It was a busy portal season for Rutgers Baseball after losing quite a few players to the MLB Draft and to graduation this off-season. However the coaching staff embraced the challenge and worked to replace some key roles for 2026.
This isn’t a new challenge for the Rutgers program by any means in the sense that they’re always churning out both scholars and draft prospects, with 12 players getting drafted in the past four years alone. Rutgers Associate Head Coach Mike Garza attributes this all to who the players are as people.
“We have had some really talented players and awesome individual people come through our program who have trusted us. Without that buy-in, development is really hard. It’s those players who believed in the plan we had set out for them and they attacked that plan,” Garza explained.
From the pitching side of things their portal approach was simple this off-season. “It was filling some holes on the mound, looking for guys that were strike throwers with multiple pitches,” said Garza. “Guys that are reliable to go out there and execute with command.”
In terms of pure experience it’s going to be tough to find a group with more of it than the transfer trio of Vincent Borghese, Jacob Pedersen, and Jordan Savinon. Between the three of them these guys bring well over 350+ career innings pitched, and that veteran leadership no doubt will be valuable to the Scarlet Knights this season.
Starting things off with Central Connecticut State transfer Vincent Borghese, who over his three years of college ball has already racked up 135.1 innings pitched. He’s coming off an insane 2025 season where he went 10-3 on the mound while pitching to a 4.42 ERA in 89.2 innings pitched in which he picked up 93 strikeouts. Most importantly Vincent also tossed an NCAA leading six complete games for the Blue Devils, which I feel like is unheard of in today’s day and age of college baseball.
Another big time addition on the mound comes in the form of Stony Brook transfer Jacob Pedersen. Last season for the Seawolves he held a 4.37 ERA in 47.1 innings pitched where he picked up 40 strikeouts while only allowing 14 walks. Over the course of his career Pedersen has held a 5.05 ERA in 112.1 innings pitched. He has been primarily utilized as a bullpen arm in the past, but does have some starting experience as well. If he doesn’t crack his way into the rotation, I’d expect him to play a key role in the Scarlet Knights bullpen.
To round out the trio we have Jordan Savinon, who has pitched to a 4.97 ERA in 137.2 career innings pitched. Last season at FDU he struck out 69 batters across 60.2 innings of work. He has a complete 4 pitch mix from the left side, headlined by a fastball that will sit in the upper 80’s to low 90’s from a funky 3/4 slot. He tunnels the fastball well with a sharp cutter in the mid 80’s, a bigger curveball with good downward movement, and a changeup that’s got some serious screwball looking movement to it.
In terms of position players, the Rutgers coaching staff were looking for dynamic players that can bring that same level of experience with them to the Scarlet Knights.
“Offensively getting some veteran presence and leadership with the ability to hit, we felt like maybe trying to get some guys that have shown that they had a little bit more pop and more slug,” Garza said. “You know guys who can go and do different things, but I think on top of that is just having a dynamic group.”
Starting off they added Campbell third baseman Charlie Meglio, who last season for the Camels hit .255 with 16 doubles and 12 home runs. He was also a perfect 15-15 on stolen bases in 2025. More importantly Charlie brings with him those intangibles that add even more value to who he is as a player.
“He has been an awesome addition with both what he provides as a baseball player, but also in his personality and what he’s brought to our team from an energy and communication standpoint,” said Garza.
Next up they added UCF outfielder Chase Krewson, who originally started his collegiate career at Duke. He’s maintained a .304 batting average picking up seven doubles and six home runs over his two seasons of college baseball and is coming off a red-hot summer on the Cape where he hit .306 picking 6 doubles and going a solid 12-14 on stolen bases. Krewson has already shown a ton of development this fall and has made a strong impression with the Rutgers staff.
“He’s a really athletic kid with an awesome personality who is super coachable. He has already done a lot of really good things and I’m excited to see how he does this year playing in our outfield,” Garza said.
One player I am personally excited to watch this upcoming season is Elizabethtown transfer Quinten Perilli. Over his three year college career he has hit .357 with 43 doubles, five triples and 31 home runs. All of that is impressive in itself, then you factor in that on the mound he’s picked up 57.2 innings pitched while maintaining a 4.68 ERA. Last season he earned himself Landmark Conference Player of the Year honors in a season where he led the team in hits (55), runs (51), home runs (7), and RBIs (49). He also went 2-2 on the mound collecting 30 strikeouts in 34 innings pitched.
Rutgers added a ton of other talent from the portal this season that I didn’t cover. In terms of the transfer portal you can grab all the talent in the world, but if that talent doesn’t mesh together, you don’t end up winning a lot of ball games. Not only did Rutgers pick up a lot of talent but they added players with personality and good character, which will make a huge impact on the program for 2026.