The Philadelphia Phillies have selected Virginia Tech third baseman Carson DeMartini in the 2024 MLB Draft. He spent three seasons with the Hokies.
This past season, DeMartini made 54 appearances, recording a .269 batting average, 57 RBIs and 21 home runs. He also took 43 walks and notched a .400 on-base percentage. In the field, DeMartini tallied 36 putouts and a .921 fielding percentage.
In his three-year stint at Virginia Tech, DeMartini amassed 165 appearances. DeMartini collected a career .311 batting average, 164 RBIs and 46 home runs. He walked 124 times and posted a .435 on-base percentage.
For his efforts with the Hokies, DeMartini was named a consensus Freshman All-American and All-ACC Freshman Team member. Additionally, he was a Perfect Game Preseason All-American Third Team selection in 2023.
Despite DeMartini’s impressive statistics, he faced many obstacles during his time at Virginia Tech. After suffering a shoulder injury, DeMartini was largely limited to a designated hitter role in the 2023 campaign. A surgery on his labrum kept DeMartini from action in the fall later that year.
Carson DeMartini played high school baseball at Ocean Lakes High School (VA), where he was the No. 500 overall prospect and No. 97 shortstop in the 2021 recruiting cycle, according to Perfect Game. In 2019, DeMartini co-led the Dolphins to the Virginia High School League (VHSL) Region 6A championship.
Ahead of the 2024 MLB Draft, experts provided an in-depth analysis of DeMartini’s game and predictions for his future at the next level.
“DeMartini is a compact and strong left-handed hitter who looks to do damage,” MLB.com wrote. “He has a power-over-hit profile with plenty of bat speed to drive the ball, with extra-base authority to all fields. After striking out in 25 percent of his plate appearances in 2022, he trimmed that to 17 percent as a sophomore by cutting his chase rate on breaking stuff, seeing a lot of pitches and upping his walk rate.
“He was still drawing free passes as a junior, but the K rate jumped back up, with some wondering if the repaired shoulder had forced a swing change that added holes in his path.
“A shortstop in high school, DeMartini moved over to third base at Virginia Tech with fringy footwork and hands. He had plenty of arm for the hot corner before the surgery, but he’ll have to prove his repaired shoulder is 100 percent. A move to left field could be in his future, but it’s the power potential a team will be buying in the first few rounds.”
