Oregon Ducks pitcher Jace Stoffal selected by Twins in 2023 MLB Draft

One of the key pitchers from the 2023 Oregon Ducks baseball team has found a new home at the next level. The Ducks’ right-handed pitcher Jace Stoffal has just heard his name called in the 2023 MLB Draft as the Minnesota Twins selected him with the No. 237 overall pick.

Stoffal played two seasons at Oregon and showed significant improvement from one season to the next. In 2022, he finished the year 1-3 after starting and playing in eight games. In those eight games, Stoffal had an ERA of 5.59 with 17 strikeouts and allowed more hits (31) than he had innings pitched (29.0). In 2023 he finished the year 6-2 with an ERA of 2.83 in 10 games. Stoffal would allow 37 hits in 57.1 innings of work but more than tripled his strikeout number (56) from last year. Stoffal also had the best game of his collegiate career when he led Oregon to a 4-0 victory over the No. 7 Stanford Cardinal throwing a complete game shutout victory.

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.