Sports

LSU Baseball Makes History At The MLB Draft

by Last Updated
A baseball sits atop the pitcher's mound.

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The LSU baseball program made history in a couple of different ways at the 2023 MLB Draft. The Tigers saw a pair of former players taken off the board over the first two selections.

They’ve now become the only school to accomplish that feat, which has many on social media talking.

The Pittsburgh Pirates owned the rights to the first overall pick, though they stayed tight-lipped on their intentions. Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews emerged as early favorites to land at No. 1, though late action at the sportsbooks saw Florida’s Wyatt Langford skyrocket up the board.

That late action was due in part to Pittsburgh’s first pick strategy as it was reported the front office didn’t want to pay the full slot value of $9.7 million. Crews, who many viewed as the draft’s top prospect, was rumored to be asking for a $10 million signing bonus. Langford, meanwhile, was seen as a potential value pick that would allow the team to save money for later rounds.

When all was said and done, though, the Pirates opted for Skenes instead of Crews or the late riser Langford as he offered the best combination of talent and value. While uber talented, pitchers are often seen as more of a risk, knocking the signing bonus price down a bit.

The risk may be worth the reward with Skenes as the righty has already been hailed as the best pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg. He went 12-2 last season with an SEC record 209 strikeouts and can consistently touch triple digits.

It didn’t take long for another Tiger to come off the board, though, as Crews went No. 2 to the Washington Nationals. The outfielder, widely viewed as the most talented player in the class, hit .426 with 18 home runs as a Tiger in ’22.

He picked up the Golden Spikes award as college baseball’s best player and led the team to a national title.

His former coach Jay Johnson commended his play while speaking at the MLB Draft event on Sunday, saying, “[He has] a combination of plate discipline, of power, of strike zone awareness, of defensive ability, of baserunning. There is no skill that’s needed to be an elite Major League Baseball player that Dylan doesn’t possess… He’s a more athletic Kirby Puckett.”

With Skenes and Crews going 1-2, LSU became the first college baseball program to have teammates drafted with the first two picks.

That wasn’t the only major accomplishment, though. While the top two selections showed how dominant the Tigers were on the diamond this season, another interesting note shows how talented the university is across a variety of major sports.

With Skenes going No. 1 overall, LSU became the first school to have a top pick in the NFL, NBA, WNBA, and MLB drafts. Those players include quarterbacks Joe Burrow and Jamarcus Russell, as well as basketballers Shaq, Ben Simmons, and Seimone Augustus.

Fans were quick to react to the history being made on Sunday night.

The sports follower said, “That is very impressive. A great athletic program that prepares their athletes well for the next level.”

Someone else wrote, “This is just incredible.”

This Tigers supporter posted, “The best sports school and it’s not even close. LSU is where you go to become a legend.”

What a night for LSU.