Matt Ponatoski wants to play professional baseball. The MLB Draft pick is committed to play quarterback at Kentucky.
He has a decision to make!
Believe it or not, the 18-year-old athlete can probably make more money in college football than in Major League Baseball. It will all come down to his signing bonus and which sport he values the most.
Matt Pontoski is committed to play quarterback at Kentucky.
As a football player, Ponatoski rates as a four-star quarterback prospect in the recruiting Class of 2026. He ranks as the No. 13 player at his position, the No. 218 player in his class and the No. 10 player in the state of Ohio out of Archbishop Moeller.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound signal-caller really burst onto the scene as a junior in 2024. The Fighting Crusaders went 14-2 and finished as the state runners-up. Their quarterback completed 69.4% of his passes for 4,217 yards with 57 touchdowns and just three interceptions. Matt Ponatoski was named as the Gatorade Ohio Player of the Year and MaxPreps Ohio Player of the Year, and the Ohio Mr. Football.
His list of scholarship offers got even longer after an impressive showing at Elite 11.
The 2025 high school football season was just as impressive. Ponatoski completed 66.11% of his passes for 2,395 yards (in only 12 games) with 28 touchdowns to interceptions. He received 17 scholarship offers in total. He ultimately committed to Kentucky.
However, the Wildcats’ soon-to-be freshman quarterback may never play football again. His dream is to play pro baseball.
College football pays more money than MLB.
Matt Ponatoski has to decide whether or not he is going to enroll at the University of Kentucky. He skipped summer workouts to chase a state championship with Archbishop Moeller in high school baseball. He was also picked 542nd overall in the MLB Draft.
Not only is Ponatoski a star on the gridiron, he is also considered a top-200 prospect on the diamond. It is unclear what position he would play on the next level but the Crusaders used him mostly as a designated hitter and a pitcher during his senior season after he spent his junior year at shortstop.
His fastball sits 90-92mph with a curve and a changeup. He hit .462 in 2026 with four home runs and 37 RBIs.
It sounds like the Wildcats are willing to let him play both sports. Ponatoski could play college baseball and college football. He could also choose to skip college all together. The Cincinnati Reds would love to get him on the diamond full-time but I don’t know that they are going to pay a large enough sum.
The 542nd overall pick in the MLB Draft does not have a fixed signing bonus. Slot values only apply to the first 10 rounds. Players can receive bonuses up to $150,000 in Rounds 11–20 without it counting against a team’s bonus pool. Cincinnati will likely need to exceed that amount to match an NIL deal at Kentucky if they want to get Ponatoski’s signature.
What will he choose?
Money is not the only factor in this decision but Kentucky head football coach Will Stein told his top recruit to chase the bag.
“Coach Stein told me if you get the number you want in baseball and you don’t go, you’re stupid.”
Matt Ponatoski told the Over-slot podcast that he wants to play baseball.
“I think people who don’t talk to me face to face might get an idea that I want to go play college football. I do, but that’s option 1B. Option 1A is to go be a (MLB) draft pick and go get drafted and go be in an organization at 18 rather than go to college and be in an organization at 21, which is not a bad option either. I want to be drafted. That’s 1A for sure.”
The current quarterback room in Lexington also makes things interesting. Kenny Minchey is likely going to start for the Wildcats. Ponatoski would compete with JacQai Long, Callum Withers, Carson Cruver and Brennan Ward for the backup spot.
Minchey has two years of eligibility remaining so the QB1 competition might not be open until 2028. That would mean that Ponatoski would have to sit for his first two seasons. He would then have to compete with Class of 2027 quarterback Jake Nawrot. Nawrot is the No. 5-ranked quarterback in his class.
If the Reds pay Ponatoski enough money to make it worth his while, he might not want to sit and compete. Baseball is his dream and it’s his home-state team!