About two weeks ago, Baseball America ranked the top 500 prospects for the upcoming MLB draft, to be held July 14 through 16. (Top 500 means the player would be picked within the first fifteen rounds or so.)

Fourteen former VBL participants have made the list:

11. Trey Yesavage, RHP, East Carolina (Charlottesville 2022): Yesavage is 11-1, 2.02 in 93 1/3 innings this spring. He’s allowed only 49 hits and 32 walks, and has struck out 145 batters. (Keith Law ranks Yesavage at #13, by the way.) (Pictured)

12. Seaver King, OF, Wake Forest (Harrisonburg 2022): King hit .308/.377/.577 in 253 at-bats this spring, along with 59 runs scored, 14 doubles, three triples, 16 home runs, 64 RBIs, 11 stolen bases, and a solid 25/34 BB/K ratio. (Law has King at #11 in his mock draft.)

265. Riley Huge, LHP, Winthrop (Winchester, Waynesboro 2022): While Huge “only” went 4-4, 4.55 in 57 1/3 innings this spring, he also struck out 101 batters against only 24 walks.

273. Joseph Sullivan, OF, South Alabama (Waynesboro 2022): A tremendous athlete, Sullivan hit .266/.442/.531 in 128 at-bats this spring, with five doubles, nine home runs, 14 stolen bases, and 28/40 BB/K ratio.

284. Fenwick Trimble, OF, JMU (Winchester 2022): Trimble was great this spring for the Dukes, slashing .369/.452/.635 in 244 at-bats, with 21 doubles, 14 home runs, 71 runs and 65 RBIs, 16 stolen bases, and 29 walks against only 23 strikeouts.

300. Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman, RHP, East Carolina (Charlottesville 2022): This spring, Lunsford-Shenkman went 3-2, 1.55 in 46 1/3 innings, with five saves and 79 strikeouts.

327. Dustin Thomas, OF, Florida Southwestern State (Charlottesville 2023): Thomas had a tremendous spring for former VBL Uber-Coach Zac Cole, hitting .393/.514/.699 in 219 at-bats, with 86 runs scored (in 58 games!), 21 doubles, two triples, 14 home runs, 49 RBIs, 35 stolen bases, and 44/52 BB/K ratio.

364. Tyler Dean, RHP, South Carolina (Strasburg 2022): Dean, a righthander with a big fastball, appeared in 13 games for SC this spring.

375. Chandler Marsh, RHP, Georgia (Charlottesville 2022): Marsh appeared in only 12 games this spring for Georgia, but struck out 21 batters in 15 innings.

382. Tanner Bauman, LHP, Auburn (Winchester 2021): Bauman started six games and relieved in 14 this spring, accruing a total of 41 1/3 innings. He went 3-2, 4.57, with 16 walks and 47 K’s.

393. Nate Knowles, RHP, William & Mary (Staunton 2022): Knowles was fantastic this spring. In 19 starts and 80 innings, he went 8-3, 2.48, with 50 hits, 39 walks, and 112 strikeouts.

403. Jacob Friend, C/OF, Davidson (Strasburg 2023): Friend showed excellent plate discipline for Davidson, hitting .274/.473/.527 in 146 at-bats, with seven doubles, 10 home runs, and 46 walks against 42 K’s.

410. Christian Martin, 2B, Virginia Tech (Charlottesville 2022): Martin hit .313/.447/.502 in 201 at-bats this spring, along with 16 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 59 runs scored (in 54 games), and a very good 35/39 BB/K ratio.

498. Garrett Howe, SS, Samford (Waynesboro 2022): Howe was great in 2024, slashing .369/.480/.573 in 58 games and 225 at-bats. He added 73 runs, 18 doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 44 RBIs, 23 stolen bases, and 44 walks against only 32 K’s.

And one more interesting connection: Coastal Carolina’s Blake Barthol (2B/3B) is listed at #315. He has not played in the VBL, but his father, also named Blake, played for Winchester in 1994 while he was attending Eastern Kentucky.

If Yesavage and King do, indeed, go in the first round, this will the first time the league has had two first round picks in back-to-back drafts since at least 1994 (where my draft lists end). (Wyatt Langford and Rhett Lowder went in the first round in 2023.)