5 Tar Heels Who Could Be Selected in MLB Draft
The 2022 MLB Draft gets underway Sunday in Los Angeles
With the 2022 MLB Draft set to begin Sunday in Los Angeles, a few North Carolina players and commits could be on the brink of achieving their lifelong goals of being selected by a professional franchise.
Here’s a closer look at five players who are currently on the Tar Heels’ roster or are committed to the program and could be selected during the three-day event. Players are listed in order of their rank in Baseball America’s Top 500 Draft prospect rankings.
Each breakdown also includes a quote from Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo. To hear more from Collazo on this year’s Draft and UNC’s top prospects, check out the latest episode of Bosh to the Bigs.
Brooks Brannon, No. 156
An incoming freshman from Randleman (N.C.) High School, Brannon made a strong impression at Perfect Game’s WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Florida, last fall, hitting .429 (6-for-14) with a double and three walks. He then further solidified himself as one of the Draft’s top catchers this spring, leading national high school players with 20 homers and 91 RBIs in 34 games.
At 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, Brannon boasts plus raw power and “swings like someone who knows he does — constantly looking to do damage,” according to BA. He also has a 55-grade arm that has recorded pop times around 1.9 seconds. Although he needs to improve defensively as a receiver and pitch blocker, Collazo said that’s the case with many catchers in this Draft class and shouldn’t prevent him from being a Day 2 pick.
“I’ve heard specifically there are a lot of teams that are really excited about him, and we have him ranked in a range that would have him off the board around the top five rounds. …” Collazo said. “Certainly for a lot of these high school players — especially as the Draft has gotten shorter — the window of selecting those players and signing them is a little bit smaller. So, there’s still a chance that he could get to campus. I don’t know the details of his signability at this point, but I think he’s certainly in a range where I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t make it to campus.”
Davis Palermo, No. 367
A Chapel Hill native, Palermo tossed just 26 2/3 innings over his first three years at UNC — the first of which he redshirted and the second of which was cut short by the pandemic. Everything came together for the righty this spring, though, as he recorded a 2.78 ERA and 74 strikeouts (30.5 K%) in 58 1/3 innings over 37 games. In the process, he earned third-team All-America honors from Perfect Game.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder possesses a tantalizing arsenal, highlighted by a high-spin fastball that topped out at 99 mph this spring. His most-used secondary was a mid-80s slider, and he also experimented with a spike-curve. Combine those three pitches with a splitter that showed plenty of promise in the offseason, and Palermo has a pitch mix that could serve him well in a starter’s role. Collazo also pointed to Palermo’s refined command — he logged a 9.9% walk rate in 2022 compared to 19.3% in 2021 — as a reason why an MLB team might draft him as a starter.
“It’s always tricky going from college reliever to pro starter; that doesn’t happen very often,” Collazo said. “If you’re a reliever in the college game, there’s probably a pretty good reason for that. Typically you’re moving the opposite direction. But, there are outliers to that, and I think if you’re just looking at stuff and strikes, I don’t know why you wouldn’t at least try it out if you had the starts available in your system as a team. … I wouldn’t be shocked if Palermo is a guy who goes in the top 10 rounds.”
Considering Palermo still has two years of eligibility left, Collazo didn’t rule out the possibility of the pitcher returning to Chapel Hill and boosting his Draft stock as a starter next season, similar to Austin Love in 2021.
Danny Serretti, No. 382
A four-year starter for the Tar Heels, Serretti first drew scouts’ attention by hitting .299/.373/.424 as a true freshman in 2019. Over the next two years, the switch-hitting shortstop saw his offensive numbers dip, but that didn’t deter him and he ultimately turned in his best season yet this spring, slashing .365/.437/.567 with 10 home runs, 17 doubles and 54 RBIs. Perhaps most impressively, he did so while cutting his strikeout rate from 19.9% in 2021 to 12.6%.
Despite such success, Collazo said the scouts who he’s talked to “don’t love (Serretti’s) swing.” Some also wonder if he’s better suited for second base.
“He’s tricky because I think he’s a player who doesn’t really jump off the page in terms of any specific tool,” Collazo said. “There’s not a carrying tool that I’ve heard of with Danny. I view him more as a senior-sign type — he’s not technically a senior, but it’s his fourth year at UNC. So, if he went in that 7-10 round range, depending on what his signability demands are going to be, that would make a ton of sense just because if you look at the overall profile — ACC shortstop with that sort of performance as a switch-hitter — those profiles are typically valued pretty heavily.”
Mac Horvath, No. 465
For the second time in as many seasons, Horvath got off to a slow start this spring, but the third baseman finished strong, batting .314/.424/.699 over his last 38 games. On the year, the sophomore — who is Draft-eligible because he turns 21 within 45 days of the Draft (on July 22) — hit 18 homers and 15 doubles while walking at a 15.3% clip and stealing 19 bases. He also made significant strides defensively.
Questions still surround Horvath, though, and it doesn’t appear that an MLB team will be willing to match his price demand — which is believed to be more than $1 million, according to the Rochester Post Bulletin.
“I’ve heard from scouts who are just really excited about the exit velocity numbers, the power that he has, his speed. …” Collazo said. “The thing for him is just the swing-and-miss. He’s never hit above .270 in college. You want the (19%) strikeout rate to improve a little bit just so you can feel like he’s going to get to that power at the pro level — 18 home runs this year is a really good start. … I’ve heard good things about his defensive work, as well. So, if he makes more contact next year, he’s definitely a guy who I could see getting into that top-five-round range with a good year.”
Angel Zarate, N/A
Perhaps the Tar Heels’ most fascinating Draft prospect, Zarate logged just 19 plate appearances over his first two seasons. But since cementing himself as a starter in 2020, the outfielder has done nothing but get on base, slashing .350/.432/.498 with more walks (72) than strikeouts (65). He’s also progressively added power and arm strength; his 19 doubles, seven homers and 13 outfield assists this spring were all career highs.
Even then, Collazo said Zarate’s name hasn’t been brought up by many scouts.
“Another player who this reminds me of is Chris Lanzilli, who played at Wake Forest a few years ago (and Arkansas this season),” Collazo said. “I feel like he just constantly put up numbers and hit home runs and hit for a high average and has strength, and every time I had a conversation with scouts about him, they were like, ‘Yeah, we don’t think the swing works at the next level. We think he’s a good college hitter. Doesn’t have pro tools.’ So, my assumption is that’s what most people think of Angel — just a really solid college hitter who, for whatever reason, there are questions about the swing at the next level.
“But you look at his career over five seasons, he’s hitting well over .300, has a .424 OBP for his career, and I don’t think he’s ever been drafted. So, I’m assuming the scouts probably just don’t think he has the tools or the swing for the pro game, for whatever reason that is.”
Other players with UNC ties who could be drafted
Tomas Frick, C
Matt Keating, RHP (incoming Southern California transfer)
Kyle Mott, RHP
Caden O’Brien, LHP
Alberto Osuna, 1B
Shaddon Peavyhouse, RHP
Ben Peterson, RHP (incoming Florida SouthWestern State College transfer)
Shawn Rapp, LHP
Brandon Schaeffer, LHP
MLB Draft schedule
Sunday, July 17
Round 1 (including two compensation picks), Competitive Balance Round A (seven picks), Round 2, Competitive Balance Round B (eight picks) and six second-round compensation picks: 7 p.m., ESPN and MLB Network
Monday, July 18
Rounds 3-10: 2 p.m., MLB.com
Tuesday, July 19
Rounds 11-20: 2 p.m., MLB.com