Clemson baseball: Wagner Official – Signs with Orioles

Clemson baseball star Max Wagner has signed with the Baltimore Orioles after being selected 42nd overall in the 2022 MLB Draft.

Wagner batted .369 with 27 home runs and 76 RBI  on the season for the Tigers, despite not starting at third base at the beginning of the season.

Wagner tied Kahlil Greene’s school home run record and finished second in the nation in slugging percentage.

In projecting Wagner 40th pre-draft the Athletic said this:

"Wagner is a draft-eligible sophomore who was undrafted out of high school in 2020 and hit just .214/.305/.345 as a sparsely-used freshman for Clemson, but he broke out in the Northwoods League last year and carried that into this spring, tying for third in Division I with 27 homers. He shortened up his path to the ball and stays inside it much better now, allowing the Green Bay native to make more contact and drive the ball consistently, with 60-70 power to his pull side and enough to hit a few out the other way. He doesn’t like the ball down, however, and the way his hands start makes him vulnerable to pretty much anything in the lower third of the zone and down. He’s rough defensively at third and probably ends up in an outfield corner, although he might be better at second base than he is at the hot corner. It’s big power with bat speed for someone looking for an upside play among the college hitters."

They just about nailed the spot for Wagner, who is now the baseball property of an up and coming Baltimore team.

There are some that project Wagner as a second baseman, as the evaluation above notes and I can see that given Wagner’s body type and what the typical MLB third baseman looks like.

Either way, it’s been a remarkable guy who found himself out of the starting lineup on opening day back in February and now finds himself as a second round draft pick.