It hasn’t been a month since college baseball season started, but it feels pretty clear that Tennessee is still the nation’s best team. Undefeated through 12 games, the Volunteers took care of business this past weekend in Houston, beating Oklahoma State, Rice, and Arizona by a combined score of 23-6.
And nobody had a better weekend tournament than Tennessee second baseman Gavin Kilen.
It’s hard to find many college bats off to a better start than Kilen in 2025, which is why the Sox Machine Preseason No. 37 prospect is skyrocketing up boards and is now my new No. 1 on my Watch Board for the Chicago White Sox. In Keith Law’s initial rankings this week, Kilen is the sixth overall prospect.
Hailing from Milton, Wisc., Kilen was on MLB draft radars back in 2022. MLB.com had Kilen as their No. 100 prospect, while Kiley McDaniel at ESPN ranked Kilen No. 186. The Boston Red Sox used their 13th-round pick on Kilen, but he understandably went the college route, playing for coach Dan McDonnell at Louisville.
Kilen mainly played at second base in his first year and facing ACC pitching was a big adjustment. Posting a .265/.321/.338 in 43 games, Kilen didn’t hit a home run and only had 10 extra-base hits for the season. Nonetheless, Kilen displayed a remarkable ability to avoid strikeouts despite the lack of power. In 168 plate appearances, Kilen only struck out 14 times as a freshman for a microscopic K-rate of 8.3 percent.
The following season, the strikeouts increased marginally (9.4 percent), but the walk rate was alarming. In 54 games, Kilen only walked seven times in 234 plate appearances, which is almost unheard of for any level of baseball, at least if you don't follow the White Sox. Playing mostly shortstop, Kilen hit .330/.361/.591 with nine home runs and 23 doubles. The power came in a bit, but Kilen still had ways to go entering 2025 to be a bona fide first-round pick.
Kilen entered the transfer portal and was among the most sought-after college players this past offseason. Nobody is doing a better job recruiting players out of the transfer portal in the NIL era than Tennessee coach Tony Vitello. Despite having Dean Curley coming back, Kilen picked Tennessee and accepted moving back to second base. Whatever magic is brewing within the player development facilities at Knoxville is working wonders on Kilen, who looks like a completely different player.
Before arriving in Houston, Kilen had already surpassed his walk total with a dozen free passes in eight games. Hitting second behind Curley, Kilen already had three home runs and 10 RBI with 13 runs scored. It didn’t take long for Kilen to be a key cog within the Tennessee hitting machine.
Facing Oklahoma State this past Friday, Kilen had a good test facing Cowboys RHP Gabe Davis, the Sox Machine No. 41 draft prospect. In the first at-bat, Davis threw an 88 MPH cutter on a 1-1 count, hoping to beat Kilen inside.
Instead, Kilen read the cutter perfectly and smashed it 394 feet into the upper deck at Daikin Park with an impressive exit velocity of 103 mph.
Next plate appearance, Davis switched up the plan of attack by coming at Kilen with fastballs. Up 0-2 in the count, Davis tried the outside corner with a four-seamer but missed his target and landed in the outer third of the home plate. Despite coming at 94.5 MPH, Kilen smartly went with the pitch, driving it to left field. Thanks to the Crawford Boxes, Kilen got enough from the 96 mph exit velocity to clear the short porch in left for his second home run of the day. Kilen finished 3-for-5 with those two homers against Oklahoma State.
On Saturday against Rice, Kilen once again put on a show. He delivered another two-homer game, this time against a pair of left-handed pitchers. In his first at-bat, Kilen pulled a changeup that traveled 348 feet down the right field line, despite pleas from Rice coach Jose Cruz Jr. during the telecast to go foul. Later in the game against freshman Nolan Roycraft, Kilen hit a 110-mph missile of a line drive to the right-center field gap that stayed high enough to clear the outfield wall 400 feet away. He would finish 4-for-5, adding a double and triple to his extraordinary weekend.
There was still one more game left against Arizona, and credit to the Wildcats as they limited Kilen offensively to just two singles. But while his bat was grabbing headlines, I saw good defensive skills from Kilen at second base. Demonstrating composure and quick transition on a 4-6-3 double play, and even showed off his range by making a diving stop to his right. Vitello has decided against ruffling the feathers of his returning players from a National Championship, and rightfully so, as Curley is a good college shortstop. But while Kilen impresses defensively at second base, I think he has the talent to be given a shot to play shortstop professionally.
Add it all up, and Kilen is displaying a quick left-handed stroke with real in-game power, an excellent understanding of the strike zone, superior contact skills to avoid strikeouts, and defensive versatility to play in the middle infield. That’s the profile of a top-10 pick. That’s without posting his .486/.615/1.270 slash line (yes, that’s his slugging percentage, not OPS). Oh, and Kilen has only struck out twice so far this season, with 13 walks.
Last year, my initial Watch Board had Georgia’s Charlie Condon as the No. 1 prospect for the White Sox at Pick 5. That dream lasted a few weeks as Condon went on a home run rampage to squash that vision. With Kilen, this is different. As a fringe first-rounder coming into 2025, Kilen’s incredible start will have every analyst and publication re-think differently about where he stacks up in this draft class. It’s easy to get excited about Kilen, and I can’t wait to see more.
Updated Watch Board
| Rank | Player | Position(s) | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gavin Kilen | 12B / SS | Tennessee |
| 2 | Marek Houston | SS | Wake Forest |
| 3 | Brendan Summerhill | OF | Arizona |
| 4 | Billy Carlson | SS/RHP | Corona (CA) |
| 5 | Dean Curley | SS | Tennessee |
| 6 | Kyson Witherspoon | RHP | Oklahoma |
| 7 | Luke Stevenson | C | North Carolina |
| 8 | Ike Irish | C | Auburn |
| 9 | Cameron Appenzeller | LHP | Glenwood (IL) |
Notable Performances
- Texas A&M OF Jace LaViolette started slowly in Houston, going a combined 1-for-5 with 3 BB and 4 K’s vs. Arizona and Oklahoma State. After a 3-for-4 night against Rice this past Sunday, LaViolette figured to soon break out. But in Tuesday night’s loss to Texas-San Antonio, LaViolette went 0-for-5, dropping his season batting average to .243, and hasn’t homered in eight games.
- Wake Forest SS Marek Houston had a quieter weekend for his standards, going 3-for-12 against Maryland and Princeton. But the walks are starting to pile up, and Houston is even showing some base-stealing skills, as he’s 8-for-8 in stolen base attempts.
- Georgetown finally got to Florida State’s LHP Jaime Arnold, as the Friday ace allowed an earned run in 2025. Still limited to a pitch count around 75, Arnold has a season ERA of 1.13 after three starts.
- Texas OF Max Belyeu is now hitting .468 after 11 games as he collected three doubles against Illinois on Sunday, March 2. Our good friend (and Patreon supporter) Mike Ferrin of MLB Radio and ESPN called the Las Vegas Classic this past weekend for D1Baseball.com. I texted Ferrin what his impressions were of Belyeu.
"I was pretty impressed. He's an imposing physical presence who uses the whole field and puts together good at-bats. It was more line drive than launch in my look. Style of play reminds me a little of James Tibbs (San Francisco Giants first rounder last year), but I think there's better defense."
NCBWA Top 25 Poll (Week of 3/2/2025)
Games I’m Watching This Weekend
Portland at No. 6 Arkansas
Friday, March 7 - 3:00 PM CT
Stream: SEC Network+
Prospects to watch: LHP Zack Root and SS Wehiwa Aloy
Notre Dame at #11 Wake Forest
Friday, March 7 - 5:00 PM CT
Stream: ACC Extra
Prospects to watch: SS Marek Houston and OF Ethan Conrad
