Lehigh baseball players join 2024 MLB draft

On July 17th, former Lehigh baseball infielder Rafe Perich was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 2024 MLB Draft.

The next day, pitcher Alex Bouchard was picked by the Boston Red Sox. 

Perich and Bouchard are the 19th and 20th Lehigh players to ever be selected in the MLB Draft.  

“The day was just like a roller coaster of emotions,” Perich said. “It was a lot of anxiety, a lot of nerves, and then also there’s a lot of excitement.” 

Perich was announced as the 225th overall pick on the second day of the draft. When he heard his name called, Perich said he immediately texted Bouchard to see where he might end up.

“My mom was crying,” Bouchard said. “My pops and my brother were super pumped and emotional. I kind of blacked out honestly and had to rewatch the videos that they took to kind of relive it.”

 After discovering Bouchard was getting picked the next day, Perich said he drove an hour and a half to his house, to wait for the announcement and celebrate with him. 

Bouchard was drafted in the 14th round and was the 417th overall pick. After transferring from Division III Dickinson College after his first year, he finished his sophomore season with a 3.65 ERA, 37 strikeouts and a 4-2 record for the Mountain Hawks in 2023. 

“It’s always, always been a dream of mine,” Bouchard said. “It’s kind of funny, because it’s something that we’ve always enjoyed doing, and we all joke, we’ve kind of been doing this our whole lives, and now we’re, at one of the highest levels, which is really cool.”  

Perich primarily played third base for Lehigh and made a few appearances as a relief pitcher. 

In his junior season, he led the team with 58 hits, started in all 42 games and batted a team-high .382. 

While Lehigh baseball coach Sean Leary plays a part in helping the players handle the draft process, he said they must have a certain skill level to be considered. 

“The main thing that those guys did really well was they kept their focus on the process,” Leary said. 

He said it’s important for players to pay attention to what they can and can’t control and trust it’s going to be good enough for them to be drafted. 

“In both cases, it (ended) up working out for them,” Leary said. 

He also said Bouchard was his first injured player to finish the season on the bench and still get drafted.

During his junior season, Bouchard underwent Tommy John surgery, an elbow operation, taking him out for the season. He is currently on the road to recovery and is five months post-op. 

Bouchard said he’s recently started some light tossing. 

The Red Sox’s spring training complex is in Fort Myers, Florida, where Bouchard has been since the end of July, rehabbing, training and getting onboarded to the program. 

Perich has been in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, playing with the Down East Wood Ducks Minor League team. 

“This is all I’ve ever wanted in life,” Perich said.

His dad, Josh Perich, was drafted to the New York Mets out of high school in 1998. 

Perich said he always wanted to follow his dad and continue what he started. 

While Perich and Bouchard won’t be returning to Lehigh this year, Leary said players who get drafted always stay connected to the program. 

He said this is an expectation of a program that produces high-quality students. As more Lehigh players get drafted, the more it helps the program recruit more young athletes. 

“A lot of our pro guys would come back and train in the offseason, so seeing them as not only role models, but you know that they still come back because of what Lehigh means to them,” Bouchard said.