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Prospect: Jake Munroe
Position: Third Baseman
School: Louisville
Year: True Junior
Bat/Throws: R/R
Height/Weight: 6-2/230

Background

Born September 14, 2003 (age 21) to parents Anne and Kevin Munroe. A native of Champaign, Ill., he lettered three years in baseball at Champaign Central HS. Despite being a two-time All-State selection, he was regarded as an unranked prospect coming out of high school. He opted to go the JUCO route, spending his first two years in college at John A. Logan.

Munroe was an instant impact as a true freshman for the Vols. In 52 games and 50 starts, he hit .339/.466/.661 with 12 home runs and 54 RBI, as well as 14 doubles, three triples, 33 walks and eight stolen bases.

Following that standout freshman campaign, Munroe developed into one of the best hitters at the JUCO level as a sophomore in 2023. Appearing in 58 games and making 52 starts, he slashed .415/.510/.881, hit a program-best 23 home runs with 81 RBIs, on top of 17 doubles, two triples and 40 walks. As a result, he was named the GRAC Player of the Year and a NJCAA Third-Team All-American.

After two years at John A. Logan, Munroe made the jump to Louisville, who he had committed to in the fall of 2023. His skill set that he honed in the JUCO ranks made a seamless transition to the ACC. Starting all 66 games, he hit .346/.451/.593, with his 1.044 OPS behind on Eddie King Jr. for best on the team. He also hit 13 home runs with 61 RBI, had 12 doubles, a team-best four triples and 38 walks.

Scouting Report

MLB Draft Prospect Rankings:

  • MLB.com: N/A
  • Baseball America: N/A

Strengths

  • Munroe sports a great combination of plus-power and a contact tool that is not far behind. Has great power to all sides of the field, and regularly produced exit velos of over 100mph. Additionally, his batting average didn't dip below .400 until the first week of April, and he hit .299 in conference play.
  • Demonstrates solid patience and has a good approach overall at the plate. Had more walks that strikeouts at John A. Logan (73 to 52), and had a walk rate of 12.88 and strikeout rate of 16.9 in 2025.
  • Some of his best baseball came during the postseason, especially in the College World Series. He hit 14-of-37 (.378) for four home runs, nine RBI, a double, a triple and two walks in the NCAA Tournament, and was named to the CWS All-Tournament Team.

Weaknesses

  • For as good as Munroe is at the plate, he has not played good defense at times in college. His range and reaction time is just average, plus his glove and arm can be unpredictable. Had a whopping 19 errors in two years at John A. Logan, and a team-worst 13 errors in 2025.
  • Isn't a massive threat on the base paths due to a slow first step both out of the box and on jumps to steal bases. Had 21 stolen bases at John A. Logan, but just two at Louisville. Extra-base hits come more from deep ball placement then his speed.

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This article first appeared on Louisville Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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