South Carolina catcher Cole Messina comes off the board in MLB Draft
It was certainly not a matter of if, but more so when. But now, the when part of the question has been answered.
After two very strong seasons at South Carolina, Cole Messina has been picked in the MLB Draft. The junior catcher was selected with the 77th overall pick by the Colorado Rockies on Monday.
Messina becomes the latest Gamecock to join the Rockies. Braylen Wimmer and Jack Mahoney, who played with Messina at South Carolina from 2022-23, were both drafted by Colorado last year and are currently playing in Single-A.
For those who have watched Messina over the years, they know just how far along he has come. As a freshman, he rarely saw any playing time with Colin Burgess being the regular starting catcher. When he did play, he definitely had some early struggles. He went 4-for-30 with one RBI in 17 games in 2022.
But in 2023, he earned the starting role and quickly excelled. And the same can be said for this past season as he took even bigger strides forward to cementing his draft status. Over the last two years, Messina has hit .317 with 38 homers and 136 RBI in 121 games.
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While he definitely has shined at the plate, he’s also proven to have a great arm, throwing out 13 runners in 41 attempts in 2024. And he’s also been responsible for working with two vastly different pitching staffs with some pretty good results.
With Messina all but certainly gone, South Carolina will have a glaring hole to fill for 2025 and beyond. The Gamecocks finished the 2024 campaign 37-25 (13-17 SEC), leading to the firing of Mark Kingston. The program has gone in a new direction with veteran head coach Paul Mainieri being brought aboard to take the reins.
As for who could take Messina’s place at catcher next year, Ryan Bakes will be returning for his second season. He didn’t see much playing time with Messina and Dalton Reeves sharing those duties. In addition, Mainieri’s staff went out and added Max Kaufer from the transfer portal. Kaufer spent the last two seasons at Texas A&M.
