TUCSON, Ariz. — Three Arizona Baseball standout pitchers were selected on Monday during the second day of the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft. Southpaw
Jackson Kent, along with right-handers
Clark Candiotti and Anthony Susac, all realized their dreams with top 10 round selections.
With Monday's selections, the Wildcats now boast nine players picked within the top 10 rounds under third-year head coach
Chip Hale. Arizona has seen multiple players selected in 13 consecutive MLB Drafts, dating back to 2011.
Kent, who was selected by the Washington Nationals in the fourth round with the No. 108 overall pick, enjoyed a breakout season in 2024 while serving as the Wildcats Friday night starting pitcher. The Pac-12 All-Conference selection made 15 starts and went 3-4 with a 4.08 ERA and an impressive 89 strikeouts across 86 innings of work. The tall left-hander worked eight quality starts and worked five or more innings in 12-of-15 starts. Kent was an instrumental part of a Wildcats rotation that was among the best in the nation and helped lead Arizona to dual Pac-12 Conference regular season and tournament championships.
Candiotti, who was selected by the San Diego Padres in the fourth round with the No. 135 overall pick, polished off his collegiate career with a dominant season in Tucson. The right-hander made 16 starts and went 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA while leading the team and the Pac-12 Conference with 103 strikeouts. Candiotti earned spots on the Pac-12 All-Conference and Pac-12 All-Tournament teams and finished the year top five on the circuit in ERA, strikeouts, and WHIP. The imposing righty tossed a pair of complete games, including a shutout performance over Stanford that earned him Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors. Across 10 starts in Pac-12 conference play Candiotti went 6-3 with a 2.71 ERA, giving him the third best conference ERA in the league last year. Candiotti, the son of 16-year Major League veteran Tom Candiotti, was the first Arizona pitcher since 2021 and third in the last decade to surpass 100 strikeouts in a season.
Susac, who was selected by the Texas Rangers in the eighth round with the No. 255 overall pick, served in multiple roles for the 2024 Pac-12 Conference champion Wildcats. He especially excelled after moving into the Arizona bullpen, where he went 2-0 with three saves and a 4.03 ERA. Susac — the cousin of Arizona 2022 first round selection Daniel Susac — held opponents without an earned run in 11-of-16 relief appearances and posted nine consecutive scoreless outings from April 2 – May 5. His efforts during Pac-12 Conference play were nothing short of dominant, going 1-0 with one save and a 1.35 ERA across 6.2 innings. Over three years in Tucson, Susac logged 50 appearances and tossed 115.2 innings of work while earning seven wins.
The 2024 MLB Draft concludes on Tuesday with rounds 11–20 and multiple Wildcats still hoping to hear their names called. Coverage begins at 11:00 a.m. MST and can be found exclusively on MLB.com and the MLB app.
