Picking first in the MLB Draft on Sunday night, the Cleveland Guardians did what most pundits expected and selected Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana.
The 2024 Pac-12 Player of the Year, Bazzana batted .407 with 28 homers and 66 RBIs for the Beavers, who advanced to a super regional as the No. 15 national seed before losing a three-game series at second-seeded Kentucky.
Bazzana is the first second baseman to ever be selected with the No. 1 overall pick. He set an Oregon State single-season record by scoring 84 runs and slugging .911. Bazzana also stole 16 bases and boasted a .568 on-base percentage.
Bazzana was a consensus first team All-America pick.
The Cincinnati Reds followed by drafting Wake Forest right-hander Chase Burns, who led Division I this season with 191 strikeouts in 100 innings, often by hurling fastballs over 100 miles per hour. The Colorado Rockies tabbed Georgia outfielder Charlie Condon, who cracked a Division I-high 37 homers and hit .433 in 2024.
The Oakland Athletics selected Wake Forest first baseman Nick Kurtz fourth overall, while the Chicago White Sox picked Arkansas pitcher Hagen Smith at No. 5.
Florida’s Jac Caglianone went sixth to the Kansas City Royals and did so as a two-way player. Caglianone led the Gators to the College World Series as a position player and pitcher.
The St. Louis Cardinals tabbed West Virginia middle infielder J.J. Wetherholt with the seventh pick, while the Los Angeles Angels selected second baseman Christian Moore from College World Series champion Tennessee with pick No. 8.
The Pittsburgh Pirates became the first team to take a high school player when they grabbed shortstop Konnor Griffin from Jackson Prep School in Mississippi with the ninth pick. The Washington Nationals selected Wake Forest shortstop Seaver King at 10.
–Field Level Media
