WEYMOUTH, Mass. (July 12, 2023) — The 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft concluded Tuesday with 17 former Futures League players being selected, lifting the number of alumni who have been drafted or signed into affiliated professional baseball to over 250 since the league’s inception in 2011.
A league alumnus heard his name called in the first round for the fourth consecutive year, as Matt Shaw (Worcester ‘20-’21) became the new highest-drafted former player in league history, going off the board as the 13th overall selection of the Chicago Cubs. Shaw logged eight home runs and 11 RBI en route to earning 2020 All-Futures League honors despite playing in only 11 regular-season games prior to starting his college career at Maryland. All of the shortstop’s homers came in the last eight contests heading into the postseason.
Futures League alumni were picked in each of the first six rounds, and four rounds included multiple selections. The draft class also includes representation from seven of the league’s eight current franchises, as well as players from eight different Power Five programs and five New England schools. Twelve MLB organizations selected former Futures League players.
Click here for a full list of Futures League alumni selected.
The league finished with two alumni drafted Sunday night as Virginia star Jake Gelof (Brockton ‘20) was the second-round choice of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Another power-hitting All-FCBL performer from the memorable ‘COVID season’ of 2020, Gelof was drafted with the exact same No. 60 overall pick as his older brother Zack — who is now a top prospect in the Oakland Athletics organization — two years ago.
The Toronto Blue Jays’ third-round pick and the second straight Rox alum added to the league’s class, Oklahoma State’s Juaron Watts-Brown (Brockton ‘21) was the first former Futures League pitcher drafted. Staying on the mound, former Futures League champion left-handed pitcher Hunter Owen (Nashua ‘20) was called by the Kansas City Royals in the fourth round.
Former Rox and Wright State infielder Justin Riemer (Brockton ‘21) will look to take his career less than an hour north from Campanelli Stadium after being selected by the Boston Red Sox with a fourth-round compensation pick. Riemer is the first Futures League grad to earn a selection by New England’s team since 2021 when fast-rising righty Luis Guerrero (Brockton ‘20) was taken in the 17th round.
Two years after making history by closing out the Vermont Lake Monsters’ inaugural Futures League season with a championship, Chris Clark (Vermont ‘21) went to the Los Angeles Angels in the fifth round as the highest-drafted player out of Harvard since 2001.
In the sixth round, hard-throwing Bryant righty Coleman Picard (Worcester ‘20,‘22) became the second former Futures Leaguer drafted by Kansas City before speedy Wake Forest outfielder Tommy Hawke (Vermont ‘22) joined him on the board a short while later as a selection by the Cleveland Guardians. Hawke was a key part of a Demon Deacons team that spent much of this spring as the No. 1 team in college baseball.
Monday’s selections ended in the 10th round with reigning Northeast Conference Player of the Year and Sacred Heart shortstop Sam Mongelli (Brockton ‘22) joining Jake Gelof as a Dodgers pick.
Former Futures Leaguers were drafted in each of Tuesday’s first three rounds. Oklahoma shortstop Dakota Harris (Worcester ‘21) and Texas A&M southpaw Brandyn Garcia (Westfield ‘20) were 11th-round picks by the St. Louis Cardinals and Seattle Mariners, respectively. One of Owen’s teammates during the fifth of the Silver Knights’ six championship seasons, Kansas State second baseman Brady Day (Nashua ‘20) went to the Atlanta Braves in the 12th round.
A run of four former players with ties to the Westfield Starfires began in the 13th round when “Original Starfire” Elijah Dale (Westfield ‘19) was taken by the Mariners. Dale joined Westfield as an incoming Kansas State shortstop and earned his draft status as a pitcher after transferring to Illinois State.
Less than a year after winning the Futures League batting title with a .363 average, Skidmore’s Division 3 All-American catcher Jackson Hornung (Westfield ‘22) was a 16th-round choice of the Toronto Blue Jays. Another touted alumnus was drafted by the Miami Marlins a round later in Rhode Island outfielder Mark Coley (Pittsfield ‘19, Westfield ‘20, New Britain ‘22), who was the Futures League’s Top Pro Prospect in 2019.
The league’s latest draft class concluded in the 18th round. East Longmeadow native and Dallas Baptist righty Alec Baker (Westfield ‘20) was the Arizona Diamondbacks’ pick, while the Red Sox chose UConn relief ace Zach Fogell (Vermont ‘22) who hails from Cumberland, R.I.
For the latest news and information on the Futures League throughout the year, visit thefuturesleague.com and follow the league’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
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