Four former members of the Rochester Honkers were selected in the 2023 MLB Draft, headlined by two selections in the first five rounds. Mac Horvath (UNC) was drafted in the second round by the Baltimore Orioles, Michael Carico (Davidson) was drafted in the fifth round by the Chicago Cubs, Cole Fontenelle (TCU) was drafted in the seventh round by the Los Angeles Angels and David Rodriguez (San Joaquin Delta College) was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 15th round.
Horvath played for the Honkers in 2021, following his freshman year at the University of North Carolina.
Born in Austin, MN, Horvath grew up in Rochester and played three years at Century High School. He played 35 games for the Honkers in the summer of 2021. The All-ACC player hit .287 with 4 home runs and 25 RBI and was named a Northwoods League All-Star.
In this past season at Chapel Hill, Horvath hit .305 with 24 home runs and 66 RBI. He was invited to the MLB Draft Combine in June. It is the second consecutive year a Honker was selected in the second round of the Draft. Last July, Robert Moore (University of Arkansas) was taken 72nd overall by the Milwaukee Brewers after playing with Rochester in 2020.
Carico joined the Honkers last summer after his breakout Sophomore year at Davidson. Last season, he hit .407 as a Wildcat with 21 home runs and 57 RBIs.
As a Honker in 2022, Carico appeared in 24 games. He hit .263 with three home runs and 21 RBI. One of those three home runs was a walk off grand slam against Saint Cloud. Carico returned to Davidson for his junior year in 2023. This past spring he batted .350 with seven home runs and 18 RBI.
Carico joins a Cubs organization that has former Honker (2015), Miles Mastrobouni playing second base for Chicago.
Fontenelle played for The Flock back in 2021 after spending his freshman season with the University of Washington, where he played in 24 games.
He hit .268 with two home runs and 13 RBIs in 35 games in the summer. This past season in the collegiate ranks, the corner infielder had a massive season with TCU. He hit .352 with 14 home runs and 58 RBIs as he led the team to a deep run in the College World Series.
Rodriguez is the only draftee who played for the Honkers last summer. The right-hander had a 3.66 ERA over 32 innings last season, with 36 strikeouts. The pitcher completes the impressive feat of being drafted to the MLB directly from the Junior College ranks.
