If they were going to be drafted was never the question. When was.
And in less time than it takes to drive from Woonsocket to Westerly, three Rhode Islanders heard their names called in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft.
Day 2 was a busy one for Middletown’s Ryan Andrade, North Providence’s Nick Conte and Coventry’s Jayden Voelker, all of whom were taken within 30 picks of each other in the seventh and eighth rounds on Monday, giving them a chance to start their professional baseball dreams.
“Leading up to it, there’s a lot less anxiety, but when Draft Day comes you never really know what’s going to happen until your name is called,” Andrade said. “It’s a lot of sitting and waiting. The nerves build up and you’re trying to stay calm. We were relieved to hear my name and celebrated.”
“I had a little bit of anxiety, but there was also excitement coming into it,” Conte said. “I was pretty optimistic about it, but I think the Day 2 opportunity for me was awesome. It’s a great opportunity and I’m happy it came along.”
Every kid who picks up a ball, bat and glove dreams of reaching the major leagues one day. Talent helps, but pairing that with hard work in youth ball, high school and continuing in college gave these players the opportunity to make that dream a reality.
“You grow up and realize there’s very little guys who make it to that level. The chances aren’t in your favor,” Conte said. “As I started to develop in high school and started throwing harder, I realized maybe I can make a living out of this and I put in the effort to try to make it to the next level.”
“It’s only one step above high school to get to college. College, it seems like a reach, that that’s the next step, but I kept working at it,” Andrade said. “For me, it was a lot of hard work and, after a while, I almost knew I could do it.”
Andrade wasn’t on a lot of teams radars in high school. The right-handed pitcher wasn’t heavily recruited by colleges, but local scouts made their way to Middletown to see what Andrade had. The Texas Rangers talked about potentially drafting him, but Andrade told them he was thinking more about college so he could develop.
It turned out to be the perfect move. After two years at the University of Rhode Island, Andrade — now bigger, stronger and throwing harder — transferred to the University of Pittsburgh and got himself noticed in a hurry.
“I was starting on Friday nights in the ACC and it kind of blew up,” Andrade said. “Teams were always checking on me.
“Just the competition level there is huge and being able to prove I could pitch there was a next step I needed to take.”
Andrade performed well at MLB’s scouting combine. Talent is important, but so is signability. Teams started talking numbers with Andrade and his agent early on Monday. Andrade said it was down to three or four teams before the Rays stepped up with a number they were looking for and told him they were taking him with the next pick.
Andrade wasn’t hoping for a specific team, but was more than pleased considering Tampa Bay’s history with pitchers.
“We were super happy looking at it now knowing they’re so good at developing pitching — [Tyler] Glasnow, [Blake] Snell, they’ve all gotten big contracts as they went through the majors,” Andrade said. “Honestly, for my body type, how much developing I crave and need to get from there, it was a perfect match.”
Conte’s path to being drafted Monday also wasn’t easy.
After adding 25 pounds and significant miles per hour to his fastball, Conte was expected to be one of Rhode Island’s best pitchers in 2020 as well as being a likely draft pick.
Then COVID hit. Senior season was gone. The MLB Draft shrank from 40 rounds to five.
“You put in all that time and effort working and preparing for my senior year because it was going to be one of the most important years before the draft. Then COVID comes along and everything goes out the window,” Conte said. “You lose all of it and the opportunity to get drafted out of high school. It sucked, but you look at it on the backside and say ‘hey, I got to go to Duke, get a degree from Duke and get drafted as a senior,’ which is great.
“I don’t regret anything.”
Conte has been dreaming about being a pro ballplayer since he first stepped on the diamond. COVID was a bump in the road, but so was college. Conte was part of Duke’s relief corps his first two years but wasn’t lights out. Elbow surgery cost him his junior season.
“Even through that I knew I’d come back and have a shot to be drafted again,” Conte said. “It worked out. Just being able to show that I’m healthy and still have the same stuff I had before surgery as I do after surgery now was good for scouts to see.”
Conte knew he was going to be drafted this week, but had been told by teams it would likely be late on Day 2 — when rounds 3-10 are held – or early on Day 3 during rounds 11-15.
The Royals had the most contact with Conte and, after speaking with Conte and his adviser, called him near the end of the seventh round to tell him they were taking him in the eighth round.
“It’s definitely different seeing it on the screen,” Conte said. “My call happened very fast … They told me they were going to make me their eighth round pick and right after I hung up the phone and saw it on the screen.”
Andrade and Conte both said they would be signing with their respective teams. Andrade was told he’d be flown down later this week, but wasn’t given an exact day yet. Conte said he was being flown to Arizona Thursday to get a physical on Thursday and sign a contract.
It also seems likely Voelker – who couldn’t be reached for this story – will sign. After two seasons at Northern Essex Community College, Voelker could pitch at the Division II or III college level or sign a pro contract and join Andrade in the Rays’ minor league system.
“That’s crazy. It was cool to see,” said Andrade of another Rhode Islander being drafted by the same organization on the same day. “I know of him, pitched against him at Coventry and was rooting for him and made sure I kept up on him this year.”
Andrade is exciting to go to work and knows its exactly that — a job, albeit a very unique one.
“Even in the summer I haven’t been working because I’ve been going to workouts, doing the combine and stuff so I’m not making any money,” Andrade said. “This is my job and I’ve got my first taste of it.
“It’s pretty cool to say I’m a professional in my job and get to do what I love and get paid for it. I can never pass up that opportunity.”
Conte is also ready for his journey and while his family and friends celebrated Monday, there was at least one member of the family not ready to see Conte move on so fast.
“My mom’s the only one who’s a little sad,” Conte said. “But it’s just because she didn’t think I’d have to leave again so soon after being at Duke this entire year.”
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