2018 Amateur Draft

The 2018 First Year Player Draft was the fifty-fourth Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. It began on June 4, 2018. Contrary to previous years, there was a consensus "best player in the draft", identified early on, in Auburn University pitcher Casey Mize. While the Detroit Tigers, who held the first overall pick said they looked at other players as well, they settled on Mize on draft day. Also in contrast to the 2017 draft, when the first three picks were high schoolers, college players dominated the top of the first round, with the first five picks coming from the collegiate ranks.

Draft Order

First Round

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Hometown	Notes
1	Detroit Tigers	Casey Mize	P	Auburn University (Col.)	Springville, AL
2	San Francisco Giants	Joey Bart	C	Georgia Tech (Col.)	Buford, GA
3	Philadelphia Phillies	Alec Bohm	3B	Wichita State University (Col.)	Omaha, NE
4	Chicago White Sox	Nick Madrigal	IF	Oregon State University (Col.)	Elk Grove, CA
5	Cincinnati Reds	Jonathan India	3B	University of Florida (Col.)	Coral Springs, FL
6	New York Mets	Jarred Kelenic	OF	Waukesha West High School (H.S.)	Waukesha, WI
7	San Diego Padres	Ryan Weathers	P	Loretto High School (H.S.)	Loretto, TN
8	Atlanta Braves	Carter Stewart	P	Eau Gallie High School (H.S.)	Melbourne, FL	Did not sign
9	Oakland Athletics	Kyler Murray	OF	University of Oklahoma (Col.)	Allen, TX
10	Pittsburgh Pirates	Travis Swaggerty	OF	University of South Alabama (Col.)	Mandeville, LA
11	Baltimore Orioles	Grayson Rodriguez	P	Central Heights High School (H.S.)	Nacogdoches, TX
12	Toronto Blue Jays	Jordan Groshans	SS	Magnolia (TX) High School (H.S.)	Magnolia, TX
13	Miami Marlins	Connor Scott	OF	Henry B. Plant High School (H.S.)	Tampa, FL
14	Seattle Mariners	Logan Gilbert	P	Stetson University (Col.)	Apopka, FL
15	Texas Rangers	Cole Winn	P	Orange Lutheran High School (H.S.)	Longmont, CO
16	Tampa Bay Rays	Matthew Liberatore	P	Mountain Ridge High School (H.S.)	Glendale, AZ
17	Los Angeles Angels	Jordyn Adams	OF	Green Hope High School (H.S.)	Blythewood, SC
18	Kansas City Royals	Brady Singer	P	University of Florida (Col.)	Eustis, FL
19	St. Louis Cardinals	Nolan Gorman	3B	Sandra Day O'Connor High School (Phoenix) (H.S.)	Phoenix, AZ
20	Minnesota Twins	Trevor Larnach	OF	Oregon State University (Col.)	Pleasant Hill, CA
21	Milwaukee Brewers	Brice Turang	SS	Santiago High School (Corona) (H.S.)	Corona, CA
22	Colorado Rockies	Ryan Rolison	P	University of Mississippi (Col.)	Jackson, TN
23	New York Yankees	Anthony Seigler	C	Cartersville High School (H.S.)	Cartersville, GA
24	Chicago Cubs	Nico Hoerner	SS	Stanford University (Col.)	Oakland, CA
25	Arizona Diamondbacks	Matt McLain	2B	Beckman High School (H.S.)	Irvine, CA	Did not sign
26	Boston Red Sox	Triston Casas	1B	American Heritage School (Plantation) (H.S.)	Plantation, FL
27	Washington Nationals	Mason Denaburg	P	Merritt Island High School (H.S.)	Merritt Island, FL
28	Houston Astros	Seth Beer	OF	Clemson University (Col.)	Suwanee, GA
29	Cleveland Indians	Noah Naylor	C-SS-3B	St. Joan of Arc Catholic Secondary School (H.S.)	Mississauga, ON
30	Los Angeles Dodgers	J.T. Ginn	P	Brandon (MS) High School	Brandon, MS	Did not sign

Compensation Picks

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Hometown	Notes
31	Tampa Bay Rays	Shane McClanahan	P	University of South Florida (Coll.)	Cape Coral, FL	Compensation for the Baltimore Orioles signing Alex Cobb
32	Tampa Bay Rays	Nick Schnell	OF	Roncalli High School (Indianapolis) (H.S.)	Indianapolis, IN	Compensation for failure to sign Drew Rasmussen
33	Kansas City Royals	Jackson Kowar	P	University of Florida (Coll.)	Charlotte, NC	Compensation for the Milwaukee Brewers signing Lorenzo Cain
34	Kansas City Royals	Daniel Lynch	P	University of Virginia (Col.)	Henrico, VA	Compensation for the San Diego Padres signing Eric Hosmer
35	Cleveland Indians	Ethan Hankins	P	Forsyth Central High School (H.S.)	Cumming, GA	Compensation for the Philadelphia Phillies signing Carlos Santana

Competitive Balance Round A

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Hometown	Notes
36	Pittsburgh Pirates	Gunnar Hoglund	P	Fivay High School (H.S.)	Hudson, FL	Did not sign
37	Baltimore Orioles	Cadyn Grenier	SS	Oregon State University (Coll.)	Henderson, NV
38	San Diego Padres	Xavier Edwards	SS	North Broward Prep (H.S.)	Coconut Creek, FL
39	Arizona Diamondbacks	Jake McCarthy	OF	University of Virginia (Coll.)	Scranton, PA
40	Kansas City Royals	Kris Bubic	P	Stanford University (Coll.)	San Jose, CA
41	Cleveland Indians	Lenny Torres	P	The Beacon School (New York) (H.S.)	New York, NY
42	Colorado Rockies	Grant Lavigne	1B	Bedford (NH) High School (H.S.)	Bedford, NH
43	St. Louis Cardinals	Griffin Roberts	P	Wake Forest University (Col.)	Midlothian, VA

Notes

Nico Hoerner was the first player from the draft to make his major league debut, doing so on September 9, 2019.

Further Reading

• Jim Callis: "2018 Mock Draft: Picks 1-10; Callis and Mayo make early predictions", mlb.com, December 5, 2017. [1]
• Jim Callis: "These are the candidates to go No. 1 in the Draft", mlb.com, April 29, 2018. [2]
• Jim Callis: "Mock Draft: College players leading the way", mlb.com, May 11, 2018. [3]
• Jim Callis: "Draft: Pick-by-pick, first-round analysis", mlb.com, June 5, 2018. [4]
• Anthony Fenech: "It's official! Detroit Tigers take Casey Mize 1st overall in 2018 MLB draft", The Detroit Free Press, June 4, 2018. [5]
• Daniel Kramer: "Draft begins June 4 on MLBN, MLB.com: Tigers hold No. 1 overall pick for first time since 1997", mlb.com, May 15, 2018. [6]
• Jonathan Mayo: "Competitive Balance rounds set for 2018 Draft", mlb.com, November 16, 2017. [7]
• Jonathan Mayo: "Who's No. 1? The Top 100 Draft prospects are in", mlb.com, April 27, 2018. [8]
• Jonathan Mayo: "Pipeline Inbox: All-Ceiling Draft Prospects Team", mlb.com, May 3, 2018. [9]
• Jonathan Mayo: "By the numbers: Breaking down the '18 Draft", mlb.com, June 6, 2018. [10]
• Nick Schnider (DraftSite.com): "Auburn pitcher leads top 30 prospects for Major League Baseball draft", USA Today Sports, May 31, 2018. [11]