Major League Baseball once held its entry draft during the College World Series. While that was a distraction from the event, the silver lining was that we always knew when it would be held.
Now that MLB has pushed it back a bit, it is a little harder to track.
This summer’s draft will be July 14-16. It will be broadcast on MLB Network and their streaming platforms.
The draft will be held in Fort Worth, Texas. The Cleveland Guardians hold the No. 1 overall pick. MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo projects Cleveland to select Travis Bazzana, a second baseman from Oregon State.
Two other top prospects are familiar to Clemson Baseball fans. Georgia’s Charlie Condon and Florida’s Jac Caglianone are also projected to go very high.
Atlantic Coast Conference players expected to be selected high include Nick Kurtz (Wake Forest, First Base), Chase Burns (Wake Forest, right-handed pitcher), James Tibbs (Florida State, outfielder), Seaver King (Wake Forest, third base/outfielder), Cam Smith (Florida State, third base/outfielder, and Vance Honeycutt (North Carolina, outfielder).
Mayo does not project any Clemson players in the first round of the draft. Pitcher Tristan Smith is the highest-rated Tiger in his rankings, coming in at No. 73.
"Smith generated some first-round buzz as a South Carolina high schooler in 2022, but his price tag and reliever risk left him undrafted and he headed to Clemson. He battled the strike zone as a freshman last spring before impressing as much as any left-hander in the Cape Cod League during the summer. He showed improved velocity and better control of his secondary pitches this year before injuring his ankle in mid-March and missing a month."Jonathan Mayo
Outfield Will Taylor is ranked 203rd by Mayo. His assessment is influenced heavily by Taylor’s injuries since high school.
"While scouts still appreciate Taylor's hitting ability from the right side of the plate and love his makeup, he hasn't developed as hoped. He uses an all-fields approach and his skill at working counts to get on base, but he hasn't grown into more than fringy power and has lost some speed since his knee injury."Jonathan Mayo
Austin Gordon is another player who will likely hear his name called this year. The Tigers also have incoming freshmen who could be impacted by draft position, primarily Chase Harlan and Dane Moehler, who were both invited to the MLB Combine.