Murray State University Racers’ Cade Vernon and Drew Vogel were selected this week by a pair of Major League Baseball teams in the 2024 MLB Draft.
Vernon, one of the top pitchers in the Missouri Valley Conference this spring, was selected in the 10th round on Monday by the San Francisco Giants, and Vogel was taken by the Houston Astros in the 15th round on Tuesday.
The pair of MLB Draft selections in 2024 marks the first time since 1994 that the Racers have had a pair of players taken in the same draft. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the Racers have had 32 players drafted since 1965. In 1994, MSU’s Marcus Logan (RHP) was taken in the 18th round by the St. Louis Cardinals, and Matt Culp (1B) went in the 42nd round to the Cleveland Indians.
Vernon and Vogel are the first Racers to get the call from Major League Baseball since Derrick Watson, a flame-throwing right-hander, was drafted in the 25th round by the Colorado Rockies in 2017.
Cade Vernon, RHP, Bowling Green, Ky.
Cade Vernon, one of the top pitchers in the Missouri Valley Conference, was selected in the 10th round by the San Francisco Giants. Vernon, a 255-pound freshman in 2021 from Bowling Green’s South Warren High School, transformed himself by losing 70 pounds and performing his best at 210 pounds as a senior in 2024.
“As a freshman, I ended up getting a little bit out of shape, a little bit too heavy,” Vernon said. “Coach Skirka and I visited about that, and I decided to make a change. Since then, I’ve just taken care of my body and I’ve done everything I’ve been asked to do for my coaches. I pride myself in that because if I would’ve never dedicated myself to losing all that weight my freshman year, I probably wouldn’t have had the same mindset to be here today.”
In 2023, Vernon threw the best game of his collegiate career with seven shutout innings in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament against Missouri State, limiting the Bears to three hits and striking out eight. Earning All-MVC Second Team honors this spring, Vernon led the conference with nine wins and had the second-most strikeouts with 83 in 14 starts. He tossed 90.2 innings with the ninth-best ERA in the MVC at 4.67 and was the Racers’ ace, making 15 starts.
Drew Vogel, SS, White House, Tenn.
Drew Vogel, selected by the Houston Astros in the 15th round, was a mainstay at shortstop for the Racers in 158 games over three full seasons. Vogel was named First Team All-MVC a year after receiving All-MVC Second Team honors in 2023. He batted .339 in 2024 and was among the top five in the league in on-base percentage (.441), runs scored (62), hits (77), RBI (61), home runs (20), and total bases (153).
Having hit 14 home runs in his first three seasons with the Racers, Vogel exploded with 20 in his senior season, making a chase for Wes Cunningham’s single-season mark at MSU of 22 in 2010.
“We were just sitting around watching the draft all day and basically being anxious and stressful,” Vogel said. “My advisor texted me and said the Astros want to take you in the 15th round. I think we should take it. And I was like, ‘All right, I’m in, let’s do it.'”
What followed were some joyous phone calls to family and friends to share the news.
“It became real when I saw my name come across the television,” Vogel added. “I instantly called my mom, and she was crazy excited, as you can imagine, tears of joy, hyperventilating!”
Murray State – MLB Draft Notes
- The MVC had 11 players taken in the MLB Draft.
- Since 1980, the Valley has boasted at least 10 draft picks in all but three years.
- In the last five drafts, there have been 40 selections, with nine of those being selected in a top-five round.
- Vernon and Vogel marked the first draft for the Racers to have multiple players selected since 1994.
- Vernon and Vogel are the first Racers to get the call from Major League Baseball since Derrick Watson, a flame-throwing right-hander, was drafted in the 25th round by the Colorado Rockies in 2017.
- Racers have had 32 players drafted since 1965, with 15 being pitchers.
- Steve Barrett is the only Racer to have been drafted multiple times (1973 by Braves, 1974 by Padres, and 1974 by Angels in the supplemental draft).
- There are 10 Murray State Hall of Famers who have been drafted.
