Kolten Smith had an eventful 2024 season. He pitched in a Super Regional, worked with a new coach and even played for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team over the summer. Now entering his third season with the Bulldogs, expectations for the junior right-hander are high.
“Expectations are really just thoughts that haven’t become true yet,” Smith said on Friday. “If you have expectations, you’re setting standards for yourself. It’s kind of a good thing but also can be a bad thing.”
Smith was named a preseason All-American by Perfect Game and dubbed one of D1Baseball’s top-50 MLB Draft prospects. He is expected to be the ace of Georgia’s pitching staff when it begins play on Feb. 14 in Wilmington, North Carolina. The hype surrounding Smith is warranted, but Wes Johnson was quick to decline the “ace” label.
“If you get that [ace] label put on you, a lot of pressure comes with it,” said Johnson, who is entering his second season as head coach of the Bulldogs. “The target on your back gets really big, and teams are going to come after you. They’re going to have a really good plan. They’re going to study you up-and-down, and Kolten has the mental capacity for that.”
Smith said he worked with a mental strength coach during the offseason to sharpen the psychological aspect of his game. He put together a solid season in 2024 that saw him lead the team in strikeouts and wins but did have multiple innings spiral out of control. To silence the outside noise, Smith said that he is focused on staying “in the moment” when pitching.
“Wes talks about it all the time that to win, you have to have focus for increased periods of time,” Smith said. “If you don’t have focus for an intense amount of [time], then it’s really hard to be great in this sport. So just really sharpening your brain on a constant basis helps with that.”
Smith was arguably one of college baseball’s best starters in 2024 when he was in the zone. His nine wins and 105 strikeouts led the Bulldogs, while his seven SEC wins tied with Arkansas’ Hagen Smith and Tennessee’s AJ Causey — both of whom were selected in the MLB Draft — for most in the conference.
Despite the success, Smith remained humble when asked about his role as the team’s ace and instead marveled at Georgia’s depth. He is returning to a rotation that features 13 new arms, including 11 from the transfer portal.
“It’s just so much depth,” Smith said. “I want to say we’ve had maybe 18-20 guys up to 95 [mph velocity] already, but we’ve got that with command and great pitches.”
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