The Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) have agreed to terms with 23 of their 41 selections from the 2018 First-Year Player Draft, including OF Jake McCarthy (@McCarthyism_15), the 39th overall selection, and OF Alek Thomas (@athomas22), the 63rd overall pick.
McCarthy, 20, batted .329 (27-for-82)/.414 OBP/.415 SLG with 7 doubles, 12 RBI, 9 stolen bases and 10 walks in 20 games in 2018 as a junior for the University of Virginia. He entered the season as a unanimous preseason All-American, and was listed on the Golden Spikes Award watch list, annually bestowed on the country's top amateur baseball player by USA Baseball.
In 3 seasons for the Cavaliers, the left-handed hitting outfielder batted .337 (114-for-338)/.423 OBP/.476 SLG with 18 doubles, 7 triples, 5 home runs, 50 RBI and 36 stolen bases in 85 games. He led the Atlantic Coast Conference in stolen bases (27) and triples (7) as a sophomore in 2017.
McCarthy attended Scranton (Pa.) High School, he was a 4-year letter winner in baseball, football and basketball. He holds school football records for rushing yards in a career (6,080), season (2,105) and game (351), as well as record for touchdowns in a career (80), season (30) and game (5). He rushed for 1,730 yards and 30 touchdowns in just 8 games during his senior season in 2014 and was named Lackawanna Football Conference Division I Offensive Player of Year.
Thomas, 18, hit .420 (55-for-131)/.503 OBP/.763 SLG with 7 doubles, 4 triples, 10 home runs, 43 RBI, 14 stolen bases and 58 runs scored in 38 games with Mount Carmel (Ill.) High School as a senior in 2018, en route to being named a Rawlings-Perfect Game First-Team All-American.
As a junior in 2017, Thomas was named Gatorade's Illinois High School Baseball Player of the Year, batting .470 with 11 home runs and 43 RBI. He also hit .361 as the leadoff hitter on USA Baseball's 18U gold-medal winning National Team in the 2017 World Cup.
The son of Chicago White Sox' Director of Strength and Conditioning, Allen Thomas, had been committed to play both football and baseball at Texas Christian University.