Seattle Mariners select North Carolina catcher Luke Stevenson in 2025 MLB Draft

The Seattle Mariners has selected North Carolina catcher Luke Stevenson at No. 35 overall in the 2025 MLB Draft. MLB.com ranked Stevenson the 33rd-best prospect in the draft, and he helped the Tar Heels reach the Super Regionals of the College World Series this past season.

Luke Stevenson joined North Carolina in 2024 after playing high school baseball at Wake Forest High School in Wake Forest, North Carolina. In his freshman season, Stevenson played in 64 games and collected 14 home runs, 58 RBIs, 48 walks and a .284 batting average. He was named to the Freshman All-America first team by both D1Baseball and Perfect Game, becoming the first North Carolina catcher to be named to a freshman All-America team since Tim Federowicz in 2006. This past season, Stevenson played in 61 games and tallied 19 home runs, 58 RBIs, 59 walks and a .251 batting average.

What MLB.com says about Luke Stevenson

“A physical left-handed hitter, Stevenson has a propensity for hitting balls hard and launching them in the air,” MLB.com said about Stevenson. “His power plays from left-center to the right-field foul pole and could translate into 25 homers per season. He has a reasonably disciplined approach but struggles to make contact against quality fastballs and changeups.”

Last month, North Carolina coach Scott Forbes talked about what impressed him the most about Stevenson. “I told the team, the most impressive thing about Luke Stevenson is he doesn’t carry his at-bats behind the plate. I was a catcher and I had a really hard time with that, and I wasn’t good at it,” Forbes said, per Rodd Baxley of the Fayetteville Observer.

“. … He’s locked in defensively and that can be hard when you feel like, ‘Hey, I’m not doing my part offensively.’ It’s easy to be pressing and carry it back there, and a lot of catchers do. He’s the leader of our pitching staff, he is the definition of a workhorse. He’s another guy, in all reality, I know he’s a high draft prospect. So, I’m just enjoying being around him and watching him be so professional behind the plate.”