Cannon, Packer chosen

With their price tags known, the stock of Virginia juniors Tyler Cannon and Matt Packer dropped in the eyes of Major League Baseball scouts. That was evident Thursday in the draft.

Packer, a left-handed pitcher, slipped to the 32nd round, where he was selected by the Cleveland Indians.

Nine rounds later, Cannon was taken with the 1,225th overall pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The two joined senior pitchers Andrew Carraway (Seattle Mariners, 12th round) and Robert Poutier (San Diego Padres, 29th) and junior pitcher Jeff Lorick (Atlanta Braves, 20th) as Virginia players that were drafted this year.

“It is a great honor for Tyler and Matt to have been selected by a Major League Baseball team,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “Both of those guys have done great things at the University of Virginia and have been unselfish from the day that they arrived.”

Based on where they were selected and the slot money pegged for the corresponding round, it is expected that Cannon and Packer will return to Virginia for their final year of eligibility. MLB teams have until Aug. 15 to ink high school seniors and third-year college players selected.

Packer, who served as a starting pitcher and a reliever, is 3-4 on the season with a 3.95 earned run average.

Cannon, Virginia’s starting shortstop, was a first-team All-ACC selection and enters the College World Series with a .339 batting average, 50 runs, 37 RBI and 17 stolen bases.

The Cavaliers (48-13-1) open play in Omaha, Neb., on Saturday against LSU (51-16) at 7 p.m.