Although Clemson baseball's promising 2025 season ended with a heartbreaking thud, there were some positives to take from the campaign and Erik Bakich learned some things about himself.
For one, we all saw Cam Cannarella become a superstar and play his way into serious MLB Draft prospect talks and his elite play continued throughout the postseason as he put up some gawdy numbers in the three Clemson Regional games although the Tigers went just 1-2 at home.
Cannarella did everything he could to keep Clemson's season alive and if the Tigers had advanced to the Super Regional, we might be talking about a statue for the star outfielder.
OK, maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but he was one Omaha run away from legitimately becoming a Clemson legend -- although you could argue that he already is. He had a huge season and received a standing ovation in his final at-bat during the blowout loss to end the season against Kentucky in the Clemson Regional.
Now he's moving on to the next level, chasing his dream of becoming a big league outfielder and it looks like he's closing in on first-round pick status.
Via the latest MLB Mock Draft from USA Today, Cannarella is a first-round prospect.
USA Today has him going No. 23 overall to the Kansas City Royals.
"His game fits snugly into Kauffman Stadium, with gap-to-gap power, superior defensive ability and excellent speed; he’s 24-of-29 on steals this year and sports a .462 OBP."Gabe Lacques, USA Today
The previous version of Lacques' MLB mock had Cannarella going No. 30 overall to the Orioles, but he sees him rising up draft boards quickly and he likes what he sees from the Clemson star. He believes that he would be a solid first-round pick for a team looking for outfield help and some pop.
Wherever Cannarella goes, you know Clemson fans will be rushing to MLB.com to buy his jersey.