Purdue's Caskenette drafted by Marlins
Mid-Island Pirates alum and Purdue catcher Connor Caskenette (Duncan, B.C.) was drafted by the Miami Marlins on Tuesday.
July 16, 2024
By Ben Turner
Purdue Athletics
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – An All-Big Ten performer, league leader in RBIs and Buster Posey Award semifinalist, Purdue Baseball's Connor Caskenette has now added MLB Draft pick to his senior season honour roll after the catcher was selected in the 12th round Tuesday.
Caskenette was selected with the 19th pick in the 12th round and 364th overall. He's the fifth Boilermaker since 2006 to be drafted by the Marlins. Pitchers Jay Buente (drafted in 2006, MLB debut in 2010) and Nick Wittgren (drafted in 2012, MLB debut in 2016) both reached the big leagues with the Marlins.
Caskenette was a two-year starter at catcher for Purdue, playing in 99 games and making 91 starts after arriving on campus in the fall of 2022 as a junior college transfer from Cochise College in Arizona. He started 46 of the 48 Big Ten games in his two seasons, including all 24 as a third-team All-Big Ten honoree as a senior. His development also powered a Purdue lineup that set seven team records while enjoying a nine-win improvement in 2024, headlined by his 69 RBI that were tops in the Big Ten and fourth most in program history. In the process, Caskenette became the first Boilermaker to be a semifinalist for the Buster Posey/Johnny Bench Award since 2014.
Forgoing summer ball in 2023, Caskenette opted to remain on campus to continue the team's weight training program under strength coach Tony Webb while continuing to have full-time access to the hitting facilities at Alexander Field. It aided his development and helped provide the next level of conditioning that allowed him to start 49 of Purdue's 57 games behind the plate in 2024, including the final 17 during the stretch run. Caskenette's offensive numbers also improved across the board year 2 at Purdue.
2023: .279/.355/.469, .824 OPS, 16 XBH, 6 HR, 35 RBI, 8.3 K%
2024: .309/.429/.574, 1.003 OPS, 24 XBH, 13 HR, 69 RBI, 10.1 K%
Miami's five draft picks of Boilermakers are tied with Arizona for the most ever by any MLB franchise. And it was the Diamondbacks that last drafted a Purdue catcher, selecting Nick Dalesandro in the 10th round after his All-Big Ten season for the Boilermakers' 2018 NCAA Regional team.
While Dalesandro (2016-18) was Purdue's last catcher to be drafted, Caskenette's Canadian countryman and predecessor behind the plate Zac Fascia (Brampton, Ont., 2019-21) is also currently playing pro ball in the Cleveland Guardians system. Fascia signed with Cleveland after the draft in 2021 (the first year it was reduced to 20 rounds) after he had previously been drafted in the summer of 2018.
Caskenette is in line to officially earn his bachelor's degree in sociology next month. He joins Davis Pratt as players on the 2024 team to already move on to pro ball. Pratt signed with the Chicago Dogs of the independent American Association in June, becoming teammates with Dalesandro. Players not selected in the draft this week are now eligible to sign with organizations as free agents.