The first round of the MLB Draft was highlighted by an army of SEC and ACC players. The SEC and ACC led all conferences with six picks in the first round of the MLB draft. Heston Kjerstad out of Arkansas was one of the biggest surprise movers of the day. His lefty bat is regarded as one of the most powerful in this year's draft class.
The full list of SEC picks in the first round:
2. Heston Kjerstad (Arkansas)
4. Asa Lacy (Texas A&M)
5. Austin Martin (Vanderbilt)
6. Emerson Handcock (Georgia)
11. Garrett Crochet (Tennessee)
14. Justin Foscue (Mississippi State)
Jordan Westburg (Mississippi State) was selected 30th overall and was the first pick in the Competitive Balance Round A. Carmen Mlodzinski (South Carolina) followed as the 31st pick, and Tanner Burns (Auburn) was selected 36th.
Louisville saw two-thirds of their weekend rotation picked in the first round of the MLB Draft. In sum, six ACC players were picked in the first round of the MLB Draft, including:
10. Reid Detmers (Louisville)
13. Patrick Bailey (NC State)
18. Bryce Jarvis (Duke)
25. Jared Shuster (Wake Forest)
28. Aaron Sabato (North Carolina)
29. Bobby Miller (Louisville)
Slade Cecconi (Miami) was picked in the competitive balance round at number 33.
Despite the SEC and ACC leading in terms of total picks, the Pac-12 saw one of their players picked 1/1. Arizona State's slugger, Spencer Torkelson, was picked by the Detroit Tigers in the first overall slot. The Tigers anticipate moving Torkelson from 1B to 3B.
The Pac-12's other first round picks were Garrett Mitchell (UCLA), selected 20th overall by Milwaukee, and Austin Wells (Arizona), selected 28th by the Yankees. Alika Williams (Arizona State) was selected in the competitive balance round at 37.
The Big Ten, Big XII, and WAC each saw one player drafted in the first round of the MLB Draft. From the Big Ten, Max Meyer (Minnesota) was picked third overall by Miami. Nick Gonzales (New Mexico State) was picked seventh and Cade Cavalli (Oklahoma) was picked 22nd. Nick Loftin (Baylor) was picked 32nd overall in the competitive balance round.
The first round saw 18 college players drafted.
The MLB Draft has been reduced from 40 rounds to just five in 2020 and will likely be 20 rounds in 2021. The second through fifth rounds will air on ESPN2 and MLB Network Thursday beginning at 5 PM ET.
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