Where will Carolina baseball star Mac Horvath play professionally?

If you were to ask a UNC baseball fan, “who is the team’s best player,” the first answer might be Vance Honeycutt.

The rising junior, a highlight reel catch-making, power-hitting center fielder has been a model of production through his first two seasons in baby blue, reaching the 100 RBI mark and recording an impressive .984 fielding percentage with just five errors.

Another popular answer you might hear for “best UNC baseball player” happens to man the hot corner – third base.

That man is no other than Rochester, Minnesota’s talented Mac Horvath, who boosted his MLB Draft stock tremendously with an impressive junior campaign.

Look at the numbers alone from Horvath’s 2022-2023 season – a .305 batting average (fifth on UNC), 73 hits (second), 21 doubles (second), 24 home runs (first, double Honeycutt and Tomas Frick’s second-place HR total), 66 RBI (first) and 25 stolen bases (first).

With the MLB Draft kicking off later today, let’s take a deeper dive into where Horvath thinks he’ll play in the big leagues.

Horvath, who played primarily third base at Carolina, sees himself as more of a center fielder in the pros.

“I feel comfortable at third base and every outfield spot, but when I think of myself in the big leagues, I see myself as center fielder,” Horvath said, according to TwinsDaily.

For a guy who played third base primarily in college, why would Horvath make this switch at the highest level of American baseball? It would make sense if Horvath wanted to switch to another infield position as a professional, as he played shortstop and pitched in high school.

The two greatest reasons for Horvath’s possible switch – his speed and strong arm. Having solid speed is paramount to tracking fly balls in the outfield and, possibly, preventing singles and doubles from turning into triples or inside-the-park home runs. A cannon for an arm, also needed at the hot corner, can help an outfielder beat a tagging baserunner to home plate.

What team is Horvath going to play for, though?

Twins Daily’s JD Cameron’s Consensus Big Board ranks him as the 74th-ranked draft-eligible player, meaning he’d land on the Cincinnati Reds in the third round. While Horvath would start somewhere in the Minor Leagues if drafted by Cincy, he’d likely join an already-talented Reds infield of Elly De La Cruz and Jonathan India in a few years.

If the draft were up to Horvath, however, he’d go to his favorite childhood team, the Chicago Cubs, or his hometown Twins. In the TwinsDaily article, Horvath highlighted that his favorite players growing up were former twins Brian Dozier and future Hall of Famer Joe Mauer.

“To think I could be playing at Target Field, where it’s just an hour’s drive for my family to be there, it would definitely be special,” Horvath said, according to TwinsDaily.

The Twins own the fifth overall, 34th, 49th, 82nd, 114th, 150th and later-round picks, while the Cubs select 13th overall, 68th, 81st, 113th, 149th and also in the later rounds.

Regardless of where Horvath lands up, that team is going to be getting a stud who can mash the ball, run with blazing speed and save scoring with his arm.

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Story originally appeared on Tarheels Wire