The Rockies selected Gonzaga right-hander Gabriel Hughes with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2022 MLB draft on Sunday in Los Angeles.
Hughes is a 6-4, 220-pounder who is one of the top-rated college pitchers in this year’s draft. He projects as a future starter in the middle or top of the rotation.
Gonzaga’s Friday night starter, Hughes, 20, was 8-3 with a 3.21 ERA this year, with 138 strikeouts to just 37 walks. He finished ninth in the nation in K’s, and has a mid-90s fastball with a high-80s slider that can be an out pitch.
“That’s such a good pick by the Rockies,” one major league agent said. “He’s the most big-league ready pitcher in this class and he’s super, super competitive.”
A two-way star at Rocky Mountain High School in Eagle, Idaho, Hughes recently decided to focus only on pitching this year after playing in the field at first base his first year at Gongaza.
Over the past two years, Colorado took a pair of high school outfielders with its top selection — Zac Veen at No. 9 overall out of Spruce Creek High School in Florida in 2020, and Benny Montgomery at No. 8 overall out of Red Land High School in Pennsylvania in 2021. Hughes is the first right-handed pitcher drafted in the first round since Riley Pint at No. 4 overall in 2016, and the first pitcher drafted in the first round since southpaw Ryan Rolison was taken 22nd overall in 2018.
Hughes was also the first Gongaza player drafted in the first round, and the seventh college pitcher that Colorado’s taken in the first round in franchise history.
