FORT WORTH, Texas – Old Dominion baseball starting pitcher John Holobetz was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the fifth round of the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft on Monday. The Pottsville, Pennsylvania native was taken with the 156th overall pick of the draft.
Holobetz made four starts in 15 appearances for the Monarchs during the 2024 season. He went 4-5 with a 4.31 ERA while allowing 38 runs, 30 of them earned, on 57 hits and 20 walks. He recorded 52 strikeouts through 62.2 innings pitched and held opposing batters to a .238 average against him.
He finished the regular season ranked fourth in the Sun Belt with a 1.20 WHIP and was seventh in the league with 8.01 hits allowed per nine innings.
In an 11-1 victory over Georgia Southern on March 15, Holobetz tossed 4.1 scoreless innings in relief to earn the win. He tallied five strikeouts, didn’t issue a walk and held the Eagles to just one hit. In ODU’s series opener against James Madison on April 12, he held the Dukes to one run, scattered four hits, walked one and struck out three to help ODU to a 7-1 win. Holobetz recorded a season-high six strikeouts on April 26 as the Monarchs edged ULM 2-1 in 12 innings. He held the Warhawks to just two hits, didn’t walk anyone, and retired 14 batters in a row in 5.1 innings out of the bullpen.
In his two seasons at ODU, Holobetz went 6-6 with a 3.93 ERA through five starts and 33 appearances and totaled 101 strikeouts.
He is the fourth Monarch to be drafted by the Brewers since 2001 and the second in the past four years. Milwaukee selected catcher Jeff Eure in the 18th round of the 2001 draft, left-handed pitcher Ryan Yarbrough in the 16th round of the 2013 draft (did not sign), and right-handed pitcher Ryne Moore in the 18th round of the 2021 draft.