Three Sacramento State players selected in late rounds of this year’s MLB draft
For the first time in six years, three Sacramento State baseball players were selected in the same MLB draft, capping the final day of the 2025 event Monday with a capital milestone.
At the top of the heap was former Hornet Carson Latimer, a right-handed pitcher selected by the Cincinnati Reds as the ninth pick of the 12th round, 354th overall.
In his first season with the Hornets, Latimer made 15 appearances on the mound and started seven games for Sacramento State. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound junior finished the season with a 2-3 overall record in 36.2 innings of work.
Latimer concluded his junior season at Sacramento State posting a 6.14 ERA, 28 strikeouts, allowing only three home runs and holding opponents to a .291 batting average.
He is the highest-drafted Hornet since Travis Adams (sixth round) and Scott Randall (seventh round) were top-10 round selections in 2021.
Teammate and third baseman JP Smith II was selected by the Minnesota Twins as the 14th choice in the 17th round (509th overall).
Smith started and played all 58 games in 2025 for the Hornets. He posted 69 hits, 12 home runs, 52 RBI on a .298 batting average in his junior season.
The 6-foot-2, 240-pound junior standout has the most home runs in Hornets baseball history with 48.
Smith grew up in the Sacramento region. He got his start playing baseball in West Sacramento Little League. His love for baseball remained with him at Granite Bay High School, where he helped the Grizzlies win a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championship.
Teammate Kade Brown was chosen by the Athletics as the 590th overall selection (20th round, fifth pick).
Brown, a 6-foot-6, 220-pound right-handed pitcher, was good enough to earn a selection on the first-team All-Western Athletic Conference in 2025.
He finished his sophomore year with a 3-2 record on the mound and a 2.93 ERA. As a junior, he recorded 14 saves last season.
When facing opposing batters, Brown put up 49 strikeouts in 43 innings of work, and held opponents to a .204 average. Brown was a standout athlete at Elk Grove High School, earning an All-Delta League first-team selection as a senior for the Thundering Herd.
The last time Sacramento State had three players drafted in the same year was 2019, when Austin Roberts was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Tanner Dalton by the Chicago Cubs and Parker Brahms by the Los Angeles Dodgers.