Austin Strickland Selected in Eighth Round of MLB Draft by Pittsburgh Pirates

Junior RHP Austin Strickland became the first member of Kentucky Baseball’s 2023 Super Regional run to hear his name called in the 2023 MLB Draft when the Pittsburgh Pirates selected him with the 227th overall pick on Monday. Strickland becomes Pittsburgh’s sixth pick of the draft, joining #1 overall pick RHP Paul Skenes (LSU), 3B Garrett Forrester (Oregon State), RHP Carlson Reed (West Virginia), RHP Patrick Reilly (Vanderbilt), and LHP Hunter Furtado (Alabama).

8 (227): @Pirates select Kentucky (KY) P Austin Strickland https://t.co/1jUaZOCj8H #MLBDraft

— MLB Draft Tracker (@MLBDraftTracker) July 10, 2023

Strickland’s projected slot value is around $216.90. He does have one year of college eligibility remaining, so he can either decide to return to Kentucky or start his path to the majors in Pittsburgh.

After spending most of the 2023 season as a reliever, Strickland switched to a starting role near the end of the season. He was extremely efficient in his first two starts against Florida and West Virginia in the Lexington Regional, allowing just three runs over 12.2 innings pitched while striking out 13 batters. Strickland ended the 2023 season in Kentucky’s top ten for career K/9 innings.

Strickland was listed as the 257th best prospect in the draft by Future Star Series in their Top 600 2023 MLB Draft Prospects List. Here’s what MLB Draft expert Joe Doyle had to say about the 6-2 righty:

“Strickland has pitched in a few different roles over his amateur career, most recently out of the bullpen in a sneaky good Kentucky program loaded with intriguing arms. The scouts that saw him on the Cape liked him as a starter, however. Strikland will work up into the mid-90s with late life in the zone. He mixes in a tough slider and a circle-change with some arm-side fade in on righties and away from lefties. The story here will be what team believes he can start at the next level. If there’s enough believers in the long-innings outcome, Strickland could hear his name toward the second-half of day two.” Spot on.

We’ll now continue to wait and see which other ‘Cats hear their names called over the next two days. The Draft will pause after 10 rounds today, before resuming tomorrow for rounds 11-20.