Blake Morningstar, a right-handed pitcher from Wake Forest, announced his transfer to Miami Saturday.
Morningstar was a first-team All-ACC selection as a sophomore in 2025 with a 6-2 record, a 3.87 ERA and 93 strikeouts over 79 innings that season. He earned an invitation to the 2025 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team training camp after that breakout season.
The Hurricanes need more arms with weekend-starter traits, and Morningstar has already shown he can carry that role in the ACC. He has already gotten high-level outs in this league.
Morningstar entered the transfer portal after a difficult 2026 season at Wake Forest, but Baseball America still ranked him No. 4 among its top college baseball transfer portal players and wrote that he could benefit from a change of scenery since the arm talent and stuff still create significant upside, according to its portal rankings.
Morningstar is not arriving as a spotless sure thing. He’s a fair bet on stuff, track record and fit. Those are the portal bets that can pay off in a big way if the staff gets the details right.
Baseball America described Morningstar as a right-hander with two fastball shapes that sit in the low 90s and have reached 97 mph, plus a low-80s curveball, an upper-80s cutter and a mid-80s changeup. The MLB Draft League also wrote this week that Morningstar’s fastball averaged 93.3 mph and touched 96 in 2026, while his 80-81 mph downer curveball produced a 37.3 percent whiff rate, according to its opening-week preview.
If Morningstar gets back to commanding the zone with the version of his arsenal that made him a first-team All-ACC pitcher, he gives the Hurricanes a legitimate rotation piece. If he settles into a shorter role, the stuff still plays. Either way, Miami added a pitcher with more raw ability than most portal arms available this early.
Morningstar’s transfer commitment does not erase the possibility that a pro opportunity changes the plan. He can still leave for the MLB Draft, so Miami has to get him to campus before worrying about getting innings from him.
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