Men UConn and the 2024 MLB Draft

[huskymedic]

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Brady Afthim, UConn, P
Ranked 304 in Perfect Game draft rankings, he was the closer for the Huskies’ team which made a run to the NCAA Super Regionals. He had eight saves with a 2.84 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 25.1 innings. Fastball as high as 97 mph with a mid-80s change-up and slider. He is projecting as a pick between rounds 7-10.

Ian Cooke, UConn, P
Named First-Team All-Big East and the Big East Pitcher of the Year. Over three years at UConn the New Milford native had a 10.2 K/9 rate with 85 strikeouts in 67.1 innings. His fastball was up at 95 mph with an 82 mph slider. He is projecting as a pick between rounds 7-10.

Connor Lane, Old Saybrook, C/P
Listed on the MLB draft board as a catcher but may wind up as a full-time pitcher. Signed to play at UConn. He was the GameTimeCT All-State MVP, the Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year and the Shoreline Conference Player of the Year. Throwing in the mid 90s, he struck out 68 batters in 33.2 innings with a 0.08 ERA.

Korey Morton, UConn, OF
The Norwalk native and McMahon graduate had a strong senior season with a .333 batting average, a team-best 81 hits including 19 doubles and added 44 runs scored, 11 home runs, 49 runs batted in and 19 stolen bases. Named First-Team All-Big East.

Stephen Quigley, UConn, P
The right-hander struck out 87 batters in 103.1 innings pitched with a 4.01 ERA.


The 2024 MLB Draft will begin on Sunday at 7 p.m. with the first two rounds and will resume Monday at 2 p.m. with rounds 3 through 10, then concludes Tuesday with rounds 11-20 beginning at 2 p.m.

 

[rich1122]

Like 3 guys from Wake in the top 10 and they did nothing.

 

[dbmill]

 

[dbmill]

No UConn players have been picked yet through the first 10 rounds of the MLB draft.

It would no surprise me either way if a UConn player or 2 get picked tomorrow in rounds 11 through 20, or if no UConn player gets picked in this draft at all.

 

[businesslawyer]

For those done with their eligibility, I wish them the best of luck. For Connon Lane and anyone else who has eligibility left and hopes to be drafted, not so much.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Shortking98]

Braden Quinn to Arizona in round 14. Congrats Braden!

 

[dbmill]

Braden Quinn may have been the most consistently good player on the UConn team this past season, he did not have all that many slumps to fight through.

 

[Rdkid]

That kid really deserved to be drafted. LH of course, but he battled to become an asset this year.

 

[scotty0330]

Good size, lefty and as @dbmill pointed out our most consistent and dependable arm out of bullpen this year. Thought he was the most attractive draft prospect we had. Would be mildly surprised to see any others get picked…maybe really late in draft.

 

[ahmed69]

Surprised he went first among the uconn players. He got lit up in summer ball

 

[dbmill]

Good size, lefty and as @dbmill pointed out our most consistent and dependable arm out of bullpen this year. Thought he was the most attractive draft prospect we had. Would be mildly surprised to see any others get picked…maybe really late in draft.

I think his general consistency was the big reason Quinn got picked in the draft. Other UConn players had good stretches during the season and showed good talent, but they were very much up and down in terms of performance throughout this past season. I think this lack of consistency in terms of the quality of their play is a big reason why various UConn players this season have not gotten picked in the draft so far this time around. We'll see what happens in the final rounds of the draft today.

 

[Shortking98]

Surprised he went first among the uconn players. He got lit up in summer ball

I guess MLB teams valued his 40+ strong innings for UConn higher than a 3IP sample size in the Cape League

 

[navery12]

Draft has concluded so looks like it'll just be Quinn for UConn players. Wouldn't be shocked if a few of the seniors end up signing but I'd be shocked if all the guys with eligibility didn't come back

 

[LIUCHusky]

Draft has concluded so looks like it'll just be Quinn for UConn players. Wouldn't be shocked if a few of the seniors end up signing but I'd be shocked if all the guys with eligibility didn't come back

Did any of our incoming freshmen get drafted?

 

[Rdkid]

Pitching staff with Cooke and Afthim, Van Emon is not in tatters as it could have been. No-names and guys like Ellisen will have to find it like Quinn did.
Still need outfielders.

 

[Rdkid]

Did any of our incoming freshmen get drafted?

Lane did not

 

[storrsroars]

Braden Quinn was the only Husky drafted this year, 14th round by D'Backs.

Was hoping Pirates would take a flyer on Korey Morton in a late round. They could really use OF depth at A/AA with at least some hope of offense.

 

[businesslawyer]

So if folks were wondering if this team was lacking talent compared to prior years, versus players simply not performing up to par, organized baseball has now weighed in on the debate. Kudos to this group for rallying through the Big East regular season and playing great at a regional, but this was a far less than average UConn club in terms of talent. It’s great that we accomplished what we did with almost no pitchers you could actually count on, and too many holes in the order against good pitching, but we need to bring the talent level back up.

 

[rich1122]

Maybe Quinn comes back? What’s RD 14 money ?

 

[navery12]

Maybe Quinn comes back? What’s RD 14 money ?

Can sign for up to $150K without it counting for a team's bonus pool. I wouldn't get your hopes up about Quinn coming back, the only college guys who don't sign are usually the ones with a chance to move way up the draft board next year

 

[PASTE04038!]

Can sign for up to $150K without it counting for a team's bonus pool. I wouldn't get your hopes up about Quinn coming back, the only college guys who don't sign are usually the ones with a chance to move way up the draft board next year

Those things are usually ironed out before they get drafted. I don't plan on seeing him back next year. Should be a stable of arms for McDonald and Penders to work with next year.

 

[UConNick]

At the end of the day, could’ve been a lot worse. Looks like the whole freshman class should make it to campus and the top handful of those I’d expect to contribute immediately and give us that much-discussed talent re-infusion.

 

[Shortking98]

Those things are usually ironed out before they get drafted. I don't plan on seeing him back next year. Should be a stable of arms for McDonald and Penders to work with next year.

Agreed. They wouldn’t have drafted him there if they weren’t pretty confident in working out a bonus. Assume he will sign