UNC baseball fans had their eyes glued to the TV on Sunday, July 14, wondering where all-time program great Vance Honeycutt would go in the 2024 MLB Draft.
Early-season mock drafts had Honeycutt going Top 10, while a recent one had him 13th overall to the San Francisco Giants.
After waiting for nearly two hours, Honeycutt went 22nd overall to the Baltimore Orioles. With an NCAA Tournament that included two walk-offs – a home run in Game 1 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional, then a ninth-inning single against Virginia in the College World Series, Honeycutt slipping was a bit surprising.
If you go back and look at Honeycutt’s career numbers, though, he struck out 224 times. More strikeouts are to be expected for power hitters, but that number is concerning.
Regardless, Honeycutt is a steal of the draft based on his selection. He also wasn’t the lone former Tar Heel heading to Baltimore via the MLB Draft.
In the second round of last year’s MLB Draft, the Orioles chose North Carolina third baseman Mac Horvath.
They started as @DiamondHeels teammates and soon will be @Orioles teammates 👊👊👊 The future is bright in #Birdland #GoHeels pic.twitter.com/J6dtdIrhPf
— Scott Forbes (@CoachForbes_UNC) July 15, 2024
Honeycutt and Horvath played together in each of the 2022 and 2023 seasons, sharing an ACC Baseball Championship Title in 2022. The star duo led UNC to a Super Regional in 2022, only for Arkansas to win that and advance to the College World Series.
Judging from his post above, you can bet Diamond Heels head coach Scott Forbes is a happy camper.
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