Alabama Baseball 2023 Offseason Tracker

Keeping up with all the happenings in one of the most important recent offseasons for the Crimson Tide baseball program.

The Alabama Crimson Tide baseball team had one of its best seasons in recent memory in 2023, advancing to super regionals for the first time in more than a decade. This achievement came in the midst of a turbulent period that saw a mid-season switch to Jason Jackson as interim head coach.

Alabama won 40 games for the first time since 2010, had a winning record in conference play for the first time in 2014 and hosted an NCAA regional for the first time since 2006.

The program is now entering a new era, as former Maryland coach Rob Vaughn has been announced as the 33rd full-time coach in Crimson Tide baseball history. Jackson, meanwhile, remains on the staff as associate head coach. Vaughn led the Terrapins to a pair of Big Ten regular season championships in 2022 and 2023 and a conference tournament title in 2023, winning Coach of the Year honors in both years.

This story will be updated with transfers, arrivals and departures in and out of the program during this offseason.

New Hires

Rob Vaughn, Head Coach

• Vaughn, 35, had been the head coach at Maryland since 2018. In that span, he amassed 183 wins, two 40-win campaigns, two Big Ten regular season titles and a conference tournament crown. His squad hosted a regional in 2022, when it won 48 games.

Jason Jackson, Associate Head Coach

• Jackson is not a new addition to the staff, but will continue in a new role as associate head coach following Vaughn's hiring. Jackson went 13-6 as interim head coach in 2023, leading the Crimson Tide to a regional championship and a berth in the supers. He will also resume his role as pitching coach, which he held from 2017 until his stint as the interim coach began in May 2023.

Anthony Papio, Assistant Coach

• Papio, a former Maryland player who remained with the program as an assistant, has been a full-time assistant coach with the Terrapins since 2021. 
• He played in College Park from 2012-16 and started as a volunteer assistant in the 2018 season, the same year Vaughn took over as the head coach at Maryland.

Mike Morrison, Assistant Coach

• Morrison, a national champion as a pitcher for Coastal Carolina in 2016, joins Papio and Vaughn in coming to Tuscaloosa from Maryland, where he was the pitching coach for the past two seasons.
• At Alabama, Morrison will serve as both assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

Transfers In

Evan Sleight, Outfield

• The former Rutgers outfielder announced his transfer to Alabama on June 24. 2024 will be his fourth collegiate season.

• Sleight made the All-Big Ten Third Team in 2023 with a .315 batting average and 1.007 OPS in 257 plate appearances.

Ian Petrutz, Outfield

• Petrutz announced on June 27 that he would be coming to Tuscaloosa from Maryland to rejoin his head coach.
• In two seasons, he's hit .288 and batted a career-best .324 during the 2022 season. Petrutz hit 14 home runs last season.

TJ McCants, Infield/Outfield

• McCants, a native of Florida, announced on July 12 that he was joining Alabama from Ole Miss, keeping his talents in the SEC. He has experience in the infield and the outfield, and was a freshman All-American in 2021.
• In 2023, he hit .232 in 38 starts with 33 hits and nine home runs. All of his starts came in the outfield.

Coulson Buchanan, Right-Handed Pitcher

• Buchanan, a rising junior, pitched to a 5.22 ERA last season in 20 appearances (18 starts) for Wofford. He was second on his team in strikeouts with 91.
• He was named to the All-Southern Conference Second Team, and is a big addition for a staff that has lost names left and right to the transfer portal. Buchanan announced he was coming to Alabama on July 16.

Will Plattner, Catcher

• Transferred after one season at Ole Miss.

• Appeared in seven games (two starts) in 2023 — hitting .300 with a double and four runs scored.

Pierce George, Right-Handed Pitcher

• Transferred in from Texas on Aug. 8.
• The No. 9 ranked right-handed pitcher in the state of Texas and the No. 35 ranked player overall in Texas out of high school.

Transfers Out

Max Williams, Outfield

• Max Williams played just one season at Alabama, and even then, he did not finish the campaign. The Florida native announced on June 1 that he was committing to continue his career in Tallahassee at Florida State. 
• Williams hit .320 in 25 at-bats across 18 games this past season. He started three games.

Colby Shelton, Third Base

• The best freshman on Alabama's 2023 team, Shelton mashed 25 home runs en route to a new school record (the previous best was 15 for a freshman). He hit an even .300 in 59 games. 
• Shelton entered the transfer portal on June 14, and announced June 22 that he was staying in the conference and transferring to Florida.

Bryce Eblin, Infield (Withdrawn from Portal as of June 26)

• A 2022 mainstay at second base, Eblin saw his playing time decrease this past season. He was a .268 hitter across 22 starts. 
• The Indiana native also spent some time at the hot corner in 2023 when Shelton was slotted in at the DH spot. Eblin entered the transfer portal on June 14, and on June 26, it was made official that he would be withdrawing from the portal and returning to Alabama.

Brock Blatter, Right-Handed Pitcher

• Blatter, a freshman in 2023, showed flashes of impressive stuff this spring, striking out six straight batters in the High Point series opener and posting a 1-0 win/loss record.
• He largely disappeared after that outing, showing up in just six 2023 games and finishing up with a 4.50 earned run average. Blatter was in the portal on June 15. He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2022 out of high school.
• Blatter committed to USC on July 11.

Jaxson West, Catcher

• The freshman played in 20 games in 2023, earning four starts. He spent some time in the DH spot in Baton Rouge.
• West hit .185, with five hits and one home run in 27 at-bats.
• He committed to play for Florida State on June 29.

Luke Holman, Right-Handed Pitcher

• Holman pitched his way into a starting spot in 2023, eventually becoming the ace of the staff. He ate innings and racked up outs, eventually going toe-to-toe with Wake Forest's Rhett Lowder in his last outing and keeping his team in the game. He also had a memorable NCAA regional pitchers' duel with Nicholls' Jacob Mayers.
• Holman owned a 3.67 ERA and a 7-4 record in his second season at Alabama. He pitched 81 innings and entered the portal on June 22.
• He reportedly committed to LSU on July 27.

Kade Woods, Right-Handed Pitcher

• In his lone season at Alabama, Woods was strong in the bullpen in middle relief and closing positions. In 17 games with one start, he had a win-loss record of 4-1.
• Woods announced on June 23 that he, like Colby Shelton, would still be playing in the SEC at his next stop. The young reliever, whose 5.52 ERA in 29.1 innings misleads as to how good the Louisiana native was, is off to LSU.

Evan Chaffee, Left-Handed Pitcher

• The New York native did not play in 2023, but the pitching staff has lost a lot to the portal, and Chaffee is on that list.
• He announced on June 26 that he was transferring back to his home state to play at St. John's.

Gavin Jones, Right-Handed Pitcher

• Like Chaffee, Jones did not play in 2023. Also like multiple former counterparts, he's going back home to resume his career.
• Jones announced on June 27 that he was transferring to Kent State, 32 miles from his hometown of North Royalton, Ohio.

Antoine Jean, Left-Handed Pitcher

• The past couple of years have not been what onetime Minnesota Twins draftee Jean envisioned. In 2022, he began the season as the Saturday starter before an injury, after which he returned in the bullpen.
• The Canadian missed all of 2023 after having Tommy John surgery in July of 2022.

• Jean entered the transfer portal on July 12.

See Also:

Alabama Taps Maryland's Rob Vaughn as New Head Baseball Coach

Alabama Baseball’s 2023 Season One to Remember Despite Super Regional Loss

Alabama Baseball’s Historic Season Comes to a Close in Super Regional Loss to No. 1 Wake Forest