The 2024 Major League Draft will be taking place from Sunday, July 14th through Tuesday, July 16th in Arlington, Texas.
The last player out of Florida International to be selected in the draft was pitcher Patrick Pridgen in the 15th round in 2022.
After a successful season with plenty of major contributors for FIU, some names will be highlighted in the week leading up to the draft. To kick things off, we go to Ryne Guida, first baseman and designated hitter for FIU in the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
In 396 at-bats, Guida slashed .354/.433/.571 with 19 home runs and 94 RBIs. He was named to the all-conference second team in 2023 and then the all-conference first team in 2024 after not being mentioned in the preseason teams leading up to this past season.
Guida’s best season came in his first as a Panther where he slashed .366/.444/.616/1.030 with 11 home runs and 50 RBIs.
Although the now-former Panther didn’t see any time at first base, he does have film from the Valley league with the Purcellville Cannons playing the position, and even having his number retired in the process.
As the league adjusted to Guida, the underlying numbers continued to tell a very positive story for the Panthers designated hitter.
Guida’s miss rate went down from 17% to 14% which shows an overall better approach at the plate highlighted by a very impressive 8% miss rate on fastballs, 12% on curveballs, and 11% on cutters.
The strikeout percentage has dropped from year to year, beginning at 32.1% at Stetson, and following the 2024 season, it was at 12.3% with a walk percentage of 8.5%.
Even with a lower BABIP, Guida was able to finish eighth in RBIs, 10th in batting average, and within the top 20 of on-base percentage amongst all of Conference USA.
Thus far, the league average exit velocity is 88.9 mph and Guida currently sits between 93-94 mph, topping out at 105.0 mph.
Guida likely won’t see himself going in the early rounds of the draft, as that’s the case for the majority of college seniors. In all likelihood, the Panthers slugger will be a day-three selection in the later rounds.
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