Mountaineers in the Pros
St. Louis Cardinals Draft WVU Commit Gavin Van Kempen
West Virginia baseball commit Gavin Van Kempen has been selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 20th round, 607th overall pick of the 2022 MLB Draft.
With the 607th overall pick, the #STLCards select RHP Gavin Van Kempen! pic.twitter.com/XBv8yr69jd
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 19, 2022
As a senior at Maple Hill High School in New York, Van Kempen pitched to a 6-1 record with a 0.59 ERA. He struck out 94 hitters in just 35.1 innings of work.
Van Kempen is the only West Virginia commit to be selected in this MLB Draft, but he is the fourth West Virginia player to be selected following pitcher Jacob Watters (Round 4 – Oakland Athletics), outfielder Victor Scott II (Round 5 – St. Louis Cardinals) and pitcher Trey Braitwaite (Round 16 – Cincinnati Reds).
There’s no guarantee that Van Kempen will sign with the Cardinals, typically high school players drafted this late don’t, and can still play at West Virginia should he go unsigned.