Georgia Baseball: UGA Adds Purdue Transfer Paul Toetz
Georgia baseball, under new head coach Wes Johnson, have been one of the most active teams in the transfer portal this offseason across the country. That trend continued this week as Georgia added Purdue transfer second basemen Paul Toetz.
Toetz was arguably the best hitter for the Boilermakers this past season, leading the team in batting average, home runs, RBI, and OPS. On the year he hit .335 with a 1.004 OPS (.335/.425/.579 slash line). He also added 10 HR, 14 doubles, two triples, 53 RBI, and 43 runs scored. Toetz started all 53 games this year. He was also a third team All-Big Ten selection for the year.
Overall for his two-year Purdue career, Toetz put up a .310/.395/.508 slash line (.903 OPS) with 14 HR, 27 doubles, four triples, 86 RBI, and 74 runs scored while starting 103 games (started every single Purdue game the last two years).
The Greendale, Wisconsin native is also a former transfer from Indiana, having spent his first two years of his career as a Hoosier. Toetz red-shirted in 2020 before having a strong 2021 season for Indiana. In that 2021 campaign at IU, Toetz hit .281/.365/.407 with 18 doubles, 24 RBI, and 28 runs. He was a Big Ten All-Freshman team selection that year as well. He then transferred to spend the last two seasons at Purdue.
Georgia baseball lands Purdue transfer Paul Toetz
Toetz has been a doubles machine throughout his career, having 45 of them through his three playing years so far. Across the board, Toetz has a .302/.386/.478 slash line (.863 OPS) with 15 HR, 45 doubles, four triples, 110 RBI, and 102 runs scored across 146 career games.
The move was reported by Anthony Dasher earlier this week, and then Toetz seemed to confirm the move on social media recently.
Toetz joins a large incoming Georgia transfer portal class that includes the likes of Luke Farris, Slate Alford, Kolby Branch, Clayton Chadwick, and Logan Jordan among others. Georgia returns several key hitters as well such as 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year Charlie Condon, while others such as Corey Collins and Fernando Gonzalez are also back for the Dawgs after going undrafted in the MLB draft.
Georgia baseball will hope that Toetz and this transfer class will help the team bounce back from missing the NCAA tournament while going 29-27 in 2023.