North Carolina is no stranger to having its own homegrown talent selected in the first few rounds of the Major League Baseball Draft, and that might very well play out Sunday night during the first three rounds.
The first round starts at 6 p.m. Sunday. Rounds 4-20 will take place on Monday starting at 11:30 a.m.
Last month, six recently-graduated high school players and six college players who hail from N.C. high schools were invited to the MLB Draft Combine.
Of these, nine have been showing up frequently on Mock Draft and top-300 prospect lists — and while none have been more highly ranked than Wesleyan Christian’s Josh Hammond, Wake Forest High School alumnus Luke Stevenson (now at UNC) comes close.
We’ll go through each one of the prospects, who mostly project to go in the first five rounds, here:
Tyler Baird, HoughPosition: RHPCommitted to: VanderbiltSam Cozart, Wesleyan ChristianPosition: RHPCommitted to: TexasC.J. Gray, A.L. BrownPosition: RHPCommitted to: N.C. StateESPN rank: 118thMLB.com rank: 178thJosh Hammond, Wesleyan ChristianPosition: 3BCommitted to: Wake ForestESPN rank: 17thMLB.com rank: 26thMLB Mock Draft: 28th overallESPN Mock Draft: 17thCoy James, Davie CountyPosition: SS/3BCommitted to: Ole MissESPN rank: 69th overallMLB.com rank: 94thESPN Mock Draft: 34thBriggs McKenzie, Corinth HoldersPosition: LHPCommitted to: LSUESPN rank: 73MLB.com rank: 69thESPN Mock Draft: 72ndAidan Haugh, East Wake/UNCPosition: RHPNote: Was picked 488th overall (16th round) in the 2024 draftEli Jerzembeck, Providence/South CarolinaPosition: RHPNote: father played on MLB season before injuries derailed his careerKane Kepley, South Rowan/North CarolinaPosition: OFESPN rank: 54thMLB.com rank: 84thESPN Mock Draft: 60thLuke Stevenson, Wake Forest/North CarolinaPosition: CESPN rank: 38thMLB.com rank: 33rdMLB Mock Draft: 30thESPN Mock Draft: 50thTanner Thach, Perquimans/UNC-WilmingtonPosition: 1BMLB.com rank: 151stDixon Williams, D.H. Conley/East CarolinaPosition: 2BESPN rank: 245th overallEthan Young, Hickory Ridge/East CarolinaPosition: RHPNote: ranked among D1 baseball’s top 150 college prospects
Lastly, here are two others to keep an eye on early:
Kelvyn Paulino Jr. — He finished his high school career at IMG Academy in Florida but his first three seasons (2021-23) were at Ledford. MLB.com ranks the third baseman as the 250th best prospect.
Zane Taylor — He began his high school career at Wake Forest before joining the non-scholastic Pro 5 Academy and later enrolling at UNC-Wilmington. MLB.com has the right-handed pitcher at 174th in its prospect rankings.
Luke Stevenson (27) of Wake Forest. Wake Forest takes on TC Roberson for the NCHSAA 4A Baseball State Championship. (Photo by: Jerrell Jordan)
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