Pair of Cavaliers Selected on First Day of MLB Draft

June 4, 2018

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Junior left-handed pitcher Daniel Lynch (Henrico, Va.) was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the compensation first round (34th overall) and outfielder Jake McCarthy (Scranton, Pa.) was taken 39th overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks as part of the competitive balance A round between the first and second rounds.

Virginia has boasted a first round pick in each of the last five seasons. Lynch and McCarthy are the 10th and 11th Virginia baseball players taken in the top-40 in the Brian O’Connor era. A total of 77 Cavaliers have been Cavaliers drafted since 2004.

Lynch developed into one of the top pitchers in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2018, boasting a career-best, 3.96 ERA. He struck out 105 batters in 88.2 innings pitched in his junior campaign, the first Cavalier pitcher to reach the 100-strikeout mark since 2015. He fanned 10 or more batters in four-consecutive starts, all against ACC opponents, from March 17 – April 6. Only Danny Hultzen, the second overall pick in the 2011 MLB draft, was able to strikeout out 10 or more in four-straight starts at Virginia.

Over Lynch’s final two starts of the 2018 season, he logged 14 innings and struck out 20 batters, including a career-high, 13 against Georgia Tech on May 14. The lefty worked into the seventh inning in all but two of his 13 starts on the year. Seven of his eight quality starts on the season came against ACC opponents.

In three seasons as a Cavalier, McCarthy batted .337 with 18 doubles, seven triples and five home runs in 85 career games. A unanimous preseason All-American, his 2018 season was limited to 20 games, where he hit .327 and led the team with nine stolen bases.

McCarthy enjoyed a breakout sophomore campaign in 2017 when he stole an ACC-best, 27 bases, the ninth most in the country. He started all 59 games for Virginia and hit .368 with seven triples, five home runs and 36 RBI. He recorded 25 multi-hit games as a sophomore and his seven triples were tied for the seventh most in the nation and one shy of matching the UVA single-season school record.

During the summer of 2017, McCarthy competed on the USA Collegiate National Team and spent time in the Cape Cod League, playing for the Harwich Mariners.

McCarthy was drafted out of high school in the 23rd round by the Pittsburgh Pirates. His brother, Joe, played three seasons for the Cavaliers and was a member of the 2015 Virginia National Championship team. He now plays for the Durham Bulls, triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.

The 2018 MLB Draft resumes with Rounds 3-10 on Tuesday (June 5) at 1 p.m. and the draft concludes on Wednesday with rounds 11-40 at noon.