2024 MLB Draft | Louisville Preview

The 2024 MLB Draft is finally here, and several Louisville baseball players are hoping to be selected.

Louisville's Eddie King Jr. gets a hit against Wake Forest and knocks in a run. / Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - At long last, the 2024 MLB Draft is finally here. Mock draft and big board season is now behind us, and soon we will find out where the top talents in college and high school baseball will have the opportunity to start their professional careers.

The draft is now in its fourth year of being slashed from 40 rounds to 20, but the Louisville baseball program still has a few players who will likely hear their name called. While Louisville isn't expected to produce a day one draft pick, a couple Cardinals are still projected to go on day two or three.

While there isn't a consensus among scouts, league executives and the baseball media as to which Card will be the first to come off the board, Eddie King Jr. has a case to be made as Louisville's top draft prospect. Playing in 49 games with 38 starts, the toolsy centerfielder hit .322/.409/.664 with 14 home runs and 43 RBI. His batting average was third on the team, while his slugging percentage, OPS of 1.073, home runs and RBI all led the Cardinals.

Someone else that is intriguing to MLB scouts and executives is Sebastian Gongora. The left-handed pitcher had a bit of an up-and-down 2024 campaign, finishing with a 6.14 ERA and 89 strikeouts to 29 walks in 77.2 innings pitched over 15 starts. That being said, his physical intangibles and pitch control is something that scouts really like. He even comes in as the No. 353 prospect in Baseball America's Top 500 MLB Draft Prospects, while King is unranked.

Behind King and Gongora, Louisville has a few of prospects that could hear their name called, but are unsure if or when. This includes left-handed pitcher Evan Webster, plus outfielders J.T. Benson and Isaac Humphrey, although the latter entered the transfer portal and is now at Ole Miss.

Webster finished with a 4.18 ERA over 71.0 innings and 16 games, along with a 62-to-20 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Benson collected a .963 OPS with nine homers and 41 RBI, while also by far and away stealing the most bases on the team with 34. Humphrey posted a .977 OPS with 10 home runs and 39 RBI, and was Louisville's best defensive outfielder.

There's also a couple high school commits who could end up choosing the professional route. Catcher Collin Mowry is viewed as the No. 238 MLB Draft prospect by Baseball America, while left-handed pitcher/first baseball Tague Davis is right behind him at No. 244. Neither are projected as day one picks, but all it takes is for one team to draft them high or give them more money than what their slot value calls for, so this will be something to monitor.

One of Louisville's incoming transfers is even at risk of spurning the Cardinals for the majors. Garret Pike, a former All-American outfielder at Toledo, is regarded as a late day two/early day three prospect. Getting Pike to bypass the MLB for one more year would be a huge boost for the Cards, considering he hit hit .360/.435/.669 with a Toledo single-season record 21 home runs.

The 2024 MLB Draft will begin with rounds one and two on Sunday, July. 14 at 4:00 p.m. EST. Rounds 3-10 will start on Monday, July 15 at 11:00 a.m. EST, and rounds 11-20 on Tuesday, July 16 starting at 11:00 a.m. EST. Day one will be televised on ESPN and MLB Network, while days two and three will be streaming on MLB.com

(Photo of Eddie King Jr.: Scott Utterback/Courier Journal - USA)

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