Kentucky Baseball in the 2024 MLB Draft: Full Recap

Kentucky-Basebal-2024-MLB-Draft-Full-Recap — Photo via UK Athletics

The 2024 MLB Draft came to an end Tuesday afternoon, but not before many Wildcats heard their names called at the podium.

Seven players from Kentucky’s 2024 Men’s College World Series team were drafted (two signed as undrafted free agents), along with five players who were committed to play for the Wildcats next season. Here’s the full list:

31. OF Ryan Waldschmidt (Arizona Diamondbacks)
58. 2B Émilien Pitre (Tampa Bay Rays)
66. SS Tyler Bell (Tampa Bay Rays) Lincoln Way East HS (IL)
206. OF Jackson Strong (Detroit Tigers) Canisius
292. 1B Ryan Nicholson (Los Angeles Angels)
306. RHP Trey Pooser (Tampa Bay Rays)
314. INF Trent Youngblood (Arizona Diamondbacks) Transylvania
373. RHP Ryan Verdugo (Houston Astros) Cal State Bakersfield
390. RHP Matthew Watson (San Diego Padres) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
439. RHP Mason Moore (Chicago White Sox)
455. RHP Travis Smith (Milwaukee Brewers)
546. LHP Dominic Niman (Tampa Bay Rays)
UDFA. SS Grant Smith (Chicago White Sox)
UDFA. 3B Mitchell Daly (Los Angeles Angels)

BOLD denotes player who was committed to play for Kentucky next season.

Seven players from Kentucky’s run to the #MCWS were selected in the 2024 #MLBDraft.

• OF Ryan Waldschmidt (31st)
• 2B Èmilien Pitre (58th)
• 1B Ryan Nicholson (292nd)
• RHP Trey Pooser (306th)
• RHP Mason Moore (439th)
• RHP Travis Smith (455th)
• LHP Dom Niman (546th) pic.twitter.com/QdS5dF3tsn
— KSR (@KSRonX) July 16, 2024

At least six Wildcats were selected in the same MLB Draft for the eighth time in program history. The program record for the most ‘Cats taken in a single Draft was set in 2018, when 13 players heard their names called.

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Waldschmidt, Pitre and Nicholson accounted for 37% of Kentucky’s hits, 54% of Kentucky’s home runs, and 38% of Kentucky’s RBI last season, while Pooser, Smith, Moore, and Niman accounted for 55% of their innings pitched and 50% of their strikeouts.

Safe to say next year’s Kentucky team will certainly need some new faces to step up in the absence of the 2024 draft picks.

Bell and Strong almost certainly won’t make it to campus next season, so the Cats will now have to wait on decisions from Youngblood, Verdugo, and Watson, along with Mason Moore who could return if he doesn’t sign a contract with the White Sox. Four of Kentucky’s 16 Transfer Portal commits were selected in the Draft.