2023 MLB Draft Results: The Pittsburgh Pirates Did The Right Thing
Pittsburgh Landed Generational Talent With First Overall Pick
The MLB Draft isn’t the most anticipated draft of the four major sports. But it’s still a big deal for all 30 teams in the MLB. Some of these guys drafted today will be your favorite stars in a few years. Therefore, you should take notice of this year’s MLB Draft class.
First, it must be acknowledged that most players drafted still need to sign contracts or decide on their futures. The decisions include attending college or signing a deal to play in the minors. Not everything is set in stone.
Let’s look at the 2023 MLB Draft results, emphasizing the best three draft classes and their hauls.
1. Washington Nationals 
The Washington Nationals drafted former LSU prospect Dylan Crews with the second overall pick in this year’s MLB Draft. Crews helped LSU win the College Baseball World Series, and now he’ll look to help the Nationals win an MLB World Series.
The Nationals won’t have to wait on Crews very long. He’s already over the age of 21 and played 196 career games in college. In those 196 games, Crews hit .380 with an OPS of 1.187. He also walked more times than he struck out throughout his college career.
The Nationals also added Yohandy Morales from the University of Miami in the second round. He was projected to be a first-rounder and fell 40th overall to Washington. Morales is also over the age of 21 and will likely make the major leagues a couple of months after Crews. He played 174 games and hit 49 home runs with 174 RBIs while batting .343.
Washington’s haul improved with Travis Sykora in the third round and Gavin Dugas in the sixth round. Dugas will continue to be Crews’ teammate in Washington, which should help their transitions into the system.
2. Pittsburgh Pirates 
The 2023 MLB Draft results were shocking early on. Many baseball analysts projected that the Pirates would select a high school athlete with their first overall pick to save money. But instead, the Pirates did what everyone was begging them to do.
They grabbed Paul Skenes with the first overall selection. Skenes is a right-handed pitcher from LSU. He was teammates with Dylan Crews and helped the Tigers earn a College World Series. Skenes wasn’t always at LSU. He transferred from Air Force after throwing a 2.73 ERA in 15 games started in 2022.
He faced tougher competition when he came to LSU and put up even better numbers. Skenes went 12-2 with a 1.69 ERA in 19 games started. He threw a career-high 122.2 innings and struck out 209 batters in 122.2 innings. You rarely see that kind of talent come around.
Skenes already made the haul amazing for the Pirates. But they also added Mitch Jebb from Michigan State and Zander Mueth out of Belleville East High School. Jebb is a left-handed hitter who isn’t a power slugger but a contact guy who can run around the bases exceptionally well.
When Jebb gets on base, he’ll be aggressive and help get into scoring position for batters in back of him. He won’t be as quick as Elly De La Cruz or Ronald Acuna, who are 2023 MLB leaders in steals, but he’ll create havoc and could be in the top five if or when he joins the majors.
3. Texas Rangers 
The Texas Rangers have had a solid season at the major league level. However, they’re starting to fall apart. They’ve gone 3-7 in their last ten games on the MLB run line.
Therefore, they will still need help from the farm system.
The Rangers drafted Wyatt Langford with their first pick of the MLB Draft. Langford was the third-best college prospect on the board and the second-best-hitting college prospect. When the Detroit Tigers took high school prospect Max Clark, the Rangers selected Langford.
Langford helped the Florida Gators reach the College World Series against Crews and Skenes’ LSU Tigers. He and Florida fell short of LSU in the College World Series, but Langford proved he belonged in the top-player conversation. Langford played 134 games for the Gators in his career and added 47 home runs with 120 RBIs. He also hit .363 against some of the top pitchers in baseball, while his OPS improved to 1.217 this season. That was his career best.
After Langford, the Rangers went back to their specialty. They drafted four pitchers after drafting Langford. Texas went over Skyler Hales and Alejandro Rosario, both pitchers coming out of college. Texas wants to compete now and added talent that should be able to reach the majors in a short amount of time.
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