After entering the transfer portal earlier this summer, senior Brock Leitgeb is transferring to Loyola Marymount following three years with the Michigan baseball team.
As a freshman in 2024, Leitgeb started 24 games and made 34 appearances at catcher. Over the course of the season, he racked up seven runs and seven RBIs. However, he redshirted his second season with the Wolverines due to injury. This past season, as a redshirt sophomore, Leitgeb saw action as a backup catcher, playing in 10 games and posting a flawless 1.000 fielding percentage.
Leitgeb was the final piece of Michigan’s 2026 catching corps to exit the program. Between his departure, Elie Kligman graduating, and redshirt sophomore Noah Miller signing with the Houston Astros, the Wolverines now have zero returning backstops for 2027.
“Brock wanted a better opportunity to play,” Michigan coach Tracy Smith told The Michigan Daily Friday. “Coming off injury.”
To fill his vacancies behind the plate, Smith signed two transfer catchers: junior Ryan Schwartz from Kentucky and sophomore Cooper Clouser from Arizona State. They’ll work alongside incoming freshman Kristopher Desantiago out of Hamilton High School in Arizona. The Wolverines are also looking for a bullpen catcher to bolster their preparations, as Desantiago sustained an injury over the summer.
Despite entering the season with a blank slate at backstop, Smith won’t be short on choices thanks to a high-caliber mix of newcomers who will look to carry on the consistency of Michigan’s 2026 catching corps.
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