Coming out of high school, Tyler Bell was a highly anticipated prospect in the 2024 class. According to Perfect Game, he was a top 60 player nationally and the second-best player from the state of Illinois.
The notoriety in high school led to Bell being selected 66th overall by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2024 MLB Draft.
Despite this, he turned down the professional route and decided to play college baseball in Lexington for the Kentucky Wildcats.
During the 2025 season, Bell had a .296 batting average with the Kentucky Wildcats. He hit 17 doubles, 10 home runs, and also had 46 RBI. He led Kentucky in both doubles and RBI.
The great freshman season led to Bell being named a freshman All-American by D1 Baseball and the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).
He was also named to the SEC’s All-Freshman team. He was the lone representative of the Kentucky Wildcats on that team.
Bell went on to play for the USA Collegiate National Team during their summer series in Japan.
In three games, the freshman All-American recorded two hits, had one RBI, and scored a run himself.
In 2025, Kentucky finished the season 31-26 overall. They were 13-17 in SEC play.
Despite winning 15 fewer games than their College World Series season in 2024, Kentucky still made the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year.
They played in the Clemson regional as the three seed. Despite winning two games against USC Upstate and Clemson, the Wildcats were knocked out by the West Virginia Mountaineers.
NCAA News: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
PHOTO: Kentucky infielder Tyler Bell (6) plays Belmont during an NCAA baseball game on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/John Amis)
