His title is befitting of a cleaning soap opera star — Vance Honeycutt — and upon his arrival into this world, his father exclaimed, “He is right here.”
Son of a former College of North Carolina baseball participant and a UNC middle-distance runner, Honeycutt quarterbacked his highschool soccer group in Salisbury, North Carolina. He punted too however did not have to try this a lot. Within the playoff semifinals his senior yr, Honeycutt was inserted at security on the final defensive stand of the sport. He broke up the ultimate cross try. Simply earlier than Salisbury’s state championship, an assistant coach requested the top coach if he was nervous. In fact he wasn’t. Honeycutt scored 5 touchdowns and was named MVP.
Honeycutt selected baseball, and the legend grew. He carried out so many late-game heroics at North Carolina that Tar Heels followers referred to as him “Honeyclutch.” He carried North Carolina to the Males’s Faculty World Sequence final month, walked off Virginia within the opener and was answerable for 38% of his group’s runs throughout the NCAA event.
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The 21-year-old right-handed outfielder is arguably essentially the most gifted participant on the board within the 2024 MLB draft, which runs Sunday by way of Tuesday in Fort Value, Texas. Honeycutt can run from house plate to first base in 3.63 seconds and is a possible Gold Glover. He crushed 28 house runs this season and set a Tar Heels profession document with 65 homers.
But he’s probably the most important wild card of the primary spherical. Earlier than the age of analytics, possibly Honeycutt would not be such an enigma and the 6-foot-3, 205-pound heart fielder who oozes athleticism could be a no brainer early choose. After a season of superlatives, the plus runner with a plus arm and plus energy is doubtlessly weighed down by one massive adverse: his strikeout fee.
Whereas Honeycutt’s manufacturing soared this previous season — he hit .318 with 70 RBIs and a 1.124 OPS to go along with 28 stolen bases — he struck out 83 occasions in 62 video games, together with his strikeout fee ticking as much as 27.5%. (He struck out 20.4% of the time in 2023.)
“He is a type of guys who, if every little thing hits, you are going to marvel how he wasn’t a top-10 choose,” stated one Nationwide League scout. “However I simply do not know if he will hit. There’s an excessive amount of swing-and-miss proper now, and when he reduce down on that final yr, he was unhealthy.
“The instruments are actually good. He is quick. He catches every little thing. He is obtained energy. I may see him being like [Tampa Bay Rays outfielder] Jose Siri with extra walks.”
Those that have seen Honeycutt ship in so many clutch conditions, with nary an oz. of outward misery, do not appear too involved about analytics or the place he may land this weekend.
How may he miss?
“Truthfully, they do not make ’em like Vance Honeycutt usually sufficient,” stated Carson Herndon, who coached Honeycutt in baseball and soccer at Salisbury.
“He is only a particular child.”
Honeycutt’s dad and mom met, of all locations, on a baseball discipline. They performed Little League collectively as kids.
Leah Ann went on to run on an ACC championship monitor and discipline group within the late Nineteen Eighties, and Bobby performed on a Tar Heels group that made it to the MCWS. They produced two athletic daughters — Kayla was a North Carolina state championship tennis participant, and Julia performed soccer at UNC Charlotte — and Vance simply quietly adopted them round.
He stated he will get his even-keeled nature from his dad, however Bobby Honeycutt is definite the athleticism got here from some place else.
“Mama,” he stated.
Vance Honeycutt was a late bloomer, measuring in at roughly 5-foot-7 and 115 kilos when he entered highschool. By the point his physique lastly stuffed out, the COVID-19 pandemic had shut every little thing down.
Herndon referred to as Honeycutt a “one-rep man,” sharp sufficient that if he went over one thing on the chalkboard, Honeycutt understood it immediately. He stated Honeycutt may air it out at quarterback, simply slinging it 50 yards, and might need been a greater punter than a thrower.
Throughout Honeycutt’s senior yr of highschool, the state of North Carolina performed its soccer season within the spring of 2021, and he went from the gridiron to a shortened baseball season. Herndon’s father, Mike, who served as Salisbury’s head baseball coach earlier than Carson took over in 2022, stated the coaches felt as in the event that they have been cheated out of a yr of watching Honeycutt.
However their abbreviated time collectively did have its share of moments.
“Shoot, we would be training,” Carson Herndon stated of Honeycutt, “and I might be throwing BP with 20 scouts again there. I imply, I might be extra nervous than he was. There was undoubtedly a time when there have been a number of groups filming him and displaying curiosity in him.”
UNC baseball coach Scott Forbes stated Honeycutt’s recruitment was on no account high-profile. He noticed Honeycutt play as soon as for his journey group, the South Charlotte Panthers, and stated that UNC assistant Jesse Wierzbicki and former head coach Mike Fox have been impressed with Honeycutt’s velocity and athleticism when he attended a Tar Heels camp.
So, UNC supplied him a scholarship. Honeycutt was drafted within the twentieth spherical by the San Francisco Giants however opted for Chapel Hill as a substitute.
“I bear in mind considering, ‘Hey, he is in all probability a yr away from getting on the sector,'” Forbes stated. “After which he begins each sport as a freshman.”
Forbes stated he coaches in a “loving model” that may appear corny however is the spine of his program. If his gamers, particularly the brand new ones, make a mistake, they are not going to get hammered for it except there is a lack of effort.
Freshmen who come in the summertime are requested to learn Jon Gordon’s “Coaching Camp” to present the attitude that baseball shouldn’t be life-and-death. The e book is about an undrafted and overmatched rookie attempting to make it within the NFL.
When Honeycutt arrived at UNC, he had no downside with freshman jitters. He set the single-season college document for house runs (25) and hit .296 with 57 RBIs and 29 stolen bases. He additionally struck out 90 occasions.
Forbes moved the freshman from shortstop to heart discipline, and his protection did not skip a beat. Essentially the most spectacular factor Forbes noticed from him that season was when he scored from second on a wild pitch.
“I simply bear in mind considering, ‘Holy crap, what simply occurred?” Forbes stated. “I imply, I did not ship him. I used to be watching the ball, and he was by me. Earlier than I regarded up, he was gone on his personal.”
Honeycutt’s sophomore season little question difficult his draft image. He reduce his strikeout fee down from 29.7% to twenty.4% but in addition noticed a lower in energy, hitting simply 12 house runs in 50 video games. He was batting .257 when a again damage ended his marketing campaign.
“After his freshman yr, the scouting report will get out,” Carson Herndon stated, “in order that sophomore battle shouldn’t be surprising in some circumstances.
“I imply, he type of got here out of nowhere.”
ESPN MLB insider Kiley McDaniel, who has Honeycutt twenty fifth in his newest draft rankings, referred to as the middle fielder essentially the most polarizing participant for Day 1 of the draft. McDaniel has a pal who’s a UNC fan and is dumbfounded that Honeycutt is not on the prime of the draft due to every little thing he does.
However McDaniel stated it is not that easy.
“[The in-strike-zone miss percentage] is the massive quantity that a number of groups have gotten obsessive about,” McDaniel stated. “The thought would mainly be, ‘If we do not know the way you are going to progress within the minors and what you are going to appear like 5 years from now’ … in-zone miss proportion is type of that key that unlocks in a number of groups’ opinions what you will appear like as a result of they assume that is a proxy for a bunch of different issues. And his is type of under common, possibly the worst of the top-two-round guys this yr and possibly even the final couple of years.
“So the factor that a number of groups assume is crucial is the factor that he is worst at. However he is elite at nearly every little thing else. So, I feel it is attention-grabbing to take a look at him by way of that prism. He is possibly the perfect defender in all the draft. … He has these instruments that makes you assume that there is a number of untapped potential.”
On a windy late afternoon in June, Honeycutt had simply completed the final follow of his profession, solely he did not realize it. The Tar Heels confronted elimination from the Males’s Faculty World Sequence in Omaha, Nebraska, the following day in a sport towards Florida State, however Honeycutt, as all the time, was assured.
He had had two walk-off hits within the span of a couple of week, the latter resulting in his group ripping off his shirt in celebration. Honeycutt’s demeanor by no means modifications. Twenty-thousand heartbeats may be racing within the stadium, however Honeycutt’s slows. He cannot articulate why that occurs. He simply says that being clutch means not being fazed by the second.
“There are undoubtedly occasions when it truthfully appears like stress somewhat bit,” he stated. “However I really feel like that is an excellent factor. It means you care. So, I feel having the ability to acknowledge that and sluggish it down is the most important factor.”
His dad and mom concede that he has by no means been a lot of a talker, and it is probably not an issue when everybody round him is verbose sufficient about his expertise.
Casey Prepare dinner, who’s Honeycutt’s roommate and bats behind him, stated his favourite Honeyclutch hit occurred throughout the tremendous regionals towards West Virginia. The rating was 6-6 within the backside of the ninth inning. With two outs, Honeycutt’s bat crushed a 94 mph pitch. Honeycutt knew it was gone earlier than it cleared the left-field fence and flipped his bat, raised a finger to the air and motioned to the Tar Heels’ dugout.
“[His clutch hits] occur so much,” Prepare dinner stated, “so it is arduous to maintain monitor of them.
“However that house run was fairly cool.”
The strikeout numbers stalk Honeycutt. In line with Baseball America, within the bonus pool period that began in 2012, solely 13 gamers from four-year universities who’ve been drafted within the first spherical had a profession strikeout fee increased than 20%.
Honeycutt’s is 26.3%.
In mock drafts, Honeycutt has been shuffling round for months. The way it all performs out Sunday will reply partly whether or not analytics win out over athleticism.
“He can do something, you realize?” Forbes stated. “You step again and also you’re simply type of like, ‘What’s he on the point of do? Is it going to be an unbelievable catch? Is he going to steal a base after which, swiftly, the ball will get away and he will rating from second? Is he going to hit a house run bottom, poolside?’ I imply, he can do no matter. He is the whole bundle, that is for certain.
“I step again now and my thoughts says, ‘I am trying ahead to watching this.’ As a result of he is that generational, electrical participant.'”
ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan contributed to this report.
