LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There is no seventh-inning stretch, hit-and-run or call to the bullpen this season.
But there is at least one tradition that local baseball fans can embrace:
For the 14th consecutive season, multiple University of Louisville baseball players will be selected in the Major League Baseball free-agent draft.
In fact, for the first time since 2017 (Brendan McKay), the Cardinals will have a player taken in the first round. Odds are that a pair of Cards -- pitchers Reid Detmers (a lefty) and Bobby Miller (righty) -- will be selected in Round 1.
Give credit to head coach Dan McDonnell and pitching coach Roger Williams. The players certainly did as they await the draft, which will begin at 7 p.m. Wednesday and air on ESPN.
Don’t be surprised if a third U of L pitcher, Luke Smith, is also taken in a draft that has been shortened to five rounds because of the uncertainty surrounding professional baseball and the novel coronavirus.
“This is one of the programs that produces draft picks,” Detmers said. “That’s why we all came here. That’s what coach Williams and coach Mac promised when we got here, that we’re going to develop and we’re going to be draft picks.
“Coming in, we aren’t trying to ... obviously we want to get drafted. But we aren’t trying to overdo anything. We’re just trying to get better. That’s kind of the mindset.
“We’ve put in a lot of work off the field just in the weight room getting stronger. And then on the field, we get better on the field during practice.”
“(Williams) has always had so much success in this program,” Miller said. “Our pitching staff is always very good every year because of him.
“I mean, he's worked hard on all our arms and stuff, and he keeps adding new stuff. He’s stepped it up every single year, he gets better every single year.
“I’ve got nothing but good things to say about Coach Williams. Without him, I'd be nowhere near where I'm at right now.”
This is where they are right now: Most draft projections have Detmers being selected as high as No. 6 but no lower than No. 10.
He is a lock become Louisville’s fifth first-round selection since 2016 when outfielder Corey Ray (No. 5, Brewers); pitcher Zack Burdi (No. 26, White Sox) and Cather Will Smith (No. 32, Dodgers) all went in the first round.
Detmers pitched as well as anybody in the nation before the season was stopped in mid-March. He won three of his four starts and struck out 48 guys in only 22 innings while allowing three earned runs.
Speaking on The WhiteSoxTalk podcast this week, MLB.com draft guru Jim Callis said that Detmers’ curve ball was the most projectable pitch of any pitcher in the 2020 draft. Callis also said Detmers projected as at least a No. 3 starter in the majors.
Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com projected that Detmers would be the No. 9 overall pick by Colorado. McKay and Ray are the only U of L players who have been taken higher.
“(The curve ball) was kind of natural for me,” Detmers said. “I didn’t start throwing it until freshman year of high school. But as soon as I started throwing it, I had good feel for it.
“Yeah, I would say it came natural. Like I said, I had good feel for it and kind of have always been able to throw it for a strike or kind of wherever I wanted it.
“As I’ve gotten older and a little bit stronger, it’s gotten a little bit better and it’s gotten a little bit more advanced. I’ve always had a good feel for it.’
Miller will projects to be taken in the final six to eight picks of the first round or early in the second round. Mayo predicted the Dodgers would select Miller at No. 29, the last pick of round one.
In four starts, Miller went 2-0 this season, striking out 34 batters in 23 1/3 innings with an earned run average of 2.31.
“I mean going back to last season, I wasn't necessarily really satisfied with the way I pitch on the mound,” Miller said.
“I had some good starts but to be honest, nowhere near satisfied with how I was exactly doing. To be the elite starter that I wanted to be, I knew I had to make huge adjustments on and off the field.
“I worked my butt off during the offseason more than I ever had my whole entire life so I mean I added another pitch to all my pitches and now my command got a little better. And I really just made a lot of different mechanical adjustments and it worked out really well.”
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