It used to be that coaches and scouts could throw around the phrase "potential draft pick" regarding a talented high school baseball player and odds are that player would get selected in the Major League Baseball draft. Now, not so much.
With the MLB Draft dropping to 20 rounds from its pre-pandemic 40 rounds, the likelihood of a player being selected has obviously been cut in half. However, it used to be that a team could gamble on a player who was likely headed to the college route with the possibility that a signing bonus might change their minds.
That strategy, however, appears to have changed as well. Of the top 200 players ranked by MLB.com (college or high school), 33 of the high school players did not get drafted. Among those who are headed the college route include MaxPreps All-Americans
Malcolm Moore of
McClatchy (Sacramento, Calif.),
Tristan Smith of
Boiling Springs (Spartanburg, S.C.) and
Gavin Guidry of
Barbe (Lake Charles, La.). All three were also named state player of the year by MaxPreps. Moore is headed to Stanford, Smith to Clemson and Guidry to LSU.
You can't feel too bad for the undrafted players, however. They can take heart in the story of Jacob Berry. A graduate of Queen Creek (Ariz.) in 2020, Berry was the third-rated player from Arizona and the 197th rated player in the draft. Due to Covid, the draft only went five rounds so Berry went undrafted. Two years later, though, the LSU sophomores was the No. 6 overall by the Miami Marlins. Read on for more draft notes:
Druw Jones of Wesleyan was taken No. 2 overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Photo: Michael Mixon
Fathers and sons
Other first round picks with MLB fathers included
Justin Crawford of
Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) and Cam Collier of Chipola JC.
IMG Academy has four draft picks
The Ascenders had two players chosen in the first two rounds in Elijah Green by the Nationals (No. 5) and
Jackson Ferris by the Cubs (47). Catcher
Brady Neal went to the Brewers (522) and
J.P. Ortiz joined Green with the Nationals (591).
Highest high school player picked at each position
MIF — Jackson Holliday, Stillwater (Okla.), No. 1 by Orioles
OF — Druw Jones of Wesleyan (Norcross, Ga.), No. 2 by Diamondbacks.
High school players among first five picks
There were four high school players taken among the first five choices in this year's draft which marked the first time that had happened since 2001 when seven of the first eight players taken were prep players.
Holliday highest drafted Oklahoman
By going No. 1 overall, Holliday became the first high school player from Oklahoma, and only the second ever from the state, to go No. 1 overall. Mike Moore of Oral Roberts (Tulsa, Okla.) went No. 1 in 1981. He prepped at Eakly (Okla.). Previously, the highest an Oklahoma prep player had been selected was Jackson Jobe of Heritage Hall (Oklahoma City), who went No. 3 overall in 2021.
