Newcomers To The 2025 TCU Horned Frogs Baseball Team: Recruits, Transfers

Few college baseball programs landed a more exciting freshman class than the TCU Horned Frogs. According to D1Baseball's most impactful freshman classes, TCU landed the eighth best group of youngsters in the country. The Frogs bolstered that inbound class with another handful of ready-to-play transfers who could comprise several starting positions on the diamond. When Feb. 14 arrives, four of the nine starters on the diamond could be brand new faces.
Where do these newbies fit in on the 2025 TCU baseball team? Break out a note pad and find somewhere comfortable to sit – there's a lot of new faces in Fort Worth this season.
Impact Transfers To Watch This Season
Starting transfers
While long-term programs are built on recruiting, the importance of the ever-growing transfer portal cannot be understated. In the past few years, TCU found serious success in the transfer market, landing players like Peyton Tolle, Tre Richardson, and Cole Fontenelle.
Three transfers project to start this season for the Frogs: Jack Bell (Texas A&M), Cole Cramer (Washington State) and Preston Gamster (Paris Junior College).
Bell will sport No. 1 this season and has three years of eligibility remaining. He started just three games and appeared in 19 games but managed to knock a home run and a double in that time. With Anthony Silva locking down shortstop, expect Bell to man first base to start the season, though he's skilled enough to play any infield position.
Cramer, a senior, earned All-Pac 12 honors last season as a defensive standout. Saarloos pointed out that Cramer, who'll wear No. 7, could spend some time at first base as the defensive infield feels out the start of the season. At Washington State, Cramer hit .345 with three home runs and 68 total hits (37 RBI). TCU is his third stop, having also played at Linn-Benton CC before Wazzu.
Gamster will compete with Brody Green for the start at third base. At Paris JUCO, Gamster hit nine home runs and stole 24 bases, making him a real asset early in the batting order. The Highland Park product will wear No. 2 and has two years of eligibility remaining.
Isaac Cadena, a transfer sophomore from Ohio State, lists on the TCU roster as a utility player capable of playing any position – infield or outfield. However, after 17 of his 24 hits in Columbus went for extra bases, Cadena could start the year as a designated hitter. Cadena is lethal at the plate, having posted three multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games in 20 starts.
TCU has a good track record of bringing in dynamic Wichita State transfers. Tommy LaPour stands 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, and has three full years of eligibility ahead. In his freshman campaign, LaPour earned second-team all-conference honors, won the 2024 American Newcomer of the Year award, and struck out 69 batters in 78.1 innings. Thanks to his frame, LaPour maxes his fastball out near 100, though Saarloos said he'd like to see him drop to the mid-90s and improve command.
Other transfers to note
S. F. Austin transfer Colton Griffin brings serious athletic upside to this transfer class. He led the Lumberjacks with a .303 average but also turned 21 multi-base hits and stole 21 more bases. When Griffin hits the lineup, expect him to bat early and give TCU's power hitters an opportunity for RBI. He'll wear No. 11 and has three years of eligibility remaining.
You won't miss righty Trey Newmann on the diamond this year – the sophomore stands 6-foot-6. Newmann transfers in from Cal and will wear No. 34 this year. He logged 11 starts in Berkeley, winning four of them and sharing a team lead with 60 strikeouts. He held opposing batters to just a .236 average despite logging a 6.13 ERA. In those 11 starts, Cal went 7-4 and Newmann finished the season on a 4-2 run.
Redshirt senior Gianluca Shinn will use his final year of eligibility in Fort Worth and wear No. 36. He'll primarily serve as a middle relief pitcher after a successful stint at Washington doing the same. Shinn held opponents scoreless in 26 of 42 appearances and only allowed 12-of-37 inherited runners to score (32.4%). He specialized in getting the Huskies out of jams – a real asset.
Outfielder Cole Eaton transfers in after redshirting his freshman season at Tennessee. The Elkorn, Neb., product has four years of eligibility remaining and will sport No. 39 this season.
All four of these transfers likely see plenty of innings this year.
TCU Inks Eighth-Best Freshman Class In College Baseball
Immediate freshmen starters
Five names highlight this dynamite and large recruiting cohort: two-way player Noah Franco (Downey, Calif.), outfielder Sawyer Strosnider (Brock), lefty pitcher Mason Brassfield (Bakersfield, Calif,.), righty Zack James (Flower Mound), and Trever Baumler (Urbandale, Iowa).
Like Tolle last year, watch for head coach Kirk Saarloos to carefully balance his time on the mound and time at the plate depending on the team's most immediate need. Franco–the No. 7 national recruit who'll wear No. 6 this season–exhibits lots of similarities to Tolle, coupling a fastball topping out in the upper 90s with a dangerous bat. He won the Fall World Series MVP.
Strosnider will wear No. 10 and could contend for a starting role in the outfield, likely right field, from Day 1. He's extremely athletic at 6-foot-2 and could be one of the better freshmen defensive outfielders in the entire country. Fall reports for the Frogs suggest Strosnider could improve at the plate, but that'll come with experience and under new hitting coach Bill Mosiello. Coming into Fort Worth, Strosnider ranked No. 3 among outfield prospects in Texas.
In a class chock-full of righties, watch for Brassfield to work his way into the rotation early. This fall, the 6-foot-4 lefty won pitching Fall World Series MVP. That may be his first collegiate accolade, but Brassfield comes in extremely decorated as the No. 2 lefty and No. 7 overall recruit in California. With so many questions surrounding the starting rotation, Brassfield could see multiple innings worked at the spot of greatest need.
James, who'll wear No. 18, projects to see immediate innings in relief duty. Expect to see him early on as TCU tries to sort its rotation before conference play kicks off in mid-March. The 6-foot-3 James has excellent control and tops a fastball out in the low 90s.
At 6-foot-3, Baumler is an intriguing freshman capable of playing both ways. He comes to TCU as the No. 3 ranked player in Iowa and No. 80 overall recruit in the country. Not only did Baumler finish with a 1.07 ERA and a no-hitter his senior season, but he bat .409 with 22 home runs and 126 total hits. Should an ounce of that production translate to high-level college baseball, Baumler could be a serious weapon no matter where he plays on the diamond.
Other freshmen to note
Catcher Nolan Traeger (Spring) got lots of work in the fall but likely sits behind established starter Karson Bowen. Traeger, who'll wear No. 16, was heralded for his defensive effort behind the plate. Jacob Silva (San Antonio) also comes in as a catcher. Silva recorded a .375 career average at Clark High School, a career that spanned all four years.
As mentioned, TCU loaded up on talented right-handers this cycle – nine of them, to be exact.
Tyler Phenow (Champlin, Minn.) comes in as the No. 8 overall prospect from Minnesota. He recorded a 1.21 ERA and struck out 132 batters in 92 1/3 innings at Champlin Park and brings exceptional grades – watch for him to contend for All-Big 12 Academic honors this spring.
Virtually untouchable in high school, Tommy Bridges (Los Angeles) set a school record with a 0.59 ERA. Kade Eudy (Crosby) rung up over 200 batters throughout his high school career while also playing third base and in the outfield. Kaden Smith (Ocala, Fla.) comes to Fort Worth as the No. 11 righty out of Florida while Nate Stern (Los Angeles) ranks No. 22 among righties in California. Andrew Carter (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) ranked the 26th-best righty in California.
Kaleb Sinquefield (Joshua) is another academic standout worthy of All-Big 12 Academic honors.
Kade Durnin (Linn Creek, Mo.) underwent Tommy John surgery and likely misses a majority of the season. However, his timeline could mean a late-season return. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Durnin ranked No. 10 overall in Missouri and would be an intriguing late-season addition. Despite coming to TCU as a pitcher, Durnin set multiple school records for hits.
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