Mississippi State RHP Cade Smith selected by the New York Yankees in 2023 MLB Draft

Cade Smith is heading to the Big Apple. On Monday, the New York Yankees selected the Mississippi State RHP with the No. 192 overall pick in the sixth round of the 2023 MLB Draft.

Smith pitched 43.0 innings this season for the Bulldogs, recording a 5.23 ERA. The Mississippi native represented his home state well, boasting 46 strikeouts in 2023 compared to just six wild pitches.

This isn’t the first year Smith has done damage on the mound. As a sophomore, Smith earned a 3.86 ERA in 72.1 innings of work. The 6-foot-1 pitcher held opposing hitters to a .221 batting average throughout the year while dishing out 66 strikeouts.

Perfect Game ranked Smith as the No. 115 overall prospect in the Class of 2020. Nonetheless, the No. 1 RHP from Mississippi. Smith will hope to provide the same fantastic pitching in an entirely foreign environment.

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.