A team whose potential was not in doubt has been duly recognized in the first two days of the MLB draft. After catcher Kevin Parada was taken with the 11th overall pick (Mets) and middle infielder Chandler Simpson with the 70th (Rays) on the first day of the draft Sunday, four more Georgia Tech players were selected Monday afternoon, part of a record dispersal of Yellow Jackets into the draft’s first 10 rounds.
Outfielder Tres Gonzalez went in the fifth round (140th overall) to the Pirates, pitcher Zach Maxwell was selected in the sixth round (183rd pick) by the Reds, pitcher Chance Huff was drafted by the Nationals in the eighth round (231st overall) and first baseman Andrew Jenkins finished the day for coach Danny Hall’s team by getting drafted in the ninth round (267th overall) by the Tigers. None could be considered a surprise. All were ranked in the top 275 by Baseball America as draft prospects.
The six picks in the first 10 rounds are the most in team history, bettering the record of five set in four drafts (2001, 2006, 2010, 2013). It’s the most picks through the first 10 rounds among ACC teams and, according to College Baseball Hub, fifth most among all teams.
A Mount Vernon Presbyterian grad, Gonzalez hit .339, had a .458 on-base percentage and started all 60 games for the Jackets in left field, earning second-team All-ACC honors.
From North Paulding High, Maxwell led the Jackets with 84 strikeouts and had a 5-0 record along with four saves. His last performance of the season – and likely his Tech career – was monumental, holding overall No. 1 seed Tennessee to just two unearned runs in six innings while striking out 11.
Huff moved from the bullpen in the 2021 season to become Tech’s primary Friday-night starter this season. He was 5-4 with a 6.98 ERA. He had a promising 74/24 strikeout/walk ratio.
Jenkins earned first-team All-ACC and second-team All-American honors with a mammoth year at the plate – hitting .381 with 17 home runs and 70 RBIs. From Pace Academy, Jenkins ranked second in the ACC in batting average and hits (96) in addition to being named the conference’s scholar-athlete of the year for baseball.
While not a certainty, it’s most likely that all six Jackets have played their last games for Tech. Starting in 2000, Tech has had 56 players drafted in the first 10 rounds before this year. All but one of them turned professional in that draft cycle.
The six picks suggest the potential the Jackets had for a better finish than they achieved, falling to Tennessee at the NCAA regional in Knoxville, Tenn. Of the four teams to have more than six picks in the first two days of the draft, two earned top-eight national seeds (Tennessee and Oklahoma State) and the other two (Arkansas and Oklahoma) reached the College World Series.
A notable Tech high school signee, catcher Lamar King from Calvert Hall College High in Towson, Md., was selected in the fourth round (120th pick) by the Padres. King told The Baltimore Sun that he plans to sign with the Padres, meaning that Hall is now without the planned successor to Parada behind the plate. The 120th pick has a signing bonus slot value of $502,800.
The draft concludes Tuesday with rounds 11-20. Pitcher Marquis Grissom, infielders Tim Borden and Drew Compton and outfielder Colin Hall are all possibilities to be selected.
