The Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft kicks off the festivities for the 2023 MLB All-Star Game in Seattle.
The first and second rounds of the 20-round draft start Sunday with the Pittsburgh Pirates holding the No. 1 pick.
Round 1 of the draft starts at 7 pm EST at Lumen Field, the home of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. Rounds 3-10 will be held on Monday and the draft concludes Tuesday with Rounds 11-20.
Rounds 1 and 2 will be streamed on ESPN and MLB Network, while the rest of the draft can be watched on MLB.com.
Here’s a look at potential draft prospects from Florida State, Florida A&M, and the Big Bend Preps scene.
Five Florida State players are listed in the Prospects Live Top 500 draft rankings.
Right-hander Jackson Baumeister is the top-ranked FSU player at No. 58. Baumeister finished 2023 with a 5-5 record with a 5.09 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 69 innings. He finished 21st nationally with 12.39 strikeouts per nine innings. His 14-strikeout performance against Clemson on April 6 earned him ACC and National Pitcher of the Week.
Left-handed starter Wyatt Crowell is listed at No. 228. Crowell posted a 0.87 ERA in 20 ⅔ innings to go along with 33 strikeouts and 11 walks in five appearances. He started once in his final appearance of the 2023 season against Pittsburgh. He underwent Tommy John Surgery to repair the Ulnar Collateral Ligament in his left elbow in April.
Right-handed pitcher, Carson Montgomery, entered the transfer portal earlier this week. He is ranked at No. 293. He started the 2023 season as the Opening Day and Friday night starter but was demoted to the bullpen. He finished with a 7.00 ERA over 45 innings with 42 strikeouts and 39 walks.
Shortstop Jordan Carrion is ranked No. 463 on the list. In 2023, he hit .265 with 48 hits, 10 doubles and three triples, to go along with 24 runs, 26 RB, 14 walks and four stolen bases.
Ethan Chenault, a right-handed transfer from UNC Wilmington, is ranked at No. 377 on the list. He pitched 47 ⅔ innings this season with a 4.91 ERA, allowing 28 runs on 34 hits, walking 24 and striking out 59. He went 3-1 in 17 appearances.
Among FSU 2023 signees, Arjun Nimmala, from Strawberry Crest High (Dover), is the highest-ranked at No. 12. He is expected to go Round 1 and is unlikely to make it to campus. Another shortstop Cal Fisher, from Deerfield High in Deerfield, Wisconsin, is ranked No. 381.
Three outfielders also crank the list, led by Andrew Duncan, from A3 Academy in Dunedin, is ranked No. 295. Brody DeLamielleure (Bartram Trail, St. Augustine) is 365th and Justin Best from Combine Academy (Cornelius, North Carolina) is ranked 485th.
Florida A&M Rattlers
The last FAMU player selected in the MLB Draft was first baseman Aubrey McCarty in 2017 when he was selected in the 26th round by the Colorado Rockies.
Hunter Viets, right-handed pitcher, was FAMU’s ace for the last two seasons, finishing with a 16-6 record on the mound.
Viets, who transferred from NCAA Division II Auburn at Montgomery, had a 3.45 ERA and struck out 81 batters in 16 games on the way to the Rattlers winning their first Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Championship in program history by beating Bethune Cookman last May. The Pensacola native was named All-SWAC Second Team in both his years with the Rattlers.
Ty Hanchey, catcher, is a graduated senior for the Rattlers and won two conference titles with two separate teams.
In 2021, he helped fellow Division I HBCU Norfolk State win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championship. And this year, he was key to FAMU winning the SWAC. Hanchey played his final season of college baseball, concluding it with a .352 batting average, 76 hits, and 11 homeruns in 2022-2023.
The Virginia Beach native became the first-ever FAMU player to be named to a NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team for his performance in the Gainesville Regional, where the Rattlers faltered by three runs apiece to the eventual Men’s College World Series runner-ups Florida and No. 10 ranked UConn.
Viets and Hanchey both played in Friday’s inaugural HBCU Swingman Classic as part of MLB All-Star Weekend in Seattle.
Jared Weber, third baseman, is a local product out of Wakulla High. The graduated senior helped the Rattlers win the 2019 MEAC title and the 2023 SWAC Championship during his five years at FAMU. Weber finished 2022-2023 with a .313 batting average, 74 hits, 11 homeruns, and a team-leading five triples. He was named to the 2021 All-MEAC Third Team and made the 2022 All-SWAC Tournament Team.
Zach Morea, pitcher, is another local player for FAMU out of Chiles High School. He had a positive postseason showing, picking up four saves in the Rattlers’ final four wins to survive and prevail in the double-elimination SWAC Tournament. Morea was named the 2023 SWAC Tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) for his efforts.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Who could be drafted for FSU and FAMU in the MLB Draft in Seattle?