UNC Baseball program wasting no time adding reinforcements for 2025 season

Yes, the UNC baseball program's season came to an end just a few days ago, but the attention is now on the 2025 season and beyond.

Throughout the NCAA Tournament, Scott Forbes has stated that he and his coaching staff have been in contact with some potential transfer options. Given the amount of talent the Diamond Heels are set to lose, the Tar Heels will once again look to the transfer portal to help provide depth at various positions.

It appears that the UNC baseball program has added its first transfer addition in the form of a former Ivy League starting pitcher.

As first reported by D1 Baseball, Princeton pitcher Tom Chmielewski has committed to the University of North Carolina. Chmielewski, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound left-handed pitcher, posted a 6-6 record with a 3.40 ERA during the 2024 season. walking 19 and striking out 73 in 13 starts.

One of the impressive things about Chmielewski is his ability to control the strike zone. In 13 starts, Chmielewski struck out 73 batters while only walking 19, as his ability to limit unnecessary base traffic will be something that will benefit him when he takes the mound for the Tar Heels.

This postseason, control was an issue for the Tar Heels pitching staff, as the staff combined to walk 9 batters (and hit another) in the season-ending loss to Florida State.

With a slew of pitching depth set to return next season, the Diamond Heels could feature one of the best starting rotations in the country. Jake Knapp (who has a medical redshirt season if he wishes to utilize it) and Folger Boaz should both be healthy for the 2025 season, while the likes of Jason DeCaro and Shea Sprague also are set to return.

Forbes will have options with how he uses Chmielewski, especially based on how the rest of the roster shapes up.

Maybe Chmielewski comes in and earns a spot in the rotation (especially early in the season if Knapp and/or Boaz need more time to get fully healthy). If Dalton Pence elects to depart for the Major League Baseball draft, it could be possible that Chmielewski (or Sprague) could be shifted into that multi-inning type of role that Pence thrived in this season.

While it seems like everyone is a bit worried about all the talent the UNC baseball program is set to lose, Forbes and his staff are wasting no time in trying to add some reinforcements and have already done so by adding Tom Chmielewski to the 2025 pitching staff.