Fresh off a disappointing championship loss, San Jose State baseball looks to rebound and capture their second title in three years. However, they have to do so with a completely different roster. According to some rather intense calculation (simply comparing rosters between the two years), a total of 27 players have exited the portal, whether it be through transferring or graduating. 26 players have entered the program, again, whether through the portal or out of high school. 13 players from last season’s team have elected to stay. These numbers are large, and if you’re concerned, I don’t blame you. In fact, 8 of the 9 members of the 2024 starting lineup have left the program! In the modern era of college athletics however, these statistics are now commonplace. Of course, San Jose State had no problem recuperating. Coach Brad Sanfilippo and his staff looked to the place where all coaches do these days: the transfer portal. So, while I have you here, let’s take a quick look at the details of this overhaul.
We’ll start off first with the departures, 27 of them if you recall. The notable exits will be discussed, everyone else we can assume has graduated and moved on (or perhaps I couldn’t find any information on the web). Theo Hardy, last year’s starting shortstop, played in every single game. He finished the 2024 campaign strong, batting .271 and leading the team with 59 runs. Hardy exhausted his eligibility, but shortly after was scooped up by the Texas Rangers, making it all the way up to their AAA affiliate, the Round Rock Express.
Dalton Bowling established himself as a SJSU legend, finishing his collegiate career as the SJSU all time leader in RBIs (162) and second all time in home runs (37). In his final season, he led the team in RBIs (50) and doubles (19) to go along with a .284 batting average and a .934 OPS. Bowling now finds himself as a coach, joining Sanfilippo as a graduate assistant for this upcoming year. Nathan Cadena was the starting DH, as well as the occasional 2nd baseman. Only Cadena and Hardy played in all 57 games, with Cadena notching a .260 batting average and 37 RBIs. Cadena opted to transfer in the offseason, choosing to finish out his career in southern California with Long Beach State. Speaking of transfers, Robert Hamchuk and Matt Spear – starting outfielder and starting catcher, respectively – both chose that path and as a pair, committed to the University of Michigan. Hamchuk had a stellar 2024 season, evidenced by a .304 batting average, a .892 OPS and 45 RBIs. The 2024 All-Mountain West player also recorded a hit streak of 22 games, tied for the longest in SJSU history. Matt Spear had a career-high 8 home runs and caught 15 runners stealing, a statistic that led the Mountain West conference. Spear also had a hit streak of his own, one that reached 10 games. LHP Ethan Ross started 14 games last season, finishing with an 4.86 ERA over 83.1 IP, the most amount of work by any pitcher that season. With numbers good enough for an All-MW 2nd team selection, Ross was able to make a few appearances with the Billings Mustangs of the independent Pioneer League.
But how about the fresh meat? Out of the 26 new additions, 22 of them were through the transfer portal. The other 4 join the program out of high school, funnily enough, all of them are pitchers. Ishaan Khambal and Wade Mountz both join San Jose State out of Bellarmine College Prep. Jack Ghufran joins from Granite Bay High School, and Brady Pavlovsky joins from Chaparral High out of Temecula. 12 players come from JUCO, and the other 10 transferred over from D1 programs. The Spartans landed commitments from 3 players out of San Joaquin Delta College and Chabot College, most notably Gladiators’ 1B Emitt Phinney, who logged a .376 batting average, 46 RBIs and 11 HRs across 46 games. Catcher Matteo Mendoza achieved Male Mariner Athlete of the Year at Marin College, batting .445 and 42 RBIs across 40 games.
SJSU also got a two-way player in OF/RHP Jake McCoy out of Santa Rosa College. As a Bear Cub, McCoy hit .342 with 46 RBIs, plus 2 wins and a save on the mound. An honorable mention is owed to Hartnell transfer Hunter Hanes, whose name may sound familiar to some of you. That’s because Hanes has quite the social media presence with his baseball skits, with 335k followers on TikTok. As mentioned earlier, the Spartans did manage to get a handful of players from the D1 transfer portal, the most notable addition being Zach Chamizo. As a member of the UC Riverside team, he notched a .300 batting average and 62 hits in all 52 games. Trevor Wilson joins from UC Irvine, having been redshirted last season. The 2nd-year OF holds tremendous potential, batting .441 across his high school career. Wilson holds honors such as 2x Cal-Hi All-State team, MaxPreps All-State team, 3x Fresno Bee All-Area team, as well as valedictorian of Bullard High School.
Lastly, we have 13 players who have elected to stay another season. Jeriah Lewis, the only remaining starter from 2024, started 21 games last season. Jesse Guiterrez notched a 3.47 ERA, a team-best last season. Jared Lewis will also remain at the program after hitting .270 with 8 RBIs across 20 games last year.
To quickly recap, 27 players have left, 26 have joined, and 13 have stayed. Needless to say, this is a completely different team than last season. It remains to be seen whether this team can make a strong push for the conference title in May. The Spartans begin season play on Valentines Day, February 14th on the road in Lafayette, Louisiana against the Ragin’ Cajuns.
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