JUCO transfers headline the list of options up the middle
Welcome to the Mizzou Baseball Roster Preview series. In this series we’ll walk you through what happened last year at these positions, this year’s expected major contributors and depth, and our projections for this season.
Previously in this series:
2024 in Review
The Tigers returned all three main contributors at shortstop and second base, Matt Garcia, Trevor Austin and Justin Colon, heading into the 2024 season. Among those three, only Garcia’s main role came up the middle last season. He played 35 games at second base, hitting .248 to increase his batting average from 2023 but seeing a dip in his OPS from .734 to .719.
Austin played 20 games at second base but saw more playing time at third in 2024, hitting .297 with an OPS over 1.000. Colon saw his playing time decrease after regularly starting at shortstop in 2023; 18 of his 20 games last season were also at third base.
Drew Culbertson, a true freshman, supplanted him as the starter at shortstop. The newcomer struggled heavily at the plate, hitting below the Mendoza line and sporting an ugly .513 OPS, but provided value in the field.
All four are gone this season. Mizzou loses Garcia and Austin to graduation (Austin was drafted into the Astros organization and had a strong first season). Culbertson transferred to Oklahoma State, while Colon is no longer on the team roster despite having eligibility remaining.
The Tigers enter this season with a clean slate at these two positions and brought in five players (two freshmen, three junior college transfers) to form a new look middle infield. One of the JUCO transfers, Gehrig Goldbeck, was expected to start at shortstop but will instead be limited to a hitting only role after having Tommy John surgery.
His Kansas City Kansas Community College teammate is now expected to lead a rotating cast of characters up the middle.
The Favorites
Gehrig Goldbeck, DH/SS – Goldbeck made the jump to the SEC this offseason after two standout years at Kansas City Kansas Community College, where he was a day one starter and hit .380 with a 1.047 OPS in his Blue Devils career. He checks off a lot of boxes you look for with players making a jump to the next level: he walked more than he struck out (94 to 57) and developed more power in his sophomore season (22 XBH compared to 13 as a freshman).
Goldbeck also provides plenty of speed, with over 30 stolen bases each season, and is a savant with the glove: he earned a Rawlings Gold Glove at shortstop and was named the NJCAA Division 1 Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 (though he’ll be unable to showcase his infield wizardry this season due to injury). The 6-1, 175lbs junior showed out in Fall Ball and looks like a great option as a leadoff hitter.
Peyton Basler, SS/2B – Basler joined fellow KCKCC standout and middle infield partner Gehrig Goldbeck in making the move to Columbia after spending last year with the Blue Devils, where played 59 games and hit .328 with a .941 OPS and 45 RBI. Similar to Goldbeck, he had more walks than strikeouts (41 to 30) and adds value on the base paths with 26 stolen bases.
The 6-0, 195 junior has two years of starting experience. He spent his freshman year at Charleston Southern in the Big South, hitting .243 with a .642 OPS, and also hit for a .757 OPS across two seasons of summer ball with the Appalachian League’s Elizabethton River Riders.
Basler will face more questions about SEC readiness than Goldbeck, but with his teammate’s injury he’s likely start nearly every game at one of the two middle infield positions.
The Contenders
Trey Lawrence, SS – Lawrence is a two-way player who plays middle infield when he’s not on the mound, joining Mizzou as the 15th-ranked shortstop in the state of Florida’s class of 2024. The three year starter at Palmetto High School played 16 games with the Appalachian League’s Tri-State Coal Cats this summer, hitting .255 with a .659 OPS and eight RBI.
Lawrence was among the small number of freshman head coach Kerrick Jackson mentioned when asked which of the newcomers have impressed the most. Like Drew Culbertson last year, Lawrence will be depended on more for his glove than his bat this season.
Blake Simpson, 2B – Simpson transferred to Mizzou after two standouts seasons at JUCO Connors State College in Oklahoma, hitting .407 with a 1.081 OPS and slugging 11 home runs for the Cowboys. He frequently came up in the clutch, recording 115 RBI between 2023 and 2024, and had more walks (49) than strikeouts (37) while swiping 16 bases – 12 of those coming in 2024 alone.
Though he played for the Williamsport Crosscutters last year in the MLB Draft League, the 6-2, 185lbs junior was a bit of an unknown entering this season. Going 3-8 with a home run across two games during this year’s opening weekend quickly changed that, and Simpson looks like he’ll be a consistent presence in the lineup early on.
The (Other) Young Gun
Tyler Macon, SS – Macon will play his first full season as a Tiger this year after redshirting in 2024 as a true freshman. He was ranked as the 19th overall recruit in the state of Missouri’s class of 2023 and hit .227 with a .661 OPS in 19 games with the Prospect League’s Jackson Rockabillys last summer.
Outlook
Outside of the bullpen, this position group may have the most question marks of any on the team. With Goldbeck limited due to injury, the Tigers will be rotating through a group of slightly less heralded JUCO transfers and two freshmen.
But Basler and Simpson were both fantastic in junior college and had encouraging stat lines that should give them more wiggle room in making the transition. Meanwhile, Lawrence should provide solid defensive value at shortstop when called into action.
This position group arguably has the largest disparity between projected floor and projected ceiling on Mizzou this year. Watch the middle infield closely in the opening weeks of the 2025 season.