LSU's first baseman/outfielder Tre' Morgan selected by Rays in 2023 MLB Draft

The 2023 LSU Tigers baseball team was filled with stars, and one of them has found a new home at the next level. The Tigers’ first baseman and outfielder Tre’ Morgan has just heard his name called in the 2023 MLB Draft. The Tampa Bay Rays selected him with the No. 88 overall pick.

Morgan was a three-year starter at LSU. The true lefty, who bats and throws left-handed, from New Orleans, LA, was a huge piece of LSU’s championship run this season.

Morgan’s most significant contributions were on the defensive end, making timely and critical plays throughout the College World Series.

What experts are saying about Morgan

MLB.com has Morgan ranked as the 137 prospect ahead of the 2023 MLB Draft. According to their scouting report, the Tigers’ first baseman has all the tools to be a quality defender in the pros but was some work to do on the offensive end.

“A left-handed hitter, Morgan is a tale of two extremes at the plate. He focuses on working the ball from gap to gap and his uncanny hand-eye coordination means he rarely swings and misses, even against breaking balls and changeups,” per MLB.com. “While he makes plenty of contact, it’s not quality contact, as he puts the ball on the ground too much and produces lackluster exit velocities.

“More athletic than most first basemen, Morgan is an average runner who covers a lot of ground at first. He also has soft hands and makes difficult plays look easy, such as when he made a spectacular game-saving play on a safety squeeze in the College World Series semifinals, without which LSU wouldn’t have won the championship. He moves well enough that the Tigers gave him significant action this spring in left field, where he’s a fringy defender with arm strength to match.”

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.