With two more players picked on Day 3, five Miami Hurricanes selected in 2024 MLB Draft
The Miami Hurricanes on Monday saw their entire starting rotation from last season — Gage Ziehl, Rafe Schlesinger and Herick Hernandez — selected in the fourth round of the 2024 MLB Draft.
Two more players joined them in being drafted on Tuesday, the final day of the three-day, 20-round draft.
The New York Mets selected outfielder Jacoby Long in the 17th round (No. 503) to give the Hurricanes four total players selected in this year’s draft. And in the 19th round (No. 573 overall), the Seattle Mariners selected right-handed pitcher Brian Walters.
Long, a senior, hit .303 in his final campaign with the Hurricanes — and first as a full-time starter — to go along with 11 doubles, 24 RBI, 37 runs scored and 10 stolen bases in 12 attempts.
Walters, a redshirt sophomore, made 15 relief appearances in 2024, pitching to a 3.29 ERA with 22 strikeouts against just two walks over 13 2/3 innings.
A lot of production lost on the mound
While Long and Walters gave the Hurricanes a fourth and fifth player selected this draft cycle, the expected news during the three days was when Miami’s starting pitchers would be selected. After all, those three were UM’s main prospects in this draft cycle. Ziehl was No. 110 by Baseball America’s rankings and No. 89 by MLB Pipeline, Schlesinger was No. 148 by Baseball America and No. 147 by MLB Pipeline, and Hernandez was No. 419 by Baseball America. Walters the only other Hurricanes player who appeared on any big board leading into the draft — Walters was No. 479 on Baseball America’s list of top 500 prospects.
Still, the Hurricanes are losing a lot of production on the mound with the departure of those three.
The trio of Ziehl, Schlesinger and Hernandez combined to throw 249 of Miami’s 501 2/3 innings, accounting for 49.6 percent of the Hurricanes’ innings pitched last season.
Ziehl, picked by the New York Yankees at No. 119 overall, has been part of Miami’s weekend rotation each of the past two seasons. He capped his Miami career with a 3.87 ERA over 100 innings in 15 starts in 2024, including a pair of complete games against North Carolina (March 15) and Clemson (March 28). During his three-year UM career, Ziehl went 15-9 with a 4.07 ERA in 61 appearances (31 starts) while striking out 241 batters in 227 2/3 innings.
Schlesinger and Hernandez both struggled in 2024, pitching to respective ERAs of 5.83 and 6.14, but each showcased underlying metrics that are intriguing at the pro level.
Schlesinger, who the Cleveland Guardians selected No. 113 overall, is a lefty who throws from a lower slot and has a fastball that can hit 97 mph that he complements with a slider and a changeup — an intriguing setup for a reliever if things don’t work out as a starting pitcher. MLB Pipeline’s scouting report, however, noted that Schlesinger’s arm slot “can be a blessing and curse. It can provide for an uncomfortable at-bat for hitters, but it’s also led to inconsistent pitch execution and command.”
That was evident with his mixed results this season for the Hurricanes. He had five quality starts, defined as pitching at least six innings while giving up no more than three earned runs, but also had three outings in which he gave up seven or more runs and pitched fewer than five innings.
Hernandez, meanwhile, struck out 95 of the 330 batters he faced this season. The Atlanta Braves picked him No. 129 overall.
Talent coming to Coral Gables
The Hurricanes also only had three of their Class of 2024 commits — all pitchers — selected in the draft.
Left-handed pitcher David Shields out of Pittsburgh Mt. Lebanon High went No. 41 overall in the second round to the Kansas City Royals. Naples High left-handed pitcher Johnny King went in the third round (No. 95 overall) to the Toronto Blue Jays. And Varela High righty Edgar Colon, who was the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade 7A-6A Pitcher of the Year, went in the 11th round (No. 329) to the Cincinnati Reds.
While Shields and King were two of the Hurricanes’ top commits, Miami will still have a slew of top incoming talent making it to campus.
That group includes six players who Baseball America had among their top 500 prospects for the draft: Florida Christian right-handed pitcher Lazaro Collera (No. 166), Doral Academy outfielder Michael Torres (No. 192), Gulliver Prep infielder Ethan Puig (No. 230), Miami Christian outfielder Fabio Peralta (No. 275), Fort Myers Canterbury catcher Evan Taveras (No. 317) and Mendham (New Jersey) Randolph High right-handed pitcher James Kleiven (No. 320).
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