The North Carolina Tar Heels baseball program saw just one player go in the first round of the 2024 MLB draft as Vance Honeycutt went to the Baltimore Orioles. But on day two of the draft, they had another player hear his name called.
At the end of the third round, another Tar Heel was taken. The Texas Rangers drafted outfielder Casey Cook with the No. 103 pick overall. Cook saw his stock rise a bit with a strong postseason for the Tar Heels and it got him drafted in the third round with the opportunity to join the farm system of the defending World Series champions.
He was the final pick of the third round of the draft.
With the 103rd pick of the 2024 #MLBDraft, the Texas Rangers select OF Casey Cook from @DiamondHeels. pic.twitter.com/Sciurr4UVZ
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) July 15, 2024
Cook was a plus defender during his time with the Tar Heels and a valuable left-handed bat for Scott Forbes.
Here is the early scouting report from CBS Sports on Cook:
An outfielder from North Carolina, Cook bats left-handed and has a disciplined approach while making contact to all fields. He is a hit-over-power prospect, but Cook homered of No. 2 overall pick Chase Burns twice in his career. Cook is just a fringe-average runner in left field, so his bat will have to carry the day.
The outfielder started in all 64 games this past season for the Tar Heels, posting a .341 batting average while leading the Tar Heels in hits and runs.
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