Louisville Freshman Kade Elam Turning Heads in Preseason

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The 2026 college baseball season is on the horizon, and Louisville is a team that is hoping to make a lot of noise this year. They bring back Preseason All-Americans Tague Davis, Lucas Moore and Zion Rose in the field, and are have a bunch of continuity from a pitching staff that was the anchor on the Cardinals' postseason run to the College World Series last season.

Without a doubt, Louisville will get a massive amount of production from their returning players, as well as their crop of JUCO and D1 transfers. That being said, anyone who has ever watched a Dan McDonnell-coached team knows there is always at least one true freshman that breaks out each season. Think Davis last season, Rose the year before, and so on.

This year, it appears that breakout true freshman is going to be Kade Elam.

"Kade, he's one of the best players that I've ever seen, and he's a freshman," shortstop Alex Alicea said during the program's annual media day earlier this month. "It's just cool to watch him, because it will be cool to see him grow next year, and the year after that, because he's really surprised me."

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound infielder from Corbin (Ky.) HS was one of Louisville's most accomplished and highest-ranked prospects in their 2025 recruiting class. As a senior, he took home Kentucky Mr. Baseball honors after batting .455 with five home runs, 41 RBIs, 11 doubles and 20 stolen bases. He helped guide the Redhounds to their second straight 13th Region championship.

As you can imagine, he was a highly-regarded prospect as a result of his proficient senior season. Prep Baseball Report ranked him as the No. 62 recruit in the cycle, and he was someone who could have easily been drafted early in the 2025 MLB Draft. However, his prior commitment to UofL had teams opt to bypass on drafting him.

Elam came to campus as someone with a lot of hype surrounding them. But by the way he has acted since arriving at Louisville, you would be none the wiser to it.

"He's a guy who loves being on the field. He loves being in the Hack Shack. He has the willingness to learn," hitting coach Adam Vrable said of Elam earlier this month. "It's not 'Here I am, I'm a finished product' by any means. He's got that about him, and he just loves the game. You watch how he practices as a young player, it makes you smile.

"That guy is obviously going to have some progression as he continues to develop and get older. But for me, it's the thing about him showing up each and every day, and that really entices me and really makes me happy."

Combine his talent and ability with his professional work ethic, and it's shouldn't come as a surprise that he has turned heads before even playing in his first game. In fact, based on his play both in fall ball and during the preseason, Elam is the leading candidate to start at second base for the Cards.

"He's earned the right to play and be in the mix, not because of his name or reputation coming into this program, but having earned it throughout the fall and early in the spring," McDonnell said during media day. "I get to coach him every day in the infield, very versatile, like a Bayram Hot that can play second, shortstop and third."

Louisville will get their 2026 season started this weekend at Jim Patterson Stadium with a three-game series against Michigan State. First pitch of game one is set for Friday, Feb. 13 at 2:00 p.m. EST.

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