Waiting for the call: Guidry, Ardoin and Frey could make jump to MLB

Published 10:00 am Sunday, July 17, 2022

Three baseball players with local roots expect to hear their name called over the next three days in the Major League Baseball draft.

The draft begins tonight with the first two rounds and will continue through Tuesday. Rounds 3-10 will be held Monday with the final 10 rounds Tuesday.

Barbe shortstop Gavin Guidry is the highest ranked prospect at No. 70 on the mlb.com list of the top 250 prospects. Guidry, who also pitches, earned all state honors the past two seasons. As a senior, he hit .422 with 5 home runs, 25 RBIs and 25 stolen bases in as many attempts. On the mound, he was 8-0 with a 0.16 ERA, striking out 83 batters in 45 innings pitched while allowing 22 hits and 11 walks.

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Guidry won both games at the state tournament as a junior to help the Bucs win the state championship.

Texas catcher Silas Ardoin, a Sam Houston graduate, is in the draft for a second time after his third year at Texas. Ardoin was a 36th round pick by the Colorado Rockies in the 2019 draft, but elected to attend school in Austin.

With the Longhorns, Ardoin has started 129 games, hitting .256. He had his best season at the plate this year, hitting .271 with 12 home runs and 50 RBIs.

A standout defensive player, Ardoin threw out 40 percent of attempted base stealers this season (22 of 55).

Ardoin helped the Longhorns reach the College World Series each of the past two seasons.

He is ranked as the No. 146 prospect by mlb.com.

Rosepine catcher Ethan Frey is ranked No. 197 on ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel’s list of top 300 prospects.

Frey was named Mr. Baseball in the state after leading the Eagles to a second straight Class 2A state championship. He hit .487 with 13 home runs, 64 RBIs and 28 runs.

As a pitcher, he was 5-0 with 2 saves and a 0.77 ERA, striking out 43 batters in 27 innings pitched. He was the winning pitcher in both state championship games.

Drafted players have until Aug. 1 to sign with their teams.

Ardoin has two seasons of eligibility remaining at Texas and could re-enter the draft next year.

Frey and Guidry could re-enter the draft after completing three years at LSU or after their 21st birthday.