Miami Hurricanes match program record with 6 players picked in top 200 of 2023 MLB draft
The 2023 MLB draft is already a historic one for the Miami Hurricanes.
After surprisingly watching Yohandy Morales slide out of the first round Sunday, Miami still wound up with six players in the top 200 of the MLB draft this week, matching the program record for a single draft.
The Hurricanes also had six players go in the first 200 picks of the 2008 MLB draft.
The six Miami players to go in the top 200 this year were: Morales at No. 40 to the Nationals as the top pick in Round 2 on Sunday, pitcher Andrew Walters at No. 62 to the Cardinals right before the end of Day 1, outfielder C.J. Kayfus also to Cleveland at No. 93 in Round 5, pitcher Alejandro Rosario to the Rangers at No. 144 in Round 4, outfielder Zach Levenson to the Cardinals at No. 158 later in the fifth round and shortstop Dominic Pitelli to the Reds at No. 198 in Round 7.
Five Hurricanes got picked on Day 2 on Monday after Morales and Walters went on the first.
Except for Pitelli, all six Miami players were ranked among the top 250 prospects in the draft, according to MLB.com. Except for Walters, all were juniors and all six have one season of eligibility remaining — Walters has his because of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted his freshman year at Eastern Florida State College, a junior college in Melbourne, in 2020. They’ll now have to decide whether to sign with their new teams or come back for another season in Coral Gables, but players picked in the first 10 rounds almost always wind up signing to start their professional careers.
Aside from Morales’, every player’s draft position exceeded their projection. Walters, Kayfus, Rosario, Levenson and Pitelli all went more than 50 spots higher than projections, while Morales went 20 spots lower.
Still, Morales appears set on heading to Washington and will finish his college career with the fourth most home runs in Hurricanes history. He was a third-team All-American last season, according to the American Baseball Coaches Association.
“I went further than I thought I was going to go, but at the end of the day it happened for a reason,” Morales told reporters Sunday. “I’m in a great organization now and I will do everything I can to help the team win games.”
Walters, who was perhaps the best relief pitcher in the country throughout his three years in Miami, then went to the Guardians in Competitive Balance Round B to close out Day 1. The right-handed pitcher posted a 1.24 ERA in 102 innings, almost all of which were out of the bullpen, and was an unanimous All-American last year.
“He’s another guy who does it with a big fastball,” Cleveland senior vice president of scouting told reporters Sunday. “He has a really unique fastball up to 99 mph.”
Miami didn’t have to wait long for another player to be picked on the second day of the draft, either. Kayfus went before the end of the third round after batting .348 last year and it kicked off another run of Hurricanes on Day 2.
Rosario was next in Round 5, with Texas taking a shot on the right-handed pitcher’s potential despite Rosario posting an ERA worse than 7.00 in each of the last two years. Levenson went 14 picks later and Pitelli, who wasn’t ranked among the top 250 prospects in the draft, then rounded out the historic start to the draft by sneaking into the top 200.
Kayfus and Pitelli were both second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selections last season, and Levenson garnered third-team honors. Morales and Walters both got first-team All-ACC nods, in addition to their All-America accolades.
This story was originally published July 10, 2023 at 5:51 PM.
