FORT WORTH, Tex. --- The 2024 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft began Sunday, and Day Two saw a record four Anteaters taken in the first 10 rounds in
Caden Kendle,
Woody Hadeen,
Myles Smith, and
Dub Gleed.
Nick Pinto rounded out the group of five Anteaters with his selection on Day Three.
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Caden Kendle was the first Anteater to hear his name called for a second straight season after going in the 10th round in 2023. Kendle jumped all the way to the fifth round in the 2024 Draft taken by the Minnesota Twins 159th overall.
Kendle was the highest collegiate draft pick from 2023 to return to school and was coming off co-Big West Field Player of the Year honors. In 2024, he added Corvallis All-Regional accolades which included a walk-off hit in the opener and was named All-Big West First Team, a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, and watchlisted for the Golden Spikes Award and Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award. Kendle hit .387 on 82 hits that tied a team-high along with 61 RBIs and 56 runs scored over 51 starts.
The Twins have now selected Anteaters 12 times, second-most of any MLB club, and he joins current organization members
Jacob King who signed in 2023 and Royce Lewis, an NLI signee in 2017 that went No. 1 overall. Notably, Kendle is the first-ever Anteater to be selected in the fifth round. Kendle was the third Big West player selected in the 2024 draft following UCSD's Ryan Forcucci and Cal Poly's Jakob Wright and the first position player out of the conference.
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Woody Hadeen was called in the sixth round just 17 spots after Kendle's. Hadeen was picked by the Detroit Tigers 176th overall.
Hadeen was an All-West Region Second Team selection after breaking UCI records with 82 runs and 62 walks. The All-Big West First Team shortstop hit .358 returning from missing the 2023 season with injury. He's also led the team in stolen bases in each of the last two seasons he's been healthy finishing with 28 in his career.
Previously, the Tigers had only selected Anteaters twice, tied for the fewest by any organization, selecting Corey Parker in 1992 and Cory Hamilton in 2009. The only other sixth-round alums to be picked were Steve Whitehead in 1976 and Gary Wheelock, UCI's first Major Leaguer, in 1974.
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Myles Smith made it three consecutive rounds with an Anteater selection and the first time UCI has had three picks in the first seven rounds with the Cincinnati Reds took him 209th overall in the seventh round.
Smith earned Big West Field Player of the Year in 2024 following in Kendle's footsteps as he hit .401 to lead the conference and just the fourth Anteater to hit over .400 in a season. He added 10 home runs including three 2-HR game, 49 RBIs, scored 56 runs, and walked 50 times en route to Second Team All-American status, First Team All-West Region, First Team All-Big West, three-time Field Player of the Week, and Corvallis All-Regional honors in a stellar junior season.
The Reds made their third selection of an Anteater all-time and first since Taylor Sparks went in the second round in 2014. Smith joins UCI great Justin Cassel as the only other Anteater to be selected in the seventh round.
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Dub Gleed rounded out the record fourth Anteater selected in the first 10 rounds as a ninth-round pick of the Miami Marlins at 274th overall.
Gleed battled through injuries in 2024, but started all 34 games he played hitting .351 including a .424 mark in Big West action good enough for All-Big West Honorable Mention. Gleed mashed two home runs in UCI's final game in the Corvallis Regional of the NCAA Tournament to finish with six home runs on the year and built a 10-game hitting streak this season.
The Marlins selected an Anteater for the fifth time in their history which includes Bryan Petersen who reached the Major Leagues with them as a fourth-round pick. Calvin Faucher is currently with the big-league club as one of four Anteaters playing at the Major League level.
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Nick Pinto was the first and only Anteater selected on the Third Day of the 2024 MLB Draft chosen in the 19th round by the Chicago White Sox.
Pinto finished his five-year career as the all-time program leader in strikeouts with 334 adding 99 in 2024 including an 11-strikeout performance vs. San Diego State for the fourth game of his career collecting 10 or more strikeouts. He was an NCBWA National Pitcher of the Year Semifinalist putting up a 9-2 record, 3.91 ERA in 94.1 innings
The White Sox selected an Anteater for the ninth time in draft history with four selected in the last eight years. Pinto joins Anteater alum Taishi Nakawake who is currently within the White Sox organization after signing as a free agent two years ago.Â
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All-time, 139 Anteaters have now been drafted including 38 in the first 10 rounds. Head Coach
Ben Orloff has now produced 25 pro Anteaters with 22 through the draft in six seasons at the helm.
