2023 MLB Draft Class Highlighted by First Rounders

The 2023 Major League draft has just concluded, and the Valley League has put in a very strong showing- so strong, in fact, that it might end up being the best draft in the history of the league. A hot take for sure, but the league has never before in the modern era seen as many high picks. (We’re counting the modern era as 1996-2023, which is the span of time from which I have complete data.)

A note first- how I find these players is that I have a database of every player who appeared in a Valley League game since 1994. I go through the draft and look up every single college pick to find our guys. I do NOT, however, have the 2023 players in my database yet, so it’s possible that I have missed a few picks. If this is the case, let me know in the comments.

Now to our picks. First of all, Wyatt Langford (Charlottesville 21) went fourth overall, which is the highest pick, by three spots, in the modern era. Secondly, Rhett Lowder (Strasburg 21) was also banged in the first round, 7th overall, which ties him with Yonder Alonso (Luray 2006, drafted in 2008) and Kyle Snyder (Winchester 1997, drafted in 1999) for the second highest draft pick in the modern era.

The league also saw four picks in the third round, two in the fourth, and one in the fifth. In fact, 15 players were picked in the first ten rounds, the most since 17 were taken that high in 2014. Four of the ’14 drafted players have gone on to play in the major leagues- Sam Howard (Staunton 2012), Max Povse (Staunton 2013), Ryan Yarbrough and Austin Gomber (both played in Luray in 2012).

Overall, 33 players were picked. Since the draft was shortened to 20 rounds after the 2020 Covid-shortened draft, 33 is the most by far; 21 were picked in 2021, and only 17 in 2022.

The other two things that are clear from this draft is that three teams have the lion’s share of the picks, and 2021 was a banner year in terms of league talent. While it’s true that most draft years see one VBL season more heavily represented than others (because of when players become eligible for the draft), 2021 seems to be especially strong this year.

By VBL team:

• Charlottesville- 10 (nine from 2021)
• Strasburg and Waynesboro- 8 (Express have six from 2021; Generals have four)
• Winchester, Harrisonburg, and Purcellville- 2
• New Market and Woodstock- 1
• Staunton, Covington, Front Royal, and Culpeper have none (Since this is year one for Culpeper, they obviously get a pass)

(If you count them up, there will appear to be an extra pick in there- it’s because Edrick Felix played for Woodstock in ’21 and Waynesboro in ’22- so both teams get him.)

I’ll stop the commentary now, but here is the entire list as I have it:

Round	Overall Pick	Name	Position	College	ML Team	VBL Team
1	4	Wyatt Langford	OF	Florida	Texas	Charlottesville 21
1	7	Rhett Lowder	RHP	Wake Forest	Cincinnati	Strasburg 21
3	80	Jack Hurley	OF	Virginia Tech	Arizona	Charlottesville 21
3	85	Cole Foster	SS	Auburn	San Francisco	Charlottesville 21
3	84	Seth Keener	RHP	Wake Forest	Chicago WS	New Market 21
3	94	Sabin Ceballos	SS	Oregon	Atlanta	Winchester 21
4	123	Wyatt Hudepohl	RHP	UNC Charlotte	New York M	Waynesboro 21
4	125	Cooper Ingle	C	Clemson	Cleveland	Charlottesville 21
5	158	Zach Levenson	OF	Miami	St.Louis	Waynesboro 21
6	166	Jonah Cox	OF	Oral Roberts	Oakland	Strasburg 22
6	181	Jacob Cravey	RHP	Samford	Baltimore	Strasburg 21
9	275	Christian Worley	RHP	Virginia Tech	St.Louis	Charlottesville 21
9	277	RJ Schreck	OF	Vanderbilt	Seattle	Harrisonburg 19
10	293	Xavier Meachem	RHP	North Carolina A&T	Miami	Winchester 21
10	298	Ryan Ammons	LHP	Clemson	Boston	Strasburg 21
11	340	Carson Hobbs	RHP	Samford	Los Angeles D	Waynesboro 22
12	355	Sam Knowlton	RHP	South Alabama	Arizona	Purcellville 19
12	366	Brady Kirtner	RHP	Virginia Tech	New York M	Charlottesville 21-22
13	389	Ryan Galanie	3B	Wofford	Chicago WS	Strasburg 21
13	403	Marty Gair	RHP	Florida SouthWestern	Philadelphia	Charlottesville 22
14	405	Elijah Nunez	OF	TCU	Washington	Charlottesville 21
14	407	Garrett McMillan	RHP	Alabama	Pittsburgh	Strasburg 22
14	409	Mason Miller	LHP	Florida Gulf Coast	Kansas City	Waynesboro 21
14	419	Edrick Felix	2B	Florida Gulf Coast	Chicago WS	Wood 21, Way 22
14	424	Joe Vogatsky	RHP	JMU	Toronto	Purcellville 21,22
14	429	Mitch Farris	LHP	Wingate	Atlanta	Harrisonburg 22
16	487	Caleb Cali	3B	Arkansas	Seattle	Waynesboro 22
17	513	Hayden Snelsire	RHP	Randolph-Macon	Tampa Bay	Waynesboro 21
18	547	Daniel Ouderkirk	RHP	Penn State	Seattle	Strasburg 21,22
20	594	Mac McCroskey	SS	Oral Roberts	Los Angeles A	Strasburg 21
20	599	Garrett Wright	RHP	TCU	Chicago WS	Charlottesville 21
20	601	Jalen Vasquez	SS	North Greenville	Baltimore	Waynesboro 22
20	613	Pierce Bennett	2B	Wake Forest	Philadelphia	Charlottesville 21