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Seattle Mariners

Seattle Mariners select Kentucky’s Evan White in first round of MLB draft

Kentucky infielder Evan White points skyward as he crosses home plate following his solo home run in the ninth inning during the NCAA Super Regionals last Friday in Louisville, Kentucky. (Timothy D. Easley / Associated Press)
Associated Press

SEATTLE – Kentucky first baseman Evan White was selected by the Seattle Mariners with the 17th overall pick in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft on Monday night.

White is considered an elite athlete for a first baseman and has played some outfield during a stint with USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team last summer. Seattle director of amateur scouting Scott Hunter said the organization will keep White at first base, although he could someday play the outfield if needed. The Mariners expect to have White signed soon and will likely assign him to Everett of the Northwest League to start his career.

Hunter raved about White’s defensive ability, saying the organization is in “no rush to move him off first base.”

White, who bats right-handed but throws left, hit .373 with 10 homers and 41 RBIs in 53 games this season for Kentucky. White was a second-team all-SEC selection and a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award.

In the second round, the Mariners selected Minnesota high school RHP Sam Carlson.

From Carlson’s MLB.com profile:

As an athletic right-hander whose stuff continues to get better, Carlson could become (Minnesota’s) first prep first-round arm. Scouts already loved his build and his feel for pitching before his velocity improved significantly this spring, when he was Gatorade’s state player of the year. Carlson spent most of the summer pitching at 88-92 mph with his fastball, and he hinted at the projection remaining in his 6-foot-4, 195-pound frame by working in the low 90s and touching 95 at October’s WWBA World Championships in Jupiter, Fla. He came out firing this year at 93-97 mph, and his heater already plays better than its velocity because it has sinking and running life and he commands it well. Carlson also fills the strike zone with his slider, which also looks better than ever, and his changeup, which features fade and sink. Unlike most high school pitchers, he trusts his changeup and uses it liberally.