Oregon infielder Rikuu Nishida selected by Chicago White Sox in 2023 MLB Draft

Oregon infielder Rikuu Nishida was selected in the 11th round Tuesday by Chicago White Sox with the No. 329 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.

Nishida spent his first two college seasons at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Ore., before transferring to Oregon for the 2023 season. Over his two season at Mt. Hood, Nishida hit .383 with 91 stole bases and just 23 strikeouts.

In the summer of 2022, he played for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Nishida was named an All-Star and won the Manny Robello CCBL 10th Man of the Year.

This year with the Ducks, he was a All-Pac-12 honorable mention while setting the school single-season record for stolen bases. Nishida was also named as the MVP of the Nashville Regional of the NCAA Tournament.

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 like Rikuu Nishida will have until August 1 to sign a contract.