LOS ANGELES — Baltimore Orioles Jackson Holliday, the high school shortstop, became the first Major League Baseball draft selection on Sunday. However, the most shocking surprise came with the No. The 3rd overall pick was the Texas Rangers Kumar Rocker was the highly-regarded pitching prospect, who famously refused to sign with The New York Mets Last season.
Rocker joins Jack Leiter, his Vanderbilt colleague, who was selected second by the Rangers last season.
Druw Jones is a high school outfielder, and the son of five-time All-Star. Andruw JonesOverall, he came in second to Arizona Diamondbacks.
Rocker, aged 22, was selected as the 10th overall pick last summer. However, due to concerns regarding his medicals, the Mets decided not to offer him a contract. Rocker, 22, chose to return to Vanderbilt and made five appearances with the Tri-City ValleyCats in the independent Frontier League. He posted a 1.35 ERA, 32 strikeouts, four walks, and a total of 20 innings. While he was expected late in the first rounds, the Rangers see enough upside to take him high in an draft that doesn't boast much pitching.
Rocker was named Most Outstanding Player in 2019 College World Series. He was a finalist to the Golden Spikes Award for 2021. Leiter led Division I with 14 victories. Rocker tied Leiter for the lead with 179 strikesouts. Leiter had a 2.73 ERA in 122 inning. (Kevin Kopps, an Arkansas pitcher, won the 2021 Golden Spikes Award.
Holliday, son of seven-time All-Star Holliday Matt HollidayDuring his senior year at Stillwater High School (Oklahoma), he made major strides in several areas of his game. The left-handed hitter, 6'1 and 175 lbs, finished his senior season with a.685 average. He was also named Baseball America's High School Player-of-the-Year.
Holliday was previously a commit to Oklahoma State, where Josh is the head coaching coach. But he will likely now go directly to professional baseball. His improving speed and arm strength are expected to keep him at shortstop. Holliday is known for his ability to hit. Holliday, 18, already has a sophisticated approach to the batter's box. He accumulated 89 hits in 41 games and broke the previous high school record. Philadelphia Phillies Catcher J.T. Realmuto.
The No. No. 4: Pittsburgh Pirates selected Georgia high school middle infielder Termarr Johnson. He was followed at No. 5 by Elijah Green, an outfielder from IMG Academy in Florida who went to the Washington Nationals.
Jacob Berry (No. 6, Miami Marlins), Oklahoma pitcher Cade Horton (No. 7, Chicago Cubs), Cal Poly shortstop Brooks Lee (No. 8, Minnesota Twins), Virginia Tech outfielder Gavin Cross (No. 9, Kansas City Royals) and Gonzaga pitcher Gabriel Hughes (No. 10, Colorado Rockies).
The Orioles drafted the No. After drafting Oregon State catcher, the Orioles had the No. Adley Rutschman They are only beginning to emerge from a long rebuilding process as players matriculate through the system in 2019.
Rutschman is now with the Orioles. They recently won a streak of 10 games to jump into the American League wild card race. Despite playing in the most difficult division in the league, this was a remarkable feat. They had lost 64% of their major league games in five seasons before. The four previous first-round draft picks for Baltimore were college position players. They were: outfielder Colton Cowser (fifth overall, 2021), outfielder HestonKjerstad (second, 2020), shortstop Jordan Westburg (30th, 2020) and Rutschman.
For the second consecutive year, the draft will only last 20 rounds. Normally it takes 40 rounds. The Orioles entered the draft with $16.9million in bonus money. The Mets have two selections in the top 30; one is compensation for Rocker's defection; and the other, the Los Angeles Dodgers The only team with zero is the one that exceeded the luxury tax threshold for last year. The No. The slot value for the No. 1 overall pick is $8.84 million. However, the Orioles have taken the slot with their previous two first-round picks to save money elsewhere in the draft.
Every selection made within the first 10 rounds is assigned a value. Each team can use as much of their bonus pool they wish, but they will be subject to overage taxes if they spend more than their allocated amount. If teams exceed their allotted amount by more than 5 percent, first-round picks are forfeited. MLB.com reports that teams have exceeded their allotments 172 time in 10 drafts with bonus pool, but never more than 5%.
