Connecticut Player of the Year Matt Carasiti may favor the draft over St. John's

It’s a decision that all top major league prospects are faced with: Report to the team that selected you in the draft, or honor your scholarship and play college ball.

That will be the exact dilemma Berlin High School’s senior ace right hander Matt Carasiti will be facing when Major League Baseball’s amateur draft comes June 9-11.

Carasiti, who has recently been named the Connecticut Player of the Year and is a finalist for National Player of the Year, has signed with St. John’s. Although, the 6-foot-3 205-pound starter is expected to be selected in the amateur draft, something that could forgo him playing for the Red Storm, and go pro.

The ace of the Redcoats staff is 7-1 with a 1.08 ERA. He has 84 strikeouts and has allowed 20 hits and 24 walks in 51 2/3 innings.

Playing Major League Baseball has always been a dream of Carasiti’s and that’s his ultimate goal, but that goal will depend on where he is selected in the draft.

Carasiti has been rated as a 3-star prospect by Baseball America, which is defined as “the potential to be an above-average college player capable of starring in the top NCAA programs or a player who shows the physical ability to be drafted in the top 25 rounds in the professional draft.”

Although Carasiti has recently said that the sixth round is probably the cut off round for him, meaning that if he is selected lower than that he will go pro, if he is selected higher than that he will pitch for the Johnnies.

Berlin High School’s head coach Leo Veleas believes the ace of his staff will be drafted anywhere from the fifth to eighth round.

If Carasiti does decide to pitch for the Red Storm he won’t be eligible for the draft again until after his junior year.

For now, all the Red Storm and head coach Ed Blankmeyer can do is wait for the draft to come on June 9 and see where Carasiti is selected.

With his 84 K’s in 51 2/3 innings Carasiti has overpowering stuff and features a fastball that ranges between 88 and 91 mph.

St. John’s had another solid year as they were 30-22 overall and finished in fourth place in the Big East standings with a 16-11 record.  Although the Red Storm’s biggest need is pitching, something that Carasiti could fill immediately.

As a team, St. John’s possessed an astronomical 6.20 ERA and gave up 810 hits and walks over 461 1/3 innings.

The four main starters on the Red Storm staff featured a combined 6.40 ERA with 159 strikeouts in 228 innings. There is only one senior of the four so a spot is certainly open for Carasiti.

As the old baseball adage goes, pitching wins championships.  And if Carasiti does decide to honor his St. John’s scholarship he will give the Johnnies the pitching punch they so desperately need.