Redshirt sophomore right-hander George Klassen was ranked as the number one overall prospect while a fellow right-hander Will Semb came in at No. 11. Sophomore second baseman Brady Counsel was listed as the No. 28 players on the list while left-handed pitcher Tucker Novotny came in at No. 38. Klassen and Semb will both be draft-eligible this spring while Counsell and Novotny will be potential 2024 MLB Draft selections.
Klassen, a Port Washington, Wis., native, missed the entire 2021 season due to Tommy-John surgery before making his Gophers debut in 2022. The former Perfect Game All-American showed premium velocity this summer, reaching triple digits with regularity with multiple recordings of 102 mph, while showing a sharp, bat-misser of a slider in the mid- to upper-80s. The quality of his stuff and the potential he has to miss a ton of bats out of a big league bullpen, at the very least, make him the top prospect in the league from the 2022 season. He’s coming off a 2022 season in which he made 11 appearances, striking out eight in 7.2 innings pitched.
Will Semb played his sophomore year at Minnesota in 2022 after transferring in from Iowa. The rising junior made 23 appearances for the maroon and gold last spring, striking out 28 hitters in 23.2 innings pitched. He also led the team with two saves. He enjoyed a quality summer in the Northwoods League, showing bat-missing stuff and continued refinement of his control in a starter role. He’s capable of working into the mid-90s with his fastball and has continued to show refinement on his slider, a pitch with late tilt and good bite that looks like it’ll be a bat-misser. The De Pere, Wis., native could see a role as a starter or a reliever at Minnesota in 2023.
Sophomore second baseman Brady Counsel made the biggest splash as a true freshman last spring for Minnesota, playing in 36 games (24 starts). He hit .200 with one home run and 10 RBI, five doubles and two triples. He then had a big summer in the Northwoods League for the Kenosha Kingfish, playing in 55 games, hitting .293 (60-for-205) with four home runs and 37 RBI (team-best). He also had 17 doubles, 24 walks and scored 37 runs while posting a .951 fielding percentage. Expect Counsell to be a main-stay at second base for the ‘U’ this upcoming spring.
Coming in as the No. 38 MLB prospect out of the Northwoods League this summer is a rising sophomore southpaw Tucker Novotny. The Cottage Grove, Minn., native made six appearances, including one start for Minnesota as a freshman in 2022. He went 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA, the best of any freshman on the team. Novotny struck out 14, walked six and gave up just six earned runs in 63 batters faced and allowed zero runs in four of his six outings. This summer, he made a team-high 13 appearances (four starts) for the Willmar Stingers. The lefty struck out a team-best 56 hitters and allowed just 16 earned runs in 39.0 innings pitched and surrendered just 15 walks with a 3.69 ERA.
Right-handed pitchers Aidan Maldonado (14th round, Milwaukee Brewers) and JP Massey (7th round, Pittsburgh Pirates) made up the 2022 MLB Draft class for the University of Minnesota. The Gophers baseball program has had players drafted in a Big Ten record 35 consecutive seasons dating back to 1988. No other Big Ten program has a draft streak longer than 11 years.