Tennessee shortstop commit Carson Rucker selected by Detroit Tigers in 2023 MLB Draft

Tennessee shortstop commit Carson Rucker has heard his name called in the 2023 MLB Draft. The Detroit Tigers selected him in the fourth round with the No. 107 overall pick.

Rucker attended Goodpasture Christian School in Tennessee. The 6-foot-2 prospect was ranked by MLB.com as the No. 132 overall prospect for the 2023 MLB Draft.

Rucker hit .541 with 14 home runs as a junior in 2022. He committed to the Vols in July of 2020.

It seems likely that Carson Rucker will not play for Tennessee and will instead begin his professional baseball career. Had he played for the Vols, he would have joined a team that reached Omaha this past season. While Rucker is not likely to come to school, the good news for Tennessee is that it did a great job in the transfer portal.

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.