Colorado Rockies draft former Sarasota High catcher Ben McCabe
One area player was drafted and at least one signed as a free agent following the Major League Baseball draft.
Former Sarasota High catcher Ben McCabe was taken in the ninth round, 262nd overall, by the Colorado Rockies out of the University of Central Florida.
The 6-foot, 185-pound, fifth-year senior batted .371 with 19 home runs for the Knights.
McCabe led Central Florida in eight categories: batting average and home runs, .466 on-base percentage, .692 slugging percentage, 83 hits, 63 runs, 155 total bases and 23 times hit by pitch.
"It was different than usual for me," McCabe said of his senior season in Orlando.
Coming off UCL repair surgery in 2020, McCabe mainly played first base in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. His offensive numbers did not suffer, as he hit 12 and 14 home runs and drove on 56 and 54 runs, respectively those two seasons.
This past season, he returned behind the plate and turned in the best season of his career.
His 49 career home runs are a UCF program record.
"It was awesome getting to break the home run record and having the best season of my career," McCabe said.
The Rockies had somewhat of an inside track on McCabe, as the father of his Knights teammate Matt Cedarburg was John Cedarburg, a scout for Colorado. McCabe knew he was on the Rockies' radar, but did not know the extent of the interest.
"He would come to a lot of his son's games, so he would see me a lot," McCabe said of John Cedarburg. "I talked to him after the season, and it just happened."
McCabe was the 46th Knight player taken in the first 10 rounds and the 130th Central Florida player drafted.
McCabe will leave Saturday for Phoenix, Arizona, and take a physical for the Rockies on Sunday. If all goes well, he expects to sign a professional contract and begin workouts at Colorado's spring training site at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale.
He never will forget his time with the Knights.
"Some of the best times of my life was playing here, making some lifelong friends," he said. "Go from catching to first base to DH and back to catching, it was just awesome. I loved being close to home and having my family to watch me. It was just a great time."
Palmetto High's Vincent to Padres
Former Palmetto High catcher Colton Vincent signed a free agent contract with the San Diego Padres as a redshirt senior out of Florida State.
The 6-1, 187-pound Vincent batted .273 with 11 doubles, a triple, three home runs, 25 runs scored and 25 runs batted in.
"Personally, it was good," Vincent said of his past season with FSU. "I performed well. Team-wise, we didn't do as well as we'd like to."
After tinkering with batting left-handed for years, Vincent began switch-hitting this past season with success.
"That was really fun and exciting," Vincent said of switch-hitting. "Now I get to do it as a professional."
The Padres invited Vincent to a workout at the end of June.
"That was the only team pretty much," Vincent said. "When they initially started talking to me, they were realistic with me in where I'd be going and asked me if I was cool with that. I just want to play professional baseball."
He transferred to the Seminoles from of the College of Central Florida, where he batted .318 and .352 in two seasons.
Sunday, Vincent will head to Phoenix, when he will sign his contract and begin working out with the Padres rookies at the team's spring training complex in Peoria, Arizona.
IMG Academy had three players drafted: outfielder TayShaun Walton (fourth round, 130th overall, Philadelphia), catcher Stone Russell (18th round, 529th overall, Kansas City) and left-handed pitcher Cameron Johnson (20th round, 605th overall, St. Louis).
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Major League Baseball draft Colorado Rockies catcher Ben McCabe
