photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas sophomore Brady Ballinger smiles with sophomore Dominic Voegele after making an out against Baylor Friday, March 14, 2025 at Hoglund Ballpark.

As intricate as the college baseball offseason already is, it just keeps getting more complicated.

As Kansas baseball coach Dan Fitzgerald pointed out in a recent conversation with reporters, with one transfer portal window recently closed, and the MLB Draft approaching on Sunday, the NCAA has now opened a new, one-time portal window that opens Monday. This one, in light of the House v. NCAA settlement, exists across all sports and is for those so-called Designated Student-Athletes who would have lost their spots due to the newly imposed roster limits, but are instead exempt from the restrictions.

“It’s confusing because you’re trying to get to a number on the roster, and you’re just trying to project everything,” Fitzgerald said on Wednesday.

It’s another variable for the KU staff to control as it continues to build a massive offseason class of high school, junior-college and transfer-portal recruits and prepare for any unexpected developments in the upcoming draft.

Amid all that turnover, a pair of returning players provide a measure of stability.

“The good news for the Jayhawks is that Dom Voegele and Brady Ballinger are not draft-eligible,” Fitzgerald said, after listing just about everyone else on the roster, who could theoretically be selected. “So we can rest easy there.”

That’s a very promising foundation on which to build a contending team for 2026. Ballinger, KU’s first baseman, emerged as a star on the memorable 2025 team that ended the Jayhawks’ decade-long postseason drought. He earned All-American honors from four different publications and a first-team All-Big 12 selection. The transfer from the College of Southern Nevada, an on-base machine, hit .353 with a team-high 1.165 OPS to go with 16 home runs and 56 RBIs.

Voegele, a native of Columbia, Illinois, who served as the Jayhawks’ Friday night starter during his sophomore season, had a bit of an uneven campaign in which he finished with a 5.70 ERA and 7-5 record. He struck out 89 batters but issued 36 walks and gave up 15 home runs. Still, he was named the Big 12 pitcher of the week on three separate occasions and remains the same player who garnered the conference’s freshman of the year honor as a freshman and was the preseason pitcher of the year as a sophomore.

Fitzgerald recently made the trip to Cary, North Carolina, to visit Ballinger at the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp. It’s the same program in which Voegele took part in 2024 and Kodey Shojinaga participated in 2023.

“Three years in a row to have someone on Team USA and a part of that is really special, and as a coach, to be in there in Cary and see those guys on the field is an incredible moment for our program and really fun to see them,” Fitzgerald said. “You guys will not be surprised that Brady is exactly who is he with us with them. He’s the happiest dude in the world. His teammates love him. I mean, literally in three days’ time he’s in the same spot of just (a) great energy guy, so he’s represented us really well. So fun to watch these guys.”

During the course of the 2025 season, Fitzgerald said he had conversations with Ballinger and Voegele to help them understand that they’d need to play even greater roles in KU’s success as juniors. He noted the departures of key leaders like Jackson Hauge, Michael Brooks and Mike Koszewski.

“Dom and Brady were two obvious ones to address in terms of ‘Hey guys, this is awesome what we’re doing this year, but next year is going to be incredible and you guys are going to be big pieces of it,'” Fitzgerald said.

He said KU had no fear of either player transferring — Fitzgerald’s visit to Cary and pitching coach Brandon Scott’s recent trip to see Voegele were not out of any sort of concern.

“But yeah, we spent a bunch of time with them, and just trying to forecast out, hey, we took a great jump this past year, but we got to take a bigger one this year,” Fitzgerald said, “and obviously those two needed to take on different roles this year.”

Because of all the offseason uncertainty, it’s still not quite clear who, in totality, will be on the team Ballinger and Voegele are set to lead. Potential key contributors like center fielder Derek Cerda, designated hitter Dariel Osoria and closer Alex Breckheimer could be affected by the draft, and the new portal window, even if it’s for a specific class of players, may create at least some intrigue through early August.