LSU catcher commit Blake Mitchell selected by Kansas City Royals in 2023 MLB Draft

Blake Mitchell is off the board. The Kansas City Royals selected the highly-touted LSU commit with the No. 8 overall pick in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft.

Mitchell graduated from Sinton High School in Sinton, Texas. Perfect Game ranked the 6-foot-1 standout the No. 8 player in the Class of 2023 and the No. 1 player hailing from the Lone Star State. Mitchell was named the Texas Gatorade Player of the Year in June for the second year in a row.

While Mitchell is an excellent catcher, his field skills aren’t limited to behind the plate. Mitchell also plays shortstop and is a fantastic right-handed pitcher. The budding superstar’s fastball peaked at 97 miles per hour earlier this season.

Mitchell is also dynamite with a bat in his hands, hitting .457 during his high school career. Now, his next destination hopes to see similar results.

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.