Dylan Campbell, Lucas Gordon, one signee picked on Day 2 of the MLB Draft
Two players from the 2023 Texas Longhorns baseball team and one member of UT’s 2023 signing class were picked on day two of the 2023 MLB Draft on Monday. Just as notable for David Pierce’s club was who wasn’t picked ahead of the final day of the draft on Tuesday.
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2023 signee and Round Rock (Texas) right-handed pitcher Travis Sykora was the first Longhorn or future Longhorn taken off the board. The 6-foot-6, 232-pound right-hander with a fastball that touches 101 mph was picked by the Washington Nationals with the 71st overall selection. The bonus value for the 71st overall pick was $1.021 million. The Nationals had the third-largest bonus pool in the 2023 draft behind the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Tigers, with $14.5 million at their disposal.
From the current squad outfielder Dylan Campbell and left-handed pitcher Lucas Gordon were both picked on Tuesday.
Campbell, who hit .339 and recorded a Texas and Big 12 record 38-game hitting streak in 2023, was picked with the 136th overall selection by the Los Angeles Dodgers. A third-team All-American and a first-team All-Big 12 pick, Campbell surged up draft boards thanks to his standout campaign that showed hints of five-tool ability. The bonus value ascribed to the fourth-round pick was $473,7000.
Gordon, the 2023 Big 12 pitcher of the year, was picked with the 179th overall selection by the Chicago White Sox. A first-team All-American according to Collegiate Baseball, Gordon was 7-2 with a 2.63 ERA with 102.2 innings pitched and 103 strikeouts in 2023. The bonus value ascribed to the sixth-round pick is $317,400.
Several notable Longhorns and a highly-rated signee did not hear their name called in the first 10 rounds, an important point of demarcation when speaking about the MLB Draft. Any pick in rounds 11-20 do not have slot values assigned to them, and teams are slightly more willing to let prospects they pick in these rounds walk without an agreement since it won’t penalize their future bonus pools.
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Starting pitchers Tanner Witt and Lebarron Johnson did not get drafted on Monday, greatly increasing the chances of their returns to the program in 2023. Witt was MLB.com’s No. 76 prospect in this year’s draft while Johnson earned the No. 173 ranking.
Also left unselected was Los Angeles (Calif.) Harvard-Westlake outfielder Will Gasparino. A 6-foot-6, 215-pound outfielder and the son of the director of amateur scouting for the Los Angeles Dodgers indicated he’d make it to the 40 Acres in a social media post.
No other member of Texas’ 2023 class was drafted on Monday. The class was ranked by Perfect Game as the No. 11 class in the country and the No. 1 group in the Big 12 with Sykora and Gasparino as the lone top-100 prospects.
The Longhorns will pay close attention to what happens on Tuesday. In addition to Witt and Johnson, catcher Garret Guillemette, outfielder Porter Brown, and right-hander Zane Morehouse were not selected.
Rounds 11-20 will take place Tuesday beginning at 1 p.m. Central.
