Mitch Voit, Kurt Barr, Jonathan Kim, Cole Caruso, and Dylan Vigue.
Voit is one of the best two-way players in the country and will be a major piece to the puzzle for the Wolverines this year. He earned All-Big Ten honors last year and is on the Baseball America Preseason All-America third-team. He also earned Perfect Game Preseason All-Conference honors.
A key part of the pitching staff this year will be Barr, who also earned All-Big Ten honors a season ago. He led the team in ERA (3.41) last year and should be one of Michigan’s best.
Getting Vigue back is crucial for Michigan, as he should be one of the best players in the Big Ten this season. He also earned Perfect Game Preseason All-Conference honors and is one of the top MLB Draft prospects in the Big Ten.
Michigan is returning 17 players from last year’s team and also added 11 players from the transfer portal, in addition to 11 true freshmen joining the squad as well.
A couple of freshmen to watch this season are Grant Bradley and Tyler Inge. Bradley just finished up his high school career at Napoleon High School in Brooklyn, Michigan and finished his senior season with a 0.46 ERA. He also earned Perfect Game Preseason All-Conference honors.
You’ve probably heard of Tyler Inge’s dad, Brandon Inge. He was a star for the Detroit Tigers from 2001-2012 and is now a volunteer assistant for the Michigan baseball team. Tyler is expected to be a great player like his dad, and he was recently named to the 2026 D1Baseball Big Ten Prospect List.
The Michigan baseball team will face a difficult test right out of the gates this season as they will open the Puerto Rico Challenge against No. 2 Virginia on Friday at 1 p.m. The Wolverines will then take on Rice on Saturday at 1 p.m., Villanova on Sunday at 10 a.m. and Stetson on Monday at 9 a.m.