2015 Amateur Draft

The 2015 First Year Player Draft was the fifty-first Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. It began on June 8, 2015.

Because they failed to sign the first overall pick in the 2014 amateur draft, Brady Aiken, the Houston Astros ended up with two picks in the top five, the first team to do so: they got the second overall pick in compensation of Aiken's failure to sign with them, and the 5th overall based on their finish during the season; they also held two more picks within the top 50. For his part, Aiken was selected again in the first round, although this time he fell to #17 because of concerns over his health; he signed a contract quickly this time, however.

Six years after the draft, the top two picks, Dansby Swanson and Bregman faced off in the 2021 World Series as key players for their respective teams, the Atlanta Braves (Swanson had been traded there in a disastrous trade for Arizona one year after being selected first overall) and the Astros. Both were drafted as shortstops - Bregman quickly switched to third base - and there was a lot of discussion before the draft about who was the better prospect.

Draft Order

First Round

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Hometown	Notes
1	Arizona Diamondbacks	Dansby Swanson	SS	Vanderbilt University (Col.)	Marietta, GA
2	Houston Astros	Alex Bregman	SS	Louisiana State University (Col.)	Albuquerque, NM	compensation for failure to sign 2014 Pick Brady Aiken
3	Colorado Rockies	Brendan Rodgers	SS	Lake Mary High School (HS)	Lake Mary, FL
4	Texas Rangers	Dillon Tate	RHP	University of California, Santa Barbara (Col.)	Claremont, CA
5	Houston Astros	Kyle Tucker	OF	Henry B. Plant High School (HS)	Tampa, FL
6	Minnesota Twins	Tyler Jay	LHP	University of Illinois (Col.)
7	Boston Red Sox	Andrew Benintendi	OF	University of Arkansas (Col.)
8	Chicago White Sox	Carson Fulmer	RHP	Vanderbilt University (Col.)	Winter Haven, FL
9	Chicago Cubs	Ian Happ	OF	University of Cincinnati (Col.)
10	Philadelphia Phillies	Cornelius Randolph	SS	Griffin High School (HS)	Griffin, GA
11	Cincinnati Reds	Tyler Stephenson	C	Kennesaw Mountain High School (HS)	Kennesaw, GA
12	Miami Marlins	Josh Naylor	1B	St. Joan of Arc Catholic Secondary School (HS)	Mississauga, ON
13	Tampa Bay Rays	Garrett Whitley	OF	Niskayuna High School (HS)	Niskayuna, NY
14	Atlanta Braves	Kolby Allard	LHP	San Clemente High School (HS)	San Clemente, CA
15	Milwaukee Brewers	Trent Clark	OF	Richland High School (HS)	Fort Worth, TX
16	New York Yankees	James Kaprielian	RHP	UCLA (Col.)
17	Cleveland Indians	Brady Aiken	LHP	IMG Academy	San Diego, CA
18	San Francisco Giants	Phillip Bickford	RHP	College of Southern Nevada (Col.)	Ventura, CA
19	Pittsburgh Pirates	Kevin Newman	SS	University of Arizona (Col.)
20	Oakland Athletics	Richie Martin	SS	University of Florida (Col.)
21	Kansas City Royals	Ashe Russell	RHP	Cathedral High School (Indianapolis) (HS)	Indianapolis, IN
22	Detroit Tigers	Beau Burrows	RHP	Weatherford High School (HS)	Weatherford, TX
23	St. Louis Cardinals	Nick Plummer	OF	Brother Rice High School (Bloomfield Hills) (HS)	Bloomfield Hills, MI
24	Los Angeles Dodgers	Walker Buehler	RHP	Vanderbilt University (Col.)	Lexington, KY
25	Baltimore Orioles	D.J. Stewart	OF	Florida State University (Col.)
26	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	Taylor Ward	C	Fresno State University (Col.)	Indio, CA

Compensation Round A

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Hometown	Notes
27	Colorado Rockies	Mike Nikorak	RHP	Stroudsburg High School (HS)	Stroudsburg, PA	Compensation pick for the New York Mets signing Michael Cuddyer
28	Atlanta Braves	Michael Soroka	RHP	Bishop Carroll High School (HS)	Calgary, AB	Compensation pick for the Minnesota Twins signing Ervin Santana
29	Toronto Blue Jays	Jon Harris	RHP	Missouri State University (Col.)		Compensation pick for the Chicago White Sox signing Melky Cabrera
30	New York Yankees	Kyle Holder	SS	University of San Diego (Col.)		Compensation pick for the Chicago White Sox signing David Robertson
31	San Francisco Giants	Chris Shaw	1B	Boston College (Col.)		Compensation pick for the Boston Red Sox signing Pablo Sandoval
32	Pittsburgh Pirates	Ke'Bryan Hayes	3B	Concordia Lutheran High School (HS)	Tomball, TX	Compensation pick for the Toronto Blue Jays signing Russell Martin
33	Kansas City Royals	Nolan Watson	RHP	Lawrence North High School (HS)	Indianapolis, IN	Compensation pick for the San Diego Padres signing James Shields
34	Detroit Tigers	Christin Stewart	IF	University of Tennessee (Col.)	Lawrenceville, GA	Compensation pick for the Washington Nationals signing Max Scherzer
35	Los Angeles Dodgers	Kyle Funkhouser	RHP	University of Louisville (Col.)		Compensation pick for the Boston Red Sox signing Hanley Ramirez Did not sign
36	Baltimore Orioles	Ryan Mountcastle	IF	Paul J. Hagerty High School (HS)		Compensation pick for the Seattle Mariners signing Nelson Cruz

Competitive Balance Round A

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Hometown	Notes
37	Houston Astros	Daz Cameron	OF	Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy (HS)	McDonough, GA	Traded by Marlins to Astros as part of five-player deal for Jarred Cosart
38	Colorado Rockies	Tyler Nevin	3B	Poway High School (HS)
39	St. Louis Cardinals	Jake Woodford	P	Plant High School (HS)	Tampa, FL
40	Milwaukee Brewers	Nathan Kirby	P	University of Virginia (Col.)
41	Atlanta Braves	Austin Riley	3B/P	DeSoto Central High School (HS)		Traded by Padres to Braves as part of six-player deal for Craig Kimbrel
42	Cleveland Indians	Triston McKenzie	P	Royal Palm Beach High School (HS)

Notes

Carson Fulmer (#8) was the first player from the draft to reach the major leagues, making his debut on July 17, 2016. He was followed on July 23rd by Alex Bregman (#2), who became the first position player from the draft to make the Show.

Further Reading

• Jim Callis: "Draft: Pick-by-pick, first-round analysis", mlb.com, June 8, 2015. [1]
• Spencer Fordin: "Shortstop trio atop Draft makes history: Displaying depth at position, Swanson, Bregman, Rodgers are first three picks", mlb.com, June 8, 2015. [2]
• Jake Lourim: "Diamondbacks take Dansby Swanson with No. 1 overall pick", USA Today Sports, June 8, 2015. [3]
• Brian McTaggart: "Bregman, Swanson forever linked by Draft: Top two picks from 2015 face off in World Series", mlb.com, October 26, 2021. [4]