Braxton Van Cleave will be unavailable to start SEC Tournament

Braxton Van Cleave had the first big moment of his baseball career against Vanderbilt last month. The true freshman slugger has been on a tear since. Kentucky’s young phenom appears to have big-time star potential. Unfortunately, that potential and power from the left side will not be in the lineup at the SEC Tournament.

Van Cleave was listed as out on the SEC availability report posted on Monday night.

The Texas native suffered took a blow in Friday’s game against Arkansas. That caused Braxton Van Cleave to leave the game on a stretcher. Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione provided an update on his status on Saturday.

“Braxton got released (Friday) night with his parents,” Mingione said. “Thankfully, his parents were here. He got released and still has some swelling in his face. They’ll go back in and see some imagery, but he came by today to see the guys. His dad, so smart. He’s a coach. He knows how that could impact your team mentally. So he just felt like it was important for him to see the guys. The guys gave him a big round of applause today. He had a big ol’ knot on his eye. Kinda looked like Rocky Balboa when he fought Apollo Creed. Braxton, they told him what a dog he is and how tough he is. I think that was big for those guys to just lay eyes on him and see him. The parents really appreciated all the prayers, and they felt all the love. We’ll know more as the days progress and some of the swelling goes down.”

Van Cleave will be out of the lineup for now. The class of 2025 signee is slashing .260/.329/.506 with four doubles, five home runs, and 21 RBI in 85 plate appearances this season. He will not be the only one unavailable.

Ryan Schwartz will miss his 10th consecutive game on Tuesday. KSR can confirm that Schwartz will be unavailable for the entire SEC Tournament. The sophomore is slashing .243/.348/.400 with six doubles and four home runs across 115 plate appearances. That takes two corner outfield options away. Will Marcy, Carson Hansen, and Scott Campbell Jr. will be available to fill those spots.

How To Watch: Vanderbilt vs. Kentucky

The second game of the SEC Tournament will include Vanderbilt and Kentucky in a No. 12 vs. No. 13 matchup.

Date	Opponent	Venue	Time	Stream
May 19 (Tuesday)	Vanderbilt	Hoover Metropolitan Stadium	2 p.m. ET	SEC Network

Follow our coverage for live updates from the ballpark at KSBoard. Click here to join.