2019 Draft - Mets Pick 9.268 - 1B Joe Genord - South Florida

With the 268th pick (9^th round) in the 2019 draft, the New York Mets picked 1B Joe Genord, out of the University of South Florida.

2019 stats:  53-G, 186-AB, .333/.446/.618, 13-HR, 52-RBI

The Daily Stampede - Genord was part of that special 2015 recruiting class put together by former head coach Mark Kingston, and current head coach Billy Mohl who helped turn the baseball program around and help reach a NCAA regional in back-to-back seasons in 2017 and 2018.

The Lake Worth native started 197 of the 204 career games as a Bull and complied a .291 batting average, 43 doubles, 44 home runs, and 164 RBIs in those games.

Genord finishes his USF career third all-time in home runs (44) and his 16 home runs in 2018 are the seventh-most homers in a single season at USF.

Perhaps the biggest indicator of the progress he showed from his freshman year to senior year was his strikeout-to-walk ratio. He struck out 40 times and walked just nine times in 2016, and he had a 1:1 K/BB ratio in 2019 with 33 strikeout and walks apiece.

He earned a first-team all-AAC selection in 2019 after batting .333/.446/.618 with 13 HR and 52 RBI. He was a second-team pick in 2018.

Joe will always be remember for taking the soul of ECU in 2018.

Congratuations Joey Bats.

tampabay.com - Bulls first baseman Joe Genord, who finished his career as USF's No. 3 all-time home run hitter (44), was drafted Tuesday by the Mets in the ninth round of the major-league draft.

The first Bull off the board, Genord was the 268th overall pick, which has an estimated slotted value of $154,600. USF now has had at least one player taken in the draft’s top 10 rounds for five consecutive years and eight of the last nine.

Genord’s selection on the draft’s second day came as a mild surprise, considering he has no remaining college eligibility and, consequently, no negotiating leverage.

fishstripes.com - The top MLB Draft prospect for the USF Bulls is their first baseman Joe Genord. The junior out of Lake Worth, Florida is coming off a breakout junior season. Genord is a three-year starter for the Bulls and will be a key hitter in their lineup. As a freshman, he batted .270 with six home runs and 21 RBI. As a sophomore, Genord finished with a .259 batting average with nine home runs and a .439 slugging percentage. 

The breakout came last season: .306 batting average with a team-high 16 home runs and a 1.072 OPS. He was also named to the All-American Athletic Conference Second Team.

Over the summer, Genord played for the Amsterdam Mohawks of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League. He had a great summer for the Mohawks as he batted .297 with eight home runs and 41 RBI in 38 games. The USF slugger carried that through the postseason as well (.320 BA, 4 HR and 7 RBI), including two multi-home run games against the Watertown Rapids and Oneonta Outlaws.

Genord is a very solid collegiate prospect capable of rising on the Marlins’ draft board if he can duplicate what he did last season. He has a ton of raw power and can be a middle of the order hitter at the next level. He’s a sound defensive first baseman with a high school background at catcher. 

Joe Genord has an opportunity to hear his name called on the second day of the draft. Otherwise, he’d make for a nice steal early on Day 3.