Louisiana’s three biggest draft prospects heard their name called in the second day of the Major League Baseball draft.
In the third round, the Oakland Athletics took right-handed junior starter Hogan Harris off the board with the 85th overall selection. Harris is the third highest Cajun selected in the Tony Robichaux era. After an early season injury, the St. Thomas More product settled in as Louisiana’s Saturday starter. After returning to the rotation in April, Harris finished the season allowing just ten runs in his final 53 innings pitched, and finishing with a 2.62 ERA this season.
"Honestly it was such a surreal moment," said Harris Tuesday. I don’t think it’s quite hit me yet. But, I mean a lot of text lot of calls. It shows how many people care about me and my future and what has to hold. As of now I’m still kinda speechless and still trying to figure everything out."
Harris finished with a 12-4 career record, with a 2.87 ERA.
In the ninth round both Logan Stoelke and Nick Lee’s names came off the big board.
With the 264th overall pick, the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Stoelke, the right-handed senior who notched 10 saves this season. Stoelke saw mostly time as a defensive replacement as a junior, but became one of Tony Robichaux’s most trusted relievers in his senior campaign, finishing with a 2.97 ERA in 33.1 innings pitched.
Lee was one of Louisiana’s wild-cards in 2018. The right-handed junior opened the season with strong showings against Texas, Mississippi State and South Alabama, but stumbled down the stretch including a 7-run outing in 4.1 innings pitched against Texas State in the Sun Belt Tournament. One scout at that tournament told KATC that Lee didn’t look like the pitcher who played so well in that Texas game. The Tampa Rays took Lee with the 290th over all pick.