SUMMER 2023 29 DBU Baseball saw a school-record eight players selected in this year’s Major League Draft. The Patriots’ eight draft selections were tied with Arizona State and the University of Tennessee for the fourth-most draft picks in the nation. In the 20-round draft that featured 614 selections, only LSU (13), Wake Forest (10), and Stanford (9) produced more draft picks than DBU in the 2023 MLB Draft. Three Patriots heard their names called in the top 10 rounds highlighted by junior right-handed pitcher Braxton Bragg, who the Baltimore Orioles selected in the EIGHT PLAYERS SELECTED IN THIS YEAR’S MAJOR LEAGUE DRAFT eighth round. DBU closer Kyle Amendt and right-handed reliever Zane Russell each went to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the ninth and 10th rounds, respectively. On day three of the draft, junior outfielder Jace Grady was the first Patriot off the board when he was taken by the Atlanta Braves in the 11th round, followed by redshirt sophomore reliever Bryson Hammer, a 12th round pick by the Colorado Rockies, and junior lefty Brady Rose, who was selected in the 13th round by the New York Yankees. Junior catcher Nate Rombach was selected five rounds later when the Washington Nationals selected him with the first pick in the 18th round. DBU’s final draft selection came 10 picks later when the Arizona Diamondbacks selected junior righthander Alec Baker. With DBU’s school record eight draft picks, the Patriots have produced 49 draft selections since 2015, ranking as the ninth-highest total in all of college baseball. Seventy-three players from DBU have been selected in the MLB Draft during Dan Heefner’s 16 years as the head coach of the Patriots.
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