NC State baseball MLB Draft preview

The first two rounds of the Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft are Sunday, followed by rounds 3-10 a day later and concluding with 10 more Tuesday. At least one NC State baseball player is certain to be picked. Another would-be pitcher via the transfer portal could get a call, and the Wolfpack coaches will be watching to see where at least three recruits end up.

Here’s a rundown of what to watch from the MLB Draft, from the perspective of NC State baseball.

NC State Infielder LuJames “Gino” Grover III

The question is when and not if Groover will get his name called. TheWolfpacker.com surveyed the top prospect lists from MLB.com, D1Baseball.com (which was college players only), ESPN.com, The Athletic, Sporting News and Prospects Live.

All six had Groover rated among the top 100, and five had him in the top 75 with Prospects Live leading the way at No. 41.

That would seem to suggest that Groover has a chance of hearing his name called Sunday, and if not should know early Monday where he is headed. Either way, NC State baseball fans have almost certainly seen the versatile Groover take his last at bat for the Wolfpack.

Groover played third base in 2023 and also has experience at second, first and corner outfield. The Charlotte transfer had a .348 batting average over two seasons for NC State and had 23 homers and 97 runs batted in (RBI) in 114 games and 489 at bats.

Transfer Portal Addition Brett Banks

Will Pack fans ever get to see Banks pitch?

Banks has committed to transfer from UNC Wilmington to NC State, but he is also draft eligible. A switch to the pen that produced intriguing results and a pitching repertoire that excites scouts has Banks on the MLB radar.

D1Baseball.com rated Banks the No. 100 collegiate prospect, while Prospects Live had him at No. 378 overall. The latter ranking would suggest that Banks is a prime candidate to be an early day three selection.

Since Banks only has one season of eligibility left, this would be his lone opportunity to have leverage (by having the option to come back to college for another year) to receive a six-figure signing bonus.

Banks had eight saves for UNCW, helping the Seahawks win the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) and reach the NCAA Tournament. Banks posted a 3.99 earned run average (ERA) in 38.1 innings, allowing 31 hits and 21 walks but impressively striking out 44 batters.

Three Players In NC State Baseball Recruiting Class

Of the three players in the NC State baseball recruiting class, righthanded pitcher Landen Maroudis from Largo (Fla.) Calvary Christian seems most likely to go highest, perhaps too high to realistically expect him wearing a Wolfpack uniform.

MLB.com, ESPN.com, Sporting News and Prospects Live all have Maroudis ranked the top 85 players in the draft.

At the conclusion of the first round are what MLB calls competitive balance selections, and then after the second round are what are termed compensation choices. That adds up to 70 picks on Sunday evening. The highest Maroudis is rated is No. 70 by Prospects Live.

After the draft was shortened from 40 to 20 rounds, MLB teams are reluctant to use high picks on players that are unlikely to ink a contract. Thus, if NC State fans hear Maroudis’ name called on Sunday or Monday, that likely means the club picking him feels good about being able to signing him.

The other two prospects in the NC State baseball class generating buzz are righthanded pitcher Chance Mako from Salisbury (N.C.) East Surry High and catcher Alex Sosa from Viera (Fla.) High.

Opinions vary on the two, but MLB.com, ESPN.com and Prospects Live all have the duo rated among the top 200 players in the draft and borderline top-5 round selections. (Note that The Athletic and Sporting News’ lists only go to 100 prospects.)

High school catching is traditionally a challenging scout, and some teams are wary of using high picks on one. Sosa’s importance to NC State was increased by freshman Cannon Peebles’ decision to transfer to Tennessee.

But like Maroudis, if either Mako or Sosa are drafted by the end of Monday, odds are good they are headed the MLB route.

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