Travis Bazzana, a second baseman from Oregon State, was unsurprisingly the first pick, selected by the Cleveland Guardians who remarkably clinched the top spot with only a 2% chance in their first ever No. 1 overall pick.
The first round of the draft prominently featured college baseball standouts, with nine of the first ten and 13 of the first 15 picks coming from the college level. Notably, the SEC had a strong showing, as Georgia’s Charlie Condon was picked third by the Colorado Rockies, Arkansas’ Hagen Smith was chosen fifth by Chicago, and Florida’s Jac Caglianone was selected by Kansas City shortly after.
However, it was the ACC, and specifically Wake Forest, that made significant waves. The Demon Deacons had two players taken in the top five and three in the top ten, constituting nearly half of the ACC players selected in the first round.
Here are the details on all seven ACC selections from the first round of the MLB draft:
1 Nick Kurtz – Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Draft Spot: 4
Team: Oakland A’s
Position: 1B
2 Griff O’Ferrall – Virginia Cavaliers
Draft Spot: 32
Team: Baltimore Orioles
Position: SS
3 Vance Honeycutt – North Carolina Tar Heels
Draft Spot: 22
Team: Baltimore Orioles
Playing Position: OF
4 Cam Smith – Florida State Seminoles
Draft Spot: 14
Team: Chicago Cubs
Playeing Position: 3B
5 Chase Burns – Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Draft Spot: 2
Team: Cincinnati Reds
Playing Position: RHP
6 Seaver King – Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Draft Spot: 10
Team: Washington Nationals
Position: SS
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