WVU's Promising Young First Baseman Enters Transfer Portal

Friday afternoon, West Virginia redshirt freshman infielder Ryan Maggy (6'1", 195 lbs) announced on X that he would be entering his name into the transfer portal.

"I want to thank my coaches and teammates for the last two years at West Virginia. It was an amazing ride, and I wouldn’t change a thing," Maggy stated. "With that being said, I am officially in the transfer portal looking for a new opportunity as an incoming redshirt sophomore."

In my way-too-early projection of West Virginia's starting lineup for the 2027 season the other day, I slated Maggy as the starting first baseman, thinking that another offseason of development would allow him to move into that type of role.

After redshirting with the Mountaineers in 2025, Maggy saw some action early in the season during non-conference play but was unable to have much success against Big 12 pitching in limited opportunities. In conference play, he went just 1/8 while drawing a pair of walks. The production may not have screamed future starter, but he has some pop in that bat. The bat-to-ball skill will need to improve at his next stop, as he struck out nine times in 17 at-bats this season.

In 241 career at-bats at Cypress Creek High School in Florida, the New York native hit nine homers, drove in 94 runs, and had a batting average of .432.

Maggy will have three years of eligibility remaining.

What could West Virginia do at first base now?

I initially had Colin Coonradt (Johnson County CC) playing left field, mixed in with some first base and DH in my projection, but perhaps this will allow him to play first and open the door for someone like Seth Williams (Galveston CC) to move into the starting lineup.

There's also the possibility of keeping Armani Guzman there to take advantage of his athleticism, but I'd imagine in a perfect world, Sabins would much rather have him patrolling centerfield, chasing balls down, and cutting off potential extra base hits.

Incoming true freshman Jordan Burwell could find his way into the lineup as well. In his final two years of high school ball, he belted 12 homers and 20 doubles, while driving in 72 runs. He's not a huge threat to steal, but he did go a perfect 9/9 in his junior and senior years combined, so it's not like he would be your typical stiff, unathletic first baseman.

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