Florida State Seminoles pitcher Wyatt Crowell selected by Los Angeles Dodgers in 2023 MLB Draft

Florida State Seminoles left-handed pitcher Wyatt Crowell has been selected in the 2023 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

2023, Wyatt Crowell’s junior season, saw the southpaw limited due to an injury he suffered and forced him to get Tommy John surgery. This, undoubtedly, had an impact on his draft stock and means he will need to begin his professional career while rehabbing.

“While Crowell isn’t the biggest guy in the world at 6-foot, he’s an excellent athlete on the mound with a very quick arm. In shorter stints as a reliever, the left-hander has been 94-98 mph with his fastball that features good riding life down in the zone and gets a lot of ground balls. Working as a starter in the fall, he was more 90-95 mph. His wipeout low-80s slider can be plus at times and missed a lot of bats,” MLB.com wrote.

“Crowell does have a changeup, though he didn’t use it much as a reliever, and one key point of emphasis for him will be to develop that third pitch while finding more consistency with the slider. He’s always been more control than command, and while he didn’t get to show an ability to be more of a complete pitcher this spring, teams could consider taking him in the top three rounds based on his track record of missing bats as a left-handed reliever.”

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.