BASEBALL: Previewing the MLB Draft

The MLB draft starts on Sunday, July 9th in Seattle, Washington. Let’s break down what to look for as NC State builds their 2024 roster.

Likely Departures

Gino Groover is not a likely departure, he’s a definite departure. The only question is whether or not he will go on day one, which is generally the first 80 picks or so. His bat has the upside to carry him to the big leagues if he can find a defensive home.

Carter Trice struggled this year but his 50 at bats in ACC play is a small enough sample size to overlook and take a chance on his track record. He was excellent at Old Dominion for two years and was highly touted in the portal.

Rio Britton is another portal addition who likely envisioned this year going differently, but he’s a lefty with a low-90s fastball and a slider. 42 K’s in 31.2 innings from the left side gets you drafted, regardless of any other numbers.

Chance Mako and Landen Maroudis

These two are far and away the most important names to watch in this draft. Impact arms from day one who have upside that State currently does not have on the roster on the mound.

Maroudis is a RHP out of Calvary Christian High School in Florida who is ranked 72nd by MLB on their draft big board and really boosted his stock this spring.

Chance Mako is an in-state, RHP at East Rowan who would be draft-eligible as a sophomore and is currently ranked 162 by MLB.

When evaluating their chances to make it to campus, it comes down to how much money these players are seeking and how MLB teams value them. Trying to predict it is mostly useless. If the Pack can get one of the two to campus it would be a win, and that also seems to be the most likely result.

Other Notable Incoming Players

Brett Banks is eligible and likely to be drafted with the stuff he has. Garrett Pennington is the other portal addition who is eligible.

Alex Sosa is the most highly touted position player in the incoming class. He’s a catcher from Florida who is behind Jacob Cozart next year but has the upside offensively to help immediately.

Ryan Marohn is a LHP from Virginia who popped up on the Baseball America big board at #360 recently. 

Rest of the Roster

Justin Lawson, Sam Highfill, Matt Willadsen, Logan Whitaker, Baker Nelson, and Noah Soles are all veterans who have been draft eligible previously, but only Soles has been drafted– and that was out of high school. Kalae Harrison is draft eligible for the first time.

Out of this group, Lawson is the best prospect. Just like with incoming high schoolers, what are these guys looking for? Do they want any sort of money to start their pro career? Is NC State offering NIL to incentivize them to return?

Keep an eye on undrafted deals with this group as well. Just because they don’t get drafted doesn’t mean they are returning.

Mechanics of the Draft

Of course, players can get drafted and not sign. Anybody drafted in the first 10 rounds is nearly a guarantee to sign because if they don’t, the MLB team loses the money allotted to that slot. In a given year, you can count on one hand the number of players drafted in the first ten rounds who do not sign.

With that said, the big day for NC State will be day three when rounds 11-20 take place. The deadline to sign is August 1st, so three weeks after the draft things will be set.

That three week period is where you could see some of the veterans come off the board (Vojtech Mensik signed as a UDFA with eligibility remaining), and we will closely be watching high schoolers (even Bryant Zayas, an incoming signee, accepted a UDFA deal last year).