Seattle Mariners draft Luke Stevenson
Call him ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ฏ๐ ๐คGoing to be rainin homers up there soon! #ProHeels | #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/YfpM9r2FjJ
Without Luke Stevenson behind the dish over the past two seasons, UNC doesn't get anywhere close to the College World Series.
Stevenson, ranked as a Top 10 prospect coming out of Wake Forest (NC) High School in 2023, opted to play college baseball instead. Stevenson earned All-ACC Freshman honors in 2024, mashing .284 with 14 home runs, 58 RBIs and 48 walks โ in 63 starts.
Just two years later, the Tar Heels' star catcher watched his childhood dreams turn to reality. With the 35th overall pick in Sunday's MLB Draft, the Seattle Mariners chose Stevenson.
Stevenson continued to showcase his strong defensive abilities this past season, recording 476 putouts and 44 assists, all while committing just two errors en route to First Team All-ACC Honors. The offensive highlight of Stevenson's sophomore campaign came during North Carolina's third ACC Tournament Championship in seven seasons, as Stevenson recorded two hits and five RBIs across three games, en route to MVP honors.
Stevenson ends his two-year North Carolina career with a .267 batting average, 33 home runs and 116 RBIs. Add in a .543 slugging percentage, 107 walks, 987 putouts and a .996 fielding percentage, Stevenson gives Seattle a well-rounded catcher tough to find in professional baseball.
The Mariners have two starting-caliber catchers currently in the MLB, including Home Run Derby participant and MVP candidate Cal Raleigh. Seattle has two catchers amongst its current Top 20 prospects, Henry Ford (#5) and Josh Caron (#19), so Stevenson has plenty of time to prove he's MLB-ready.
If I had to guess Stevenson's landing spot later this summer, he'll head to the Modesto Nuts, who are the Mariners' Single-A Affiliate. Vance Honeycutt, whom the Baltimore Orioles chose in the first round during 2024's draft, took the exact same route last summer.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
25 minutes ago
- USA Today
Like Tucker Kraft, Packers OT Zach Tom still hunting for league-wide recognition entering 2025
Much like Tucker Kraft, who had a breakout 2024 season but wasn't even an honorable mention in ESPN's rankings of tight ends entering 2025, Green Bay Packers right tackle Zach Tom is still hunting league-wide recognition at his position group. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler collected votes of coaches, executives and scouts to rank players at each position group, and Tom -- like Kraft -- received votes within the top 10 of offensive tackles but didn't get enough to be ranked or qualify as an honorable mention. To be fair, the pool of possible selections at offensive tackle is deeper than at tight end, and the position group has several veteran players entrenched as top players. Gaining recognition across the NFL takes time, especially at a premium position, and it shouldn't be surprising that Tom isn't yet universally considered one of the league's top 16 offensive tackles. Among the honorable mentions was Jake Matthews, Ronnie Staley, Kolton Miller and Taylor Decker. One could easily argue that Tom played a better season than all four in 2024, but like Pro Bowl voting, recognition often lags behind by at least a year. Last season, Tom ended the regular season as the fourth-highest graded offensive tackle at Pro Football Focus. He earned an elite run-blocking grade while allowing only three sacks and 24 total pressures across 562 pass-blocking snaps. More impressively, Tom has improved significantly over each of his three NFL seasons. A pleasant surprise as a fill-in player during his rookie season in 2022, Tom emerged as a solid starting right tackle in 2023 and then blossomed as a top-end player at right tackle in 2024. While he wasn't a Pro Bowler, Tom received All-Pro votes at right tackle last season. Rather incredibly, Tom produced the season after missing most of the offseason while recovering from a torn pectoral muscle. The next step for Tom? Signing a big, new deal with the Packers this summer, and then building on his first season as a top player. Truly great players can consistently create great seasons, so Tom must prove his 2024 season was a sustainable peak of performance. If he can, Tom will almost certainly find himself within the top 10 of Fowler's list by this time next year.
36 minutes ago
Aaron Judge barreling toward hallowed 500-homer club, could be joined by some peers
Aaron Judge became the fastest player in MLB history to reach 350 career homers on Saturday and it feels inevitable that the Bronx slugger will join the hallowed 500-homer club sometime in the next several years. He could have plenty of company. The 28-player group could swell significantly in the coming decade, with Yankees teammate Giancarlo Stanton (432), Mike Trout (395), Paul Goldschmidt (370), Manny Machado (359), Freddie Freeman (353), Nolan Arenado (351) and Bryce Harper (346) all within striking distance. Lurking a little further down the active leaderboard, Kyle Schwarber (314), Eugenio Suarez (307), Mookie Betts (282), Francisco Lindor (267), Shohei Ohtani (257) and Pete Alonso (247) are piling up big numbers and still in their early 30s. And then there's Juan Soto, who already has 224 homers at the tender age of 26. Some are stronger candidates than others, given their injury history and age. The 35-year-old Stanton has battled various ailments over the past several seasons, but has been productive when he's played. The 33-year-old Trout has been slowed by injuries, too, but hit enough homers in his 20s that it would be surprising if he didn't eventually reach the mark. This generation's group of sluggers is reminiscent of a stretch from 2001 to 2009, when Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., Jim Thome, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, Frank Thomas and Gary Sheffield all made it to 500. The biggest difference is several of those players' accomplishments were tainted โ at least to some โ because it was part of a era that included widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs. The club has been relatively hard to join over the past decade. The last to reach 500 was Detroit's Miguel Cabrera on Aug. 22, 2021. Before that, Red Sox star David Ortiz slugged his 500th homer in 2015. Even among the elite sluggers, Judge stands out for the speed in which he's piling up dingers. Many forget he didn't play his first full big league season until he was 25, but the 33-year-old has needed just 1,088 games to reach 350 homers. This group of players won't be featured at the All-Star game in Atlanta on Tuesday, but they are having great under-the-radar seasons through the first half. Ceddanne Rafalea, Red Sox: The 24-year-old center fielder has blossomed in his second full MLB season and is hitting .271 with 14 homers, 48 RBIs and 13 stolen bases, all while playing excellent defense. Nico Hoerner and Michael Busch, Cubs: Hoerner continues to be one of the game's best second basemen, batting .283 with 18 doubles, 39 RBIs and 16 stolen bases, all while providing Gold Glove-caliber defense. The 27-year-old Busch is batting .290 with 19 homers, providing the NL Central-leading Cubs some thump. Cristopher Sanchez, Phillies: The left-hander has been a big part of a stacked Philadelphia rotation with a 8-2 record, 2.50 ERA and 122 strikeouts in 115 innings. He put an exclamation point on his first half on Sunday, giving up just one run over 7 1/3 innings in a 2-1 win over the Padres. Framber Valdez, Astros: The righty had a terrific first half with a 10-4 record, 2.75 ERA and 125 strikeouts in 121 innings. Soto's 224 career homers lead the pack for MLB players who haven't turned 30 years old. Who are the other players in their 20s that round out the top five? The Boston Red Sox have won 10 straight games heading into the All-Star break โ their longest winning streak since 2018 โ setting up an intriguing second half for a club that looked very average for most of the season's first three months. Rafaela has been one of the major catalysts for Boston's surge, hitting a walk-off homer on Friday night and another two-run homer in Sunday's win. The AL East race could be a barnburner as summer turns to fall with the Blue Jays (55-41), Yankees (53-43), Red Sox (53-45) and Rays (50-47) all in the mix. Even the last-place Orioles aren't completely out of it yet, sitting at 43-52 which is 11 1/2 games out of first place. Rafael Devers (217), Ronald Acuna Jr. (177), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (172) are two through four. Yordan Alvarez and Austin Riley are tied for fifth at 167. Cody Bellinger has 212 homers but turned 30 on Sunday.
37 minutes ago
Mix of youth and chemistry has Red Sox rolling into All-Star break on 10-game streak
BOSTON -- Many of the Boston Red Sox players started wearing T-shirts during batting practice and in the clubhouse the past week with a quote from teammate Romy Gonzalez written across the front. It says: 'Tremendously locked in.' They certainly look that way heading into the All-Star break. On Sunday, Ceddanne Rafaela hit a two-run homer and the Red Sox (53-45) posted their 10th straight victory with a 4-1, series-sweeping win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. 'There's two things: We're young and we're athletic and that doesn't slump to be honest with you,' said manager Alex Cora, who reminded some of his younger players to lead with energy in late May. 'I talked to some of the kids in Atlanta and their job is to, of course, play as hard as you can,' he said. 'I told them: 'There's no excuse for you guys not bringing the energy every single day. It starts in the clubhouse with the music.'' The 24-year-old Rafaela has joined three rookies: infielder Marcelo Mayer, outfielder Roman Anthony and catcher Carlos Narvรกez to give the Red Sox a jolt of successful youth leading them into the break. Following a series-opening loss in New York on June 6, the Red Sox dropped to 10 1/2 games behind the AL East-leading Yankees. Now, just over a month later, they're a game behind them for second place, trailing the division-leading Toronto Blue Jays. 'It's been fun the last 10 days,' said Rafaela, who is hitting .421 with five homers and 15 RBIs during a career-best 10-game hitting streak. 'Yes, we've been winning and it's always good to win,' he said. 'I think it's the most fun I've (ever) had.' Veteran Trevor Story, who had struggled during three-injury plagued seasons with the Red Sox after signing a six-year, $140-million contract as a free agent in March 2022, has picked it up by playing solid defense at short with timely hitting. 'We're playing well,' Cora said. 'Trevor and Rafaela have been amazing.' The streak comes less than a month after Boston shipped Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants. Story sees the club believing it has finally found its stride. 'I think we have more of an identity now,' he said. 'We're starting to believe that I think we can win in different ways. Like we've shown in this 10-gamer, we can slug, or we can win one-run games, we can steal bases. I think playing good defense is a good part of that. I think it all starts with the pitching, which has been lights out.' 'Yeah, energy, chemistry,' Cora said. 'Winning's better that losing. We're excited about going to the ballpark.'
