Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep To Undergo Elbow Surgery
Braves righty Spencer Schwellenbach underwent surgery to remove loose bodies from his right elbow today, manager Walt Weiss told the team’s beat this morning (link Mark Bowman of MLB.com). Fellow righty Hurston Waldrep, who was also diagnosed with loose bodies in his elbow this spring, will undergo a similar operation on Monday. Weiss and the Braves have not put a formal timetable for a return on either young righty. Schwellenbach is already on the 60-day injured list, and Waldrep will surely join him there whenever Atlanta needs to open another 40-man spot.
Neither revelation is especially surprising, but both are notable all the same. Schwellenbach suggested that an arthroscopic procedure was likely last week when he was placed on the 60-day injured list. He said at the time that he was unsure what the recovery time period for such a procedure would be, and the team provided no further details today. Beyond the fact that he’ll miss at least the first 57 days of the seasons — the Opening Day IL placement can be backdated by three days — Schwellenbach can just be considered to be out indefinitely.
It’ll be the same story for Waldrep, who was cleared of structural damage to his ulnar collateral ligament in a recent MRI but found to have loose bodies in his elbow as well. As with Schwellenbach, Waldrep implied that surgery was likely when telling reporters that the loose bodies in his elbow “probably need to be dealt with.”
Heading into camp, Schwellenbach and Waldrep looked like locks for rotation spots. Schwellenbach missed time last summer with an elbow fracture but had completed five to six bullpen sessions, by his own estimate, before feeling pain at the end of a session a bit more than two weeks ago. The 2021 second-rounder has been brilliant since making his MLB debut in 2024, pitching to a combined 3.23 ERA with a 25.2% strikeout rate and 4.4% walk rate in his first 234 1/3 MLB innings.
Waldrep just debuted last season and wasn’t quite as cemented on the starting staff, but he was the heavy favorite for Atlanta’s fifth starter gig. In 56 1/3 innings last year (nine starts, one relief appearance), the 2023 first-rounder posted a tidy 2.88 ERA with a 24% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate. He also posted a 4.42 ERA in 19 Triple-A starts, shaking off a rocky stretch early in the season with a pristine 1.99 ERA over his final seven minor league starts before being promoted.
With Schwellenbach and Waldrep sidelined indefinitely, Atlanta’s rotation includes Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, Reynaldo Lopez and Grant Holmes. It’s a talented quartet, but Sale has a lengthy injury history and has only had one fully healthy season since the 2017 season wrapped. He won the NL Cy Young Award in that lone (mostly) healthy year, but there’s considerable injury risk for the lefty, who’ll turn 37 next month.
Strider, meanwhile, posted pedestrian results and rate stats during last year’s return from UCL surgery. Lopez made only one start in 2025 due to arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Holmes suffered a UCL tear last summer but has been rehabbing it without surgery and is said to be full-go this spring.
All four of the Braves’ set-in-stone rotation members come with some combination of injury, performance and/or workload concern. Be that as it may, the organization continues to downplay the possibility of bringing in further help from outside the organization. Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently wrote that the Braves’ previously reported interest in Chris Bassitt (who’s since signed in Baltimore) and Lucas Giolito (still unsigned) was overstated. There’s been speculation that perhaps president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos is simply at or close to the budgetary limit set by ownership, though the team obviously wouldn’t publicly disclose that even if it were true.
In-house options to round out the staff include Bryce Elder, Joey Wentz, José Suarez, prospect Didier Fuentes (still just 20 years old) and non-roster veterans Martín Pérez, Carlos Carrasco and Elieser Hernández.
MLBTR Podcast: The Tigers’ Rotation, A Brewers-Red Sox Trade, And Late Free-Agent Signings
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- Tarik Skubal winning his arbitration hearing against the Tigers (1:30)
- The Tigers loading up the rotation by signing Framber Valdez and also Justin Verlander but losing Reese Olson for the year (13:25)
- The six-player trade between the Red Sox and Brewers headlined by Caleb Durbin and Kyle Harrison, with Milwaukee then signing Luis Rengifo (24:15)
- The Orioles signing Chris Bassitt and losing Jackson Holliday to injury (35:35)
- The Diamondbacks signing Zac Gallen and potentially losing Corbin Carroll to the injured list (44:30)
- The Braves losing Spencer Schwellenbach and maybe Hurston Waldrep while showing little urgency about bolstering the rotation (52:20)
- Tony Clark stepping down as MLBPA executive director, recorded as the news was still trickling out (59:15)
Check out our past episodes!
- Twins Front Office Shake-Up, The Brendan Donovan Trade, Eugenio Suarez, And More! – listen here
- Examining MLB’s Parity Situation – Also, Bellinger, Peralta, Robert, And Gore – listen here
- What The Tucker And Bichette Contracts Mean For Baseball – Also, Nolan Arenado And Ranger Suarez – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images
Braves’ Hurston Waldrep Dealing With Elbow Soreness
Braves right-hander Hurston Waldrep is dealing with soreness in his throwing elbow, and will visit Dr. Keith Meister tomorrow in Dallas for a consultation, manager Walt Weiss told reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Bowman). Waldrep has already undergone an MRI that didn’t reveal any structural damage, though the scan did reveal some “loose bodies,” as Weiss described the matter.
“There’s some things in there that shouldn’t be there, I guess. I think it’s fairly common with pitchers,” Weiss said. “I don’t want to elaborate on the loose bodies, because I’m not totally sure, but it probably needs to be dealt with. I don’t know what that looks like as far as procedure or anything, but I guess Dr. Meister will let us know.”
Selected 24th overall in the 2023 draft, Waldrep made his MLB debut less than a year after his draft date, though he was tagged for a 16.71 ERA over his first two starts and seven innings. The righty was then placed on the 15-day injured list due to elbow inflammation and spent about six weeks on the shelf before he was activated and optioned back to Triple-A for the remainder of the 2024 season.
Waldrep didn’t return to the Show until last August, and made a much better impression the second time around. Waldrep started nine of his 10 appearances, delivering a 2.88 ERA, 49.7% grounder rate, 24% strikeout rate, and 9.6% walk rate over 56 1/3 innings. While the lack of control left something to be desired, Waldrep did an excellent job of limiting big contact (4% barrel rate) and both his splitter and 95.9mph sinker were plus pitches.
This solid performance didn’t guarantee Waldrep a spot in the 2026 rotation, as the Braves were seemingly set with a projected top five of Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, Reynaldo Lopez, Grant Holmes, and Spencer Schwellenbach. There was also an expectation that Atlanta would pursue more starting pitching this winter in a nod to the injury concerns that their incumbent starters dealt with in both 2025, and throughout their careers.
Though Spring Training has just gotten underway, the injury bug has already made an unwelcome return to the Braves’ camp. Schwellenbach has already been placed on the 60-day IL due to elbow inflammation, and now Waldrep looks to probably be facing some kind of IL stint. Even if the visit to Dr. Meister doesn’t lead to any major developments, the Braves will probably shut Waldrep down until his discomfort lessens, and a season-opening stint on at least the 15-day IL seems likely so Waldrep can complete his pre-season ramp-up.
With Waldrep out of the picture, Bryce Elder, Joey Wentz, Didier Fuentes, and minor league signings Martin Perez and Carlos Carrasco remain in the competition for Atlanta’s fifth starter job. On paper, the Braves still have a good amount of rotation depth, though the argument that the team could or should acquire more starting pitching has only gotten louder in the wake of these latest injury concerns.
President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said on Friday that the team remained on the hunt for more of a front-of-the-rotation type that could start a playoff game, rather than a pure depth starter. Looking at the list of remaining free agent starters, Lucas Giolito (who has been linked to the Braves on the rumor mill), Max Scherzer, or Zack Littell could potentially fit the bill, though it might be hard seeing any of that trio displace a healthy Sale, Strider, or Lopez as Atlanta’s top choices in a playoff rotation. Obviously, the first concern for the Braves in the wake of a 76-86 season is just to get into the postseason altogether, and a lack of healthy pitching was one of the key reasons behind Atlanta’s disappointing 2025 campaign.
Braves Place Hurston Waldrep On Injured List
The Braves sustained yet another injury within their starting staff, as young right-hander Hurston Waldrep has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to elbow inflammation, per a team announcement. Righty Daysbel Hernandez is up from Triple-A Gwinnett in his place. Atlanta has also optioned outfielder J.P. Martinez to Gwinnett and recalled fellow outfielder Forrest Wall in his place.
Manager Brian Snitker indicated last night that Waldrep would be optioned to Gwinnnett. However, Mark Bowman of MLB.com tweets that the 22-year-old Waldrep subsequently informed the team’s training staff that his elbow was more sore than usual following his recent start. He’ll now join Spencer Strider, AJ Smith-Shawver and Huascar Ynoa on the injured list.
Waldrep, the team’s first-round pick just last year, made his MLB debut earlier this month. He’s taken the mound twice since being promoted to the big leagues but been hit quite hard, yielding 13 runs on nine hits and eight walks with only three strikeouts through seven innings. The former Florida Gator standout hasn’t completed four innings in either of his two starts and issued four free passes in each.
Tough as his debut has been, Waldrep excelled in the upper minors prior to his promotion. Through 49 1/3 Double-A frames, he pitched to an excellent 2.92 ERA with a 22.4% strikeout rate and 7.9% walk rate. The Braves promoted him to Triple-A after that start, where he pitched six innings and allowed three runs — but only on five hits and one walk with a terrific 11 strikeouts.
Since he was set to be optioned anyhow, Waldrep’s injury won’t necessarily subtract from the immediate MLB rotation. Atlanta will still lean on Reynaldo Lopez, Chris Sale, Max Fried, Charlie Morton and rookie Spencer Schwellenbach for the time being, and there are still quality options in Gwinnett — Bryce Elder most notably. But any elbow issue for a promising young arm is troubling, and Waldrep’s injury does further deplete the team’s depth for the time being.
As for the outfield shuffle, Martinez will head down to Gwinnett after going hitless in 10 plate appearances with the big league squad. Wall will get a look after batting .287/.393/.415 with four homers and 11 steals for the Stripers. He’ll replace Martinez as a left-handed bat in the outfield mix, giving Snitker some additional speed off the bench. Given Adam Duvall‘s woeful .084/.126/.108 slash against fellow righties — he’s hitting .275/.393/.565 against southpaws — Wall could see some action against right-handed pitching as well.
Braves Select Hurston Waldrep
TODAY: The Braves officially announced the selection of Waldrep’s contract this morning. Right-hander Daysbel Hernandez was optioned to the minors and Acuna was placed on the 60-day injured list in corresponding moves.
June 8: The Braves are calling up top pitching prospect Hurston Waldrep, according to multiple reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Bowman). Waldrep will make his Major League debut on Sunday in a start against the Nationals, as Atlanta is giving Max Fried extra rest by pushing his next outing to Tuesday. A 40-man roster space will have be opened to accommodate Waldrep, though that could be easily accomplished by moving Ronald Acuna Jr. or Spencer Strider to the 60-day IL.
The move represents another aggressive promotion from the Braves, as it was less than a year ago that Waldrep was selected with the 24th overall pick of the 2023 draft. There was even some speculation that Waldrep was being considered for his MLB debut near the end of last season to give the Braves an extra high-powered bullpen arm for the playoffs, though the club opted against moving quite so quickly with the right-hander’s development. Even still, Waldrep has only 84 2/3 pro innings under his belt, and just two starts at the Triple-A level. Waldrep recorded 11 strikeouts over six innings with Triple-A Gwinnett last Sunday, allowing three earned runs on five hits and a walk in his first Triple-A outing of 2024.
This was enough to convince the Braves that Waldrep is ready for the Show, and the 22-year-old will now get an opportunity in what has become a revolving door of a fifth starter’s position. Atlanta’s top four of Fried, Reynaldo Lopez, Charlie Morton, and Chris Sale has been very solid, but since Strider underwent season-ending elbow surgery, six other pitchers have gotten starts in Strider’s place. None have achieved much success, so Waldrep might well get an extended look if he shows he can hang against big league hitters.
Waldrep was a consensus top-100 pick on preseason prospect rankings, with Baseball Prospectus (30th) and Baseball America (49th) the most bullish about his potential. (He was ranked 77th by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, 80th by The Athletic’s Keith Law had him 80th, and 90th by MLB Pipeline, though Waldrep is now 72nd on Pipeline’s updated in-season list.) There is universal acclaim for Waldrep’s splitter, which has upper-80s velocity and “completely falls off the table,” in the words of BA’s scouting report, leading to “ugly swings against hitters unable to hold back.” Beyond this signature pitch is a fastball that regularly sits in the mid-90s and can hit as high as 99mph, and he also has a plus slider.
Controlling this arsenal has always been something of an adventure for Waldrep, so perhaps the most intriguing number on his 2024 stat line is his 7.56% walk rate over 55 1/3 total innings at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. That is already a big upgrade from the 13% walk rate he posted in his first 29 1/3 pro innings in 2023, and if this improved command can continue in the majors, Waldrep has front-of-the-rotation potential. At the very least, Waldrep might profile as an elite closer down the road if he can’t stick as a starter, but naturally Atlanta will give him plenty of looks in the rotation before deciding on that step.
The obvious comparison here is with the hard-throwing Strider, and Strider might well have matched Waldrep’s first-round pedigree if he hadn’t undergone a Tommy John surgery in college. Of course, it would be asking an awful lot of Waldrep to match Strider’s meteoric rise to big league stardom, and if Waldrep is “only” a decent rotation arm in his first taste of the majors, that is still a huge achievement for a pitcher just a year removed from the University of Florida.
If Waldrep can stay on the Major League roster for this season and beyond, he’ll be in good position to earn an extra year of arbitration eligibility as a Super Two player. As per the Prospect Promotion Incentive qualification system, Waldrep can earn a full year of MLB service time if he finishes first or second in NL Rookie of the Year voting, though Waldrep would have to be truly exceptional to overtake the likes of Shota Imanaga, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jared Jones, or others who have excelled in the majors for the entire 2024 campaign.
The Braves’ Fifth Starter Possibilities
There’s no question about the top four in the Braves rotation. Atlanta acquired Chris Sale over the weekend to join Spencer Strider, Max Fried and Charlie Morton in a high-upside staff, then promptly extended Sale. The Braves don’t have a set choice for the #5 spot to open the year. It seems that’ll be up for grabs in camp.
On an appearance on The Bill Shanks Show on Tuesday, Atlanta president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos suggested the front office was willing to consider a number of options for the last rotation job. “It’ll be open competition for the fifth spot,” he told Shanks. The front office leader name-checked five candidates for the position (albeit without saying it was an exhaustive list): Bryce Elder, Reynaldo López, AJ Smith-Shawver, Huascar Ynoa and Hurston Waldrep.
Atlanta had a camp battle for the final two spots last spring. They surprisingly tabbed Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd, neither of whom had made their MLB debuts, for season-opening roles after impressive Spring Training performances. While neither rookie fared all that well, the Braves are open to again turning to a young arm if they outperform others in the spring.
“We’re going to take the best players,” Anthopoulos said. “We never assume the division. You can lose it or win it by a game, as we saw in 2022 (when) it came down the wire. … We’re going to break with the best team. Like anything, we’ll try to maintain our depth. If there’s a lot of ties or it’s close, we’ll keep our depth. But we’re hopeful these guys are all good in Spring Training and make it hard on us.”
Perhaps an opportunity will arise for the Braves to add a surefire #5 starter within the next couple months. That doesn’t appear to be an organizational priority, however. There seems a good chance Atlanta is content with a camp battle between the group that Anthopoulos referenced. They’ll likely all play roles at some point as injuries necessitate, but we’ll run through the top candidates for the Opening Day job as things currently stand.
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Elder surprisingly emerged as a rotation mainstay for Atlanta a year ago. Despite briefly starting the season with Triple-A Gwinnett, he wound up taking the ball 31 times and tossing 174 2/3 innings — second on the team behind Strider. Elder had a great first half, pitching to a 2.97 ERA en route to an All-Star selection. He didn’t find that same level of success down the stretch, as he surrendered a 5.11 mark in the second half. The Phillies tagged him for six runs in 2 2/3 frames during his only postseason start.
At year’s end, Elder still carried a solid 3.81 ERA. Despite the rough finish, he was a valuable part of Brian Snitker’s pitching staff. It’s nevertheless questionable whether he can replicate a sub-4.00 ERA without missing many bats. Elder had a below-average 17.5% strikeout rate and 9.9% swinging strike percentage a season ago. He’s a ground-ball specialist whose sinker was below the 90 MPH mark on average. It’s a very different profile from the high-octane strikeout stuff of the top four in the rotation (and that of some of his competitors for the #5 job). Anthopoulos pointed out that Elder still has a full slate of minor league options and could start the year in Gwinnett if he doesn’t break camp with the MLB team, as Ian Anderson did in 2023.
López, on the other hand, is certainly going to be on the major league roster. The question is whether that’s in the rotation or the bullpen. Atlanta signed the 30-year-old righty to a three-year, $30MM free agent deal at the start of the offseason. While the price tag wasn’t a surprise, the Braves’ subsequent announcement they might stretch López out as a starter was unexpected.
Teams have used López almost exclusively in relief for the past two and a half seasons. He hasn’t had a full year as a starter since 2019, when he was tagged for a 5.38 ERA in 184 innings for the White Sox. López has shown the durability to hold up from the rotation, topping 180 frames in consecutive seasons for Chicago in 2018-19. The former top prospect has been much more effective when working in shorter stints, though. He owns a 3.02 ERA with a 27.4% strikeout percentage in 131 1/3 innings between a trio of clubs since the start of 2022.
Smith-Shawver, who turned 21 in November, was among the youngest players to reach the majors last season. He got to the big leagues within two years of being drafted out of high school. Smith-Shawver didn’t hold a long-term rotation role, appearing in six games (five starts). He posted a 4.26 ERA through 25 1/3 innings despite middling strikeout and walk rates and seven home runs.
The 6’3″ hurler had a more impressive statistical track record in the minors. He combined for 62 frames between the top three minor league levels, allowing a 2.76 ERA while striking out 31.3% of opponents. Smith-Shawver walked over 13% of batters faced in the minors, so he’s clearly not a finished product. That’s to be expected given his youth. The Braves were impressed enough with the huge swing-and-miss potential he’d shown to carry him in relief on their playoff roster last October. He has two options remaining.
Ynoa, still just 25, pitched at the MLB level from 2019-22. He turned in mid-rotation results (4.05 ERA, 26.9% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk percentage) in 2021, although he was limited to 91 innings thanks to a self-inflicted hand fracture when he punched a dugout wall. He dropped into a depth role by the ’22 season, allowing a 5.68 ERA over 18 Triple-A appearances. He underwent Tommy John surgery that September and missed all of last year. He is expected to be a full participant in Spring Training. The Braves tendered him an arbitration contract but could send him to the minors for another season, as he has one option remaining.
The only player in this quintet who has yet to reach the majors, Waldrep is on a fast track to MLB. Atlanta’s first-round pick a year ago, the hard-throwing righty went from the College World Series in June to Triple-A by September. The Florida product had a brilliant 1.53 ERA while fanning a third of batters faced in his first eight professional starts at four levels (including one appearance in Gwinnett).
Atlanta is among the most aggressive teams in promoting its top prospects. As a college draftee, Waldrep is around nine months older than Smith-Shawver is. He has far less professional experience and isn’t on the 40-man roster, but he was drafted out of a strong program in college baseball’s top conference. Anthopoulos conceded it’d be ideal for both Waldrep and Smith-Shawver to have more developmental time but rhetorically asked, “if they come in and they are so much better than anybody else, how we do deny them?“
NL East Notes: Arraez, Waldrep, Kay
The Marlins recorded an important win over the Brewers today, allowing Miami to keep pace in the tight NL wild card race. The Fish won despite Luis Arraez‘s absence, as the second baseman didn’t play after making a late exit from Saturday’s game due to a twisted ankle. Arraez had already missed a pair of games this week due to that sore ankle, and exacerbated the problem in somewhat fluky fashion on Saturday. As he told MLB.com and other reporters, Arraez slipped while walking down the dugout steps at the conclusion of the eighth inning, in part because the ballpark had suddenly dimmed the lights for the entrance of closer Tanner Scott.
“It’s frustrating because I need to play….The good thing is I’ve got the day off tomorrow, and then let’s see how I feel the next day,” Arraez said, in reference to Miami’s off-day Monday.
After that break, the Marlins will play their final six games of the regular season — three games against the Mets and three against the Pirates, all on the road. Today’s result notwithstanding, it is hard to imagine the Marlins can push into the playoffs without the Major League batting average leader in the lineup, so Miami fans can only hope that Arraez’s ankle is okay after some rest.
More from the NL East…
- Right-hander Hurston Waldrep‘s season is over, as the Braves prospect won’t pitch again in 2023 after tossing 4 1/3 scoreless innings in his first Triple-A start yesterday. The 24th overall pick of the 2023 draft, Waldrep had pitched so well in his first professional season that there had been some speculation that the Braves could turn to the 21-year-old as a secret weapon out of the bullpen for the end of the regular season and into the playoffs. However, Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that the Braves didn’t want to rush things with the young hurler, and the Triple-A debut came about because the organization wanted Waldrep to get one more outing since the Double-A season is already over. Baseball America and MLB Pipeline each rate Waldrep as the #2 prospect in Atlanta’s farm system, and the righty has delivered a 1.53 ERA and a 33.3% strikeout rate over 29 1/3 total innings, split between A-ball, high-A, Double-A, and Triple-A.
- Prior to tonight’s game with the Phillies, the Mets called up Anthony Kay from Triple-A while optioning right-hander Peyton Battenfield to Triple-A in the corresponding move. It marks Kay’s first stint on New York’s active roster since the lefty was claimed off waivers from the Cubs in mid-September, and he has a 6.35 ERA over 11 1/3 MLB innings with Chicago this season. Selected 31rd overall by the Mets in the 2016 draft, Kay was a notable prospect in the Amazins’ farm system before being dealt to the Blue Jays as part of the Marcus Stroman swap at the 2019 trade deadline. Kay has a 5.60 ERA in 82 innings with Toronto and Chicago at the big league level, and there’s at least a full-circle moment in his career as he finally looks set to make his debut in a Mets uniform.
Braves Sign First Six Picks From 2023 Draft
The Braves have signed the first six players they selected in the 2023 draft, which took place earlier this week. Right-handers Hurston Waldrep, Drue Hackenberg, Cade Kuehler and Garrett Baumann have put pen to paper, as has shortstop Sabin Ceballos and outfielder Isaiah Drake. Details from Twitter courtesy of Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline and Carlos Collazo of Baseball America. Additionally, the club inked seventh-rounder Justin Long, per Collazo.
Waldrep, 21, was selected 24th overall out of the University of Florida. He will receive a signing bonus of $2,997,500, slightly under that pick’s slot value of $3,270,500. He made 19 starts for the Gators this year, tossing 101 2/3 innings with a 4.16 ERA. He struck out 34.7% of the batters he faced while walking 12.7%.
He was ranked the #14 player in the draft by both ESPN and Keith Law of The Athletic, #18 by Baseball America, #19 by MLB.com, with FanGraphs having him the highest at #6. The reports on him all reflect the stat line, in that they point to his excellent strikeout stuff but lack of command. His splitter is considered his best put-away pitch, often thrown below the zone for either a whiff or a ball.
Hackenberg, 21, was the club’s second-round pick, taken out of Virginia Tech. He’ll get a $2MM bonus, significantly above his $1,369,300 slot value. The righty made 15 starts for Virginia Tech this year, posting a 5.80 ERA in 85 1/3 innings, striking out 24.8% of hitters while walking just 6.5%.
Kuehler, 21, was selected 70th overall, using the compensatory draft pick that Atlanta received when Dansby Swanson rejected a qualifying offer and signed with the Cubs. He gets a $1.045MM bonus, just under the $1.0475MM slot. He made 13 starts for Campbell University this year with a 2.71 ERA, 29.3% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate.
Ceballos, 20, was taken in the third round out of the University of Oregon. He receives a signing bonus of $597.5K compared to a slot of $714.1K. He hit .333/.426/.643 in his 256 plate appearances this year. Baumann, 18, was selected in the fourth round out of a Florida high school. He’ll get $747.5K for his bonus, a bit above the $521.8K slot. Drake, 17, was selected in the fifth round out of North Atlanta High School. He’ll get the same $747.5K bonus as Baumann, but against a less slot of $367.5K.
Long, 21, was taken in the seventh round out of Rice University. He gets a bonus of $172.5K, beneath his $229.4K slot value. He tossed 45 2/3 innings this year with a 4.93 ERA, 18.9% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate.
2023 MLB Draft, First Round Results
The 2023 MLB Draft begins tonight, and this post will be constantly updated with each team’s selections from the first round. The Mets and Dodgers are the only teams without a first-rounder, as their top picks were each dropped 10 places overall as part of their punishment for exceeding the highest luxury-tax tier in 2022. As a result, the Mets won’t have a selection until the 32nd overall pick, and the Dodgers won’t select until 36th overall.
The first-round selections….
- Pittsburgh Pirates: Paul Skenes, RHP, LSU
- Washington Nationals: Dylan Crews, OF, LSU
- Detroit Tigers: Max Clark, OF, Franklin Community High School (IN)
- Texas Rangers: Wyatt Langford, OF, University Of Florida
- Minnesota Twins: Walker Jenkins, OF, South Brunswick High School (NC)
- Oakland Athletics: Jacob Wilson, SS, Grand Canyon University
- Cincinnati Reds: Rhett Lowder, RHP, Wake Forest
- Kansas City Royals: Blake Mitchell, C, Sinton High School (TX)
- Colorado Rockies: Chase Dollander, RHP, University of Tennessee
- Miami Marlins: Noble Meyer, RHP, Jesuit High School (OR)
- Los Angeles Angels: Nolan Schanuel, 1B/OF, Florida Atlantic
- Arizona Diamondbacks: Tommy Troy, SS, Stanford
- Chicago Cubs: Matthew Shaw, SS, University of Maryland
- Boston Red Sox: Kyle Teel, C, University of Virginia
- Chicago White Sox: Jacob Gonzalez, SS, University Of Mississippi
- San Francisco Giants: Bryce Eldridge, 1B/RHP, Madison High School (VA)
- Baltimore Orioles: Enrique Bradfield Jr., OF, Vanderbilt
- Milwaukee Brewers: Brock Wilken, 3B, Wake Forest
- Tampa Bay Rays: Brayden Taylor, 3B/SS, TCU
- Toronto Blue Jays: Arjun Nimmala, SS, Strawberry Crest High School (FL)
- St. Louis Cardinals: Chase Davis, OF, University of Arizona
- Seattle Mariners: Colt Emerson, SS, Glenn High School (OH)
- Cleveland Guardians: Ralphy Velazquez, C, Huntington Beach High School (CA)
- Atlanta Braves: Hurston Waldrep, RHP, University of Florida
- San Diego Padres: Dillon Head, OF, Homewood-Flossmoor High School (IL)
- New York Yankees: George Lombard Jr., 3B/SS, Gulliver Prep High School (FL)
- Philadelphia Phillies: Aidan Miller, 3B/SS, Mitchell High School (FL)
- Houston Astros: Brice Matthews, SS, University of Nebraska
This year’s draft will again be 20 rounds long, and split over three days. Rounds 11-20 will take place on Tuesday, rounds 3-10 on Monday, and the draft’s first 70 picks will be made tonight. Those 70 picks cover the first two official rounds, the two Competitive Balance Rounds, the two sets of compensatory rounds (giving picks to teams who lost qualifying offer-rejecting free agents), and the first-ever Prospect Promotion Incentive Pick. The Mariners received the PPI selection at 29th overall, since Julio Rodriguez filled the criteria of winning the Rookie Of The Year Award, being part of his team’s active roster from Opening Day onwards, and he ranked as a preseason top-100 prospect by at least two of Baseball America, ESPN, and MLB Pipeline.
The PPI is one of several new wrinkles to the 2023 draft, as this is the first draft held under the new guidelines established by the 2022-2026 Collective Bargaining Agreement. The process for determining the 14 teams in the Competitive Balance Rounds was also tweaked, though the teams (all in the bottom 10 in market size or revenue size) will still have their picks split up over two mini-rounds sandwiched around the second round. The most obvious change came at the very top of the board, as this was the first year of the lottery process to determine the draft’s top six picks. This is how the Pirates ended up with the first overall selection, even though the Nationals and A’s each had worse records in 2022.
This year’s draft class is considered to be one of the deepest and most talent-laden in years, so several potential franchise-changing players could be starting their pro careers tonight. More details and scouting reports on all these young players are available in pre-draft rankings from Baseball America, Fangraphs, MLB Pipeline, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. As well, Pipeline has the breakdown of the slot values assigned to each pick in the first 10 rounds, as well as the bonus pool money available to all 30 teams.