The Chicago Cubs selected UVA second baseman Andy Weber (Aurora, Ohio) in the fifth round (158th overall) and later took righthanded pitcher Derek Casey (Mechanicsville, Va.) in the ninth round (278th overall). Senior reliever Bennett Sousa (North Palm Beach, Fla.) was taken in the 10th round (288th overall) by the Chicago White Sox on the second day of the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft.
For the second-straight season, Virginia had five players selected in the first 10 rounds of the MLB Draft. With Weber going in the fifth round, the Cavaliers have had three or more players drafted in the top five rounds every season since 2007. A total of 80 players have been picked during head coach Brian O’Connor’s 15-year tenure in Charlottesville.
The five selections through the first 10 rounds are tied with Florida State for the most in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Weber a Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Third Team All-American and a First Team All-ACC honoree as a junior, was the Cavaliers top offensive threat in 2018. He led Virginia in every major offensive category and his .344 batting average was the second-highest in the ACC. He racked up 19 doubles, tied for the second most in the conference, drove in 50 runs and hit five home runs in a breakout season.
Weber reached base in all but four of his 54 games played on the year and collected 72 hits (T-7th most in the ACC). He put together a pair of hit streaks of 10 or more games and held a 32-game reached base streak during his junior campaign.
Casey served as the team’s Friday night starter for the majority of the season and boasted a 3.48 ERA in 14 starts as a senior. The right-hander fanned a career-high 106 batters in 95.2 innings pitched. He struck out a career-high 12 batters in back-to-back starts against Eastern Kentucky and Yale earlier in the season. Casey led the team in quality starts, posting seven of his nine against ACC opponents.
The Mechanicsville, Va. native was named the ACC co-Pitcher of the Week on April 9 after pitching a complete game shutout against Virginia Tech (April 6), one of six pitchers in the ACC to go the distance and not allow a run in a start this season.
Sousa, who was selected in the 34th round of the 2017 MLB draft, improved his stock dramatically after serving as the program’s primary weapons out of the bullpen. He saved a team-high six games for the Cavaliers and factored in nine decisions, winning five. Four of his six saves were multi-inning efforts, including a six-strikeout, two-inning performance against Louisville on April 21.
Sousa appeared in 70 games during his four-year Cavalier career and boasted a 12-4 record. He accumulated 130 strikeouts in 108 innings pitched.
The draft concludes on Wednesday (June 6) with rounds 11-40 at noon.
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Chris Graham
