Nationals Take Cal's Caleb Lomavita in First Round of MLB Draft

Junior catcher Lomavita technically was the last selection of the first round

Caleb Lomavita / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

Catcher Caleb Lomavita became the 17th Cal player to be taken in the first round of a Major League Baseball draft when the Washington Nationals selected Lomavita with the 39th overall pick on Sunday.

Lomavita was the very last pick of what is technically considered the first round.  He was not one of the first 30 picks, which is the limit of the first round in some minds.  But the next nine selections are sandwiched between those first 30 picks and the start of the second round and are considered first-round picks. Lomavita was one of the six players selected to what is known as the Competitive Balance Round A category, and he will be listed as a first-round draft pick.

"It was pretty stressful," Lomavita said of the draft. "Name after name, you're not hearing your name. You don't know what's going on. But you trust the process and you know all the work you put in is going to pay off. I just kept praying and trusting in the Lord. I was relieved to hear by name called."

The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Lomavita, who was a junior this past season, is the 17th Cal player to be taken in the first round of an MLB draft and first Golden Bears player to be taken in the first round since Dylan Beavers was selected with the 33rd overall pick of the 2022 draft as one of seven players drafted in the Competitive Balance Round A part of the first round.

Here is what ESPN said about the selection oof Lomavita:

39. Washington Nationals: Caleb Lomavita, C, Cal
(Acquired from Royals in  trade)

A native of Hawai'i, Lomavita continued to cement himself as one of the best hitting catching prospects in this draft class by posting a .322/.395/.586 slash line with 15 home runs for the Golden Bears this season. Expected to stick at the position throughout his pro career, Lomavita has also proven himself against the best competition by hitting over .300 in consecutive summers in the Cape Cod League.

As the 39th pick, Lomavita has a draft slot bonus value of $2,395,000, and that would approximate his signing bonus. Teams use the signing bonus money to persuade high school players to sign with them rather than attend college or to persuade juniors in college not to return to college for their senior season. Teams often offer less than the allotted signing bonus value, but sometimes offer more. In any case, the player is likely to sign for a bonus approximating the slot limit.

Most reputable mock drafts projected Lomavita to be drafted somewhere between the 20th and 35th picks, so he dropped a little further than expected. Major League teams have a certain amount of money to spend on their draft choices, and that may affect which players are drafted in a given slot, because the bonus value drops the lower a player is drafted. Click here to explain that concept.

Lomavita said he wasn't disappointed to drop a little lower than expected.

"God works in mysterious ways, I know that," he said. "He has a plan for me, and I was exactly where I needed to be. I'm fine with the 39th pick. I wasn't expecting any more than that. Baseball at the next level is good enough for me."

Lomavita hit .322 with 15 home runs, 52 RBIs and a .981 OPS this past season for Cal. The Bears finished with a 36-19 record and were stunned that they did not get a berth in the NCAA tournament. 

Lomavita said the person who had the most influence on him was a predecessor as Cal's catcher, Korey Lee, who was a first-round draft choice in 2019. Lee is now with the Chicago White Sox and is a teammate of fellow Cal alum Andrew Vaughn.

"Caleb is an elite catcher with the opportunity to have a tremendous career in professional baseball." Cal head coach Mike Neu said in a statement released by Cal Sunday evening. "Caleb brings a lot to the table with his rare combination of power, speed and defensive prowess behind the plate. He had an outstanding three seasons for us and the Nationals are a lucky organization to have him."

The first overall pick Sunday was Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana, who was born in Australia and was taken by the Cleveland Guardians. Only four of the 74 players drafted on Sunday are from the Pac-12.

Cal junior center fielder Rodney Green Jr. was not drafted in the first two rounds, which were completed on Sunday. He is expected to be selected Monday, when rounds three through 10 will be carried out. Rounds 11 through 20 will be conducted Tuesday.

It should be noted that the round in which a player is drafted is not necessarily an indication of how that player will perform in the major leagues.  Former Cal standout Marcus Semien was selected in the sixth round of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft, and he is scheduled to be the American League’s starting second baseman in the All-Star Game on Tuesday. He finished third in the American League MVP voting in 2023 while helping the Rangers to their first World Series championship. On the other hand, ex-Cal star Brett Jackson was a first-round draft pick in 2009 and ended up playing just 51 major-league games with a career batting average of .169.

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