UNC baseball player Vance Honeycutt had his 2023 sophomore season cut short by the one thing any athlete hopes to avoid – injury – missing the Heels’ final 10 games and their run to the Terre Haute Regional.
Honeycutt saw his average dip a bit compared to freshman year, hitting just .257, but he still mashed at the plate with 49 hits (one of eight Tar Heels to reach 40), 12 home runs (second on team), 43 RBIs. His 19 stolen bases were second only to Mac Horvath, the Baltimore Orioles’ second round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. Honeycutt was even named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and also Third Team All-ACC, making just two errors all season.
In the midst of what will be the most crucial offseason of his scholastic sports career, Honeycutt finds himself as a projected Top-20 pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, according to MLB.com Jonathan Mayo’s latest mock draft.
Mayo has Honeycutt going 18th overall to the Boston Red Sox. If that holds up, he’d be joining a squad with a young, talented outfield core in Alex Verdugo, Jarren Duran and Masataka Yoshida.
Here’s what Mayo had to say about Honeycutt and his draft potential:
“Honeycutt might end up being a polarizing prospect next year. On the one hand, the power-speed combination is real, with 25 homers and 29 steals in 2022 and double-digits in both categories this past year. But there might be questions about his hit tool, with a 25.5 percent strikeout rate in his two years with the Tar Heels.”
Honeycutt’s freshman season (2022) was one of the best among college baseball players – he hit .296, smacked 25 home runs, drove in 57 runs and stole 29 bases. UNC advanced all the way to host their own Super Regional, against Arkansas, before watching its season end in three, hard-fought games.
With Horvath and Frick gone to the draft, the Heels are going to need a healthy, productive Honeycutt if they want to go dancing in the College World Series.
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Story originally appeared on Tarheels Wire