North Carolina Tar Heels third baseman/outfielder Mac Horvath is seeing his professional baseball dream come true, as he was selected by the Baltimore Orioles with the No. 53 in the second during the 2023 MLB Draft.
Over the last three seasons for the Tar Heels, Horvath has become one of the top athletes in all of Chapel Hill. The versatile fielder made plenty of flashy plays with the glove, but his bat wasn’t anything to stay quiet about either.
Horvath batted .275 over three campaigns for North Carolina, accumulating 47 home runs and 141 RBIs, as well as 40 doubles and three triples. Additionally, his best season came in 2023, as Horvath averaged .305 at the plate, and clobbered 24 home runs.
His impact has been undeniable, and North Carolina will surely miss Mac Horvath as he takes his talents to the MLB, continuing his journey with the sport of baseball.
More on the 2023 MLB Draft
The 2023 Major League Baseball Draft will begin during All-Star week, with the first two rounds getting underway at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 9. Rounds 3-10 will then begin at 2 p.m. ET on Monday, July 10, with rounds 11-20 starting at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 11.
This year’s MLB Draft is a historic one, as a draft lottery was used to determine the order for the first time. The Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates and Oakland Athletics each had a 16.5% chance to receive the No. 1 overall pick. Ultimately, Pittsburgh won the right to have the first selection, with Washington finishing right behind them at No. 2. Oakland, however, fell all the way down to No. 6 overall.
While the MLB Draft is always unpredictable, the consensus is that this year’s top prospects both hail from LSU, who won the 2023 College World Series. Pitcher Paul Skenes and outfielder Dylan Crews headline this year’s class, which is considered a deep one.
Within the first ten rounds of the draft, each slot is assigned a certain value. Each team has a bonus pool that they are able to spend on these picks, and players will sign at, above or below their assigned slot value.
In rounds 11-20, there is no assigned slot value and MLB teams are free to spend up to $150,000 to sign their picks from the second half of the draft. If they exceed the $150,000 mark, that added amount will be deducted from their bonus pool.
Following the final day of the 2023 MLB Draft, selected players will have until August 1 to sign a contract.
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