MLB Draft: These 3 SC high school baseball players could make for historic weekend
It’s been more than 50 years since three high school baseball players from South Carolina went in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft. There’s a chance that could happen this weekend.
This year’s MLB Draft begins Saturday (Rounds 1-4) and runs through Sunday. Southside Christian pitcher Carson Bolemon, Christ Church’s Bo Lowrance and James Island outfielder Taj Marchand are projected to go in the first round or supplemental first round in the latest MLB.com mock draft. The top 25 picks are considered the first round, with supplemental first round picks at 26-40.
If projections hold true, it will be the first time since 1969 that three high school players from South Carolina go in the first round of the MLB Draft.
Fifty-seven years ago, Timmonsville’s Mike Anderson (6th overall, Philadelphia Phillies); Don Hood (17th overall, Baltimore Orioles) of Southside High in Florence; and James Island’s Gorman Thomas (21st overall, Seattle Pilots) were picked in the first round.
According to MLB Reference, all three of the players’ signing bonuses from the 1969 draft combined for less than $120,000. Slot values for signing bonuses in this year’s draft range from $11.3 million for the No. 1 overall pick to $2.5 million with the 40th pick. Teams can sign players for less or more than slot values.
Summerville’s PJ Morlando was the last S.C. high school player taken in the first round when he was drafted by the Miami Marlins with the 16th overall pick of the 2024 MLB Draft. Before that, Conway High’s Grant Holmes was taken in the first round in 2014 by the Oakland A’s. Holmes is currently a starter for the Atlanta Braves.
All three players have been on major league clubs’ radar for a while and participated in last month’s MLB Combine.
Bolemon, who was on varsity as an eighth-grader and signed with Wake Forest, has tried to emulate former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw as he’s grown up. The Southside Christian pitcher was a two-time S.C. Gatorade Player of the Year and was part of five straight state championships during his high school career. MLB.com has him going No. 21 overall to the San Diego Padres.
“I want to end up in a spot that I know I will succeed and a team that believes in me,” Bolemon said in an interview with MLB Network last month. “I have done all I can up until this point to put myself in the best spot. Now, it is leaving it to the Lord and see where things play out.”
This season, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound senior left-handed pitcher was 7-0 with a 0.17 ERA and struck out 91 batters in 41.1 innings. He pitched five shutouts and two no-hitters.
As a junior, he didn’t allow a run and struck out 101 in 42.1 innings pitched.
“I’m a left-hander that can throw any pitch to any side of the plate and any count,” Bolemon said on MLB Network when asked about his scouting report on him. “I work low to mid-90s and can touch 96 or 97 (mph). I got five-plus pitches I can locate for strikes. … I have always been kind of a crafty guy and I feel that is one of my strengths.”
Lowrance, a Virginia signee, is ranked as the 21st overall prospect in the draft by MLB.com and projected to be the 27th overall pick to the New York Mets. He hit over .400 with 12 home runs during his senior season for Christ Church.
“It’s definitely gratifying for sure; it’s an exciting time for me, but also it’s just a stepping stone,” Lowrance told WYFF. “If I were to get drafted or if I go to school, I feel like that’s just the beginning of what I want for my career and my future, so it’ll definitely be extremely rewarding, and we’ll celebrate for a couple days, and then it’ll be back to business.”
Marchand, a Mississippi signee, helped James Island to three straight state championships and hit .531 with 13 home runs, 45 RBIs, 57 runs scored and also struck out 32 batters in 19.2 innings of work. MLB.com has him ranked at the No. 31 overall prospect and going to the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 37th overall pick.
“It will be a dream come true,” Marchand told WCBD on the possibility of being drafted this weekend. “Having my parents sitting with me and all the stuff they have done for me. It definitely will be worth it. ... when they hear my name on TV.”
How to Watch MLB Draft
Saturday, July 11 (Rounds 1-4)
1:00-2:30 p.m.: Picks 1-10 (NBC/Peacock)
2:30-4:30 p.m.: Picks 11-40 (MLB Network, MLB.com, MLB.TV)
4:30-7:45 p.m.: Picks 41-135 (MLB.com, MLB.TV, MLB+)
Sunday, July 12 (Rounds 5-20)
11:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. ET (MLB.com)
