Vanderbilt RHP Thomas Schultz selected by the Washington Nationals in 2023 MLB Draft

Another Commodore is off the board. On Monday, Vanderbilt RHP Thomas Schultz was selected by the Washington Nationals with the No. 255 overall pick in the ninth round of the 2023 MLB Draft.

Collegiate Baseball and NCBWA listed Schultz as a preseason All-American. While Schultz might not have lived up to the hype, he had a fantastic season. The 6-foot-6 pitcher recorded a 4.05 ERA in 33.1 innings pitched.

Additionally, Schultz dished out 37 strikeouts while allowing just five home runs. Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin had nothing but good things to say about Schultz.

“Thomas is a very steady kid. He has maintained a level of maturity ever since he stepped on campus. He is a tremendous asset to our team because of his versatility on our pitching staff… He is a team guy and will do what the team needs him to do. He has served many roles and done all of them well. Thomas is one of the best athletes on the team and continues to build on his strength in the weight room. He is a consistent, reliable and likable young man. I appreciate him very much,” Corbin said.

Schultz was an underdog coming out of high school. Perfect Game ranked Schultz as the No. 416 recruit in the Class of 2019. Further, Schultz was only the fifth-best RHP from Pennsylvania.

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.