Clemson shortstop commit Sammy Stafura selected by Cincinnati Reds in 2023 MLB Draft

A Clemson commit is off the board in the 2023 MLB Draft as Sammy Stafura has been picked. The Cincinnati Reds selected him with the No. 43 overall selection.

Stafura is considered one of the top shortstops in the country. Perfect Game ranks him as the No. 34 overall player in the nation for the class of 2023. He is ranked as the top player from New York.

Stafura committed to Clemson back in July of 2021.

This past season, Sammy Stafura hit .516 with 14 doubles, four triples, 11 home runs and 40 RBIs. He will help a Clemson program that won the ACC Tournament Championship this past season and was the No. 4 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, if he does end up coming to college.

More on the 2023 MLB Draft

The 2023 Major League Baseball Draft will begin during All-Star week, with the first two rounds getting underway at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 9. Rounds 3-10 will then begin at 2 p.m. ET on Monday, July 10, with rounds 11-20 starting at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 11.

This year’s MLB Draft is a historic one, as a draft lottery was used to determine the order for the first time. The Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates and Oakland Athletics each had a 16.5% chance to receive the No. 1 overall pick. Ultimately, Pittsburgh won the right to have the first selection, with Washington finishing right behind them at No. 2. Oakland, however, fell all the way down to No. 6 overall.

While the MLB Draft is always unpredictable, the consensus is that this year’s top prospects both hail from LSU, who won the 2023 College World Series. Pitcher Paul Skenes and outfielder Dylan Crews headline this year’s class, which is considered a deep one.

Within the first ten rounds of the draft, each slot is assigned a certain value. Each team has a bonus pool that they are able to spend on these picks, and players will sign at, above or below their assigned slot value.

In rounds 11-20, there is no assigned slot value and MLB teams are free to spend up to $150,000 to sign their picks from the second half of the draft. If they exceed the $150,000 mark, that added amount will be deducted from their bonus pool.

Following the final day of the 2023 MLB Draft, selected players will have until August 1 to sign a contract.