Atlantic Coast Conference Has a Good 2020 MLB Draft

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The Major league first-year entry draft is now history. Time to take a peek at how some in college baseball did in the five-round process that took place almost two weeks ago. The Atlantic Coast Conference was well represented on both days. A total of twenty players were taken, seven in the first round on Wednesday, and thirteen more on Thursday. Pitching seems to be what the league brought to the table for MLB as four pitchers were taken in the first round and ten more were taken in rounds two thru five.

All told, eleven of the fourteen programs had at least one player selected in the draft. Louisville and Miami led the way with three players each. The other nine schools had one selected. The bottom line is the ACC was a pitching-rich league this past spring and Major League Baseball came calling because of it. Fourteen organizations chose players from the league, six took more than one player. There was talent in this conference and it showed during the draft. When the season came to an end back in mid-March, the league had four teams ranked inside the top 10, and eleven of the fourteen ranked in the top 25. It pays to be good and the ACC was just that.

The first player grabbed by Major League Baseball was Louisville RHP Reid Detmers. He was selected with the tenth pick by the Los Angeles Angels. In 22 innings on the mound, Detmers was 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA, struck out 48 hitters while walking only six. Detmers was ranked second in the nation in both strikeouts and strikeouts per nine innings (19.64). Patrick Bailey was next as he was picked up by the San Francisco Giants with the 13th pick in the first round. Bailey was off to a great start with the bat in his hand hitting .296 with a team-leading six home runs and 20 RBI. He also had 20 runs scored and was slugging at a .685 clip. He ranked in the top four in HR, RBI, and Walks with 17. Bailey was real hot during an 11-day span as he whacked three grand slam home runs in that period.

Bryce Jarvis becomes the highest drafted player in Duke baseball and is just the second player to be drafted in the first round. He was picked 18th by the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was named conference pitcher of the week twice highlighted by a 94 pitch, 15 strikeout perfect game vs Cornell on Feb.21. The gem of an outing was the 31st perfect game in NCAA Division 1 history. Jared Shuster was selected by the Atlanta Braves with the 25th pick in the first round. He was 2-1 in 26.1 innings with 43 strikeouts and only four walks. The LHP was tied for third in K’s in the ACC.

The Minnesota Twins took a corner position player with the 27th pick in the first round, Aaron Sabato out of North Carolina He finished his sophomore year hitting .292, slugging .708, and drew 22 walks. He also hit seven home runs, including six in his final six games of the season. He drew the attention of the scouts by being named both the ACC Freshman of the Year and the NCBWA National Hitter of the year. He hit 343 with 18 home runs and 63 runs batted in. A second Louisville pitcher was taken and this time it was the L.A. Dodgers who scooped up RHP Bobby Miller with the 29th pick. Miller was 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA, 23.1 innings pitched with 34 punch outs. In 41 career appearances as a Cardinal, Miller went 15-2 with 175 K’s.

In the competitive Balance Round A, the Diamondbacks took Miami right-handed pitcher Slade Cecconi with the 33rd pick. In four starts for the Hurricanes, he went 2-1 with a 3.80 ERA, 30 strikeouts and seven walks in 21.1 innings thrown. Opponents hit just .180 against him. The end of the first round made it 29 straight years that at least one player from the league was picked in the first round.