The 2023 MLB draft began last night in Seattle at Lumen Field, the home stadium of the NFL’s Seahawks. Unlike the NFL draft or the NBA draft, MLB teams are allowed to pick players right out of high school and then bring them up slowly—or, sometimes, rapidly—through their respective farm systems.
Here are the 10 highest-picked baseball prospects right out of high school from the first round of the draft.
CF Max Clark: Detroit Tigers (No. 3)
High school: Franklin Community (Ind.)
OF Walter Jenkins: Minnesota Twins (No. 5)
High school: South Brunswick (N.C.)
C Blake Mitchell: Kansas City Royals (No. 8)
High school: Sinton (Texas)
P Noble Meyer: Miami Marlins (No. 10)
High school: Jesuit (Ore.)
P Bryce Eldridge: San Francisco Giants (No. 16)
High school: Madison (Va.)
SS Arjun Nimmala: Toronto Blue Jays (No. 20)
High school: Strawberry Crest (Fla.)
SS Colt Emerson: Seattle Mariners (No. 22)
High school: John Glenn (Ohio)
1B/C Ralphy Velasquez: Cleveland Guardians (No. 23)
High school: Huntington Beach (Calif.)
CF Dillon Head: San Diego Padres (No. 25)
High school: Homewood-Flossmoor (Ill.)
SS George Lombard Jr.: New York Yankees (No. 26)
High school: Gulliver Prep (Fla.)