Nebraska shortstop Brice Matthews selected by Houston Astros in 2023 MLB Draft

Nebraska Cornhuskers shortstop Brice Matthews has been selected by the Houston Astros with the No. 28 overall in the first round in 2023 MLB Draft

Over three seasons with the Cornhuskers, the Nebraska playmaker continued to turn heads, as Matthews accumulated a .305 batting average, 32 home runs and 130 RBIs. 2023 was his best year with the program, as the shortstop batting .359 while hitting 20 home runs and driving in 67 runs.

Now Matthews will hope to take his immense skill on both sides of the baseball into the professional game. If he can evolve to be the type of hitting shortstop he showed to be in Lincoln, he’ll be a major player in the MLB.

Regardless, Brice Matthews can enjoy the moment of his MLB dream coming true, and he’s now on to the next chapter of his baseball career.

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.