Out of the SEC, it was all about the hurlers on the first night of the 2021 MLB Draft. Four SEC pitchers were taken in the first round:
- No. 2 – Vanderbilt P Jack Leiter (Texas Rangers)
- No. 10 – Vanderbilt P Kumar Rocker (New York Mets)
- No. 14 – Mississippi State P Will Bednar (San Francisco Giants)
- No. 19 – Ole Miss P Gunnar Hoglund (Toronto Blue Jays)
The 29 picks in the first round were split 15-14 among college and high school players selected. It was a 15-14 split of position players to pitchers. After the first round, Night 1 of the draft included a compensation pick and six competitive balance picks.
The Pittsburgh Pirates surprised many by taking Louisville’s Henry Davis at No. 1 overall, messing up mock drafts everywhere.
In addition to the above SEC players, 11 high school players committed and signed to SEC programs were taken on the first night, meaning they’ll have decisions to make:
- P Jackson Jobe, Ole Miss commitment (Detroit Tigers, No. 3)
- SS Jordan Lawlar, Vanderbilt SS commitment (Arizona Diamondbacks, No. 6)
- SS Brady House, Tennessee SS commitment (Washington Nationals, No. 11)
- P Andrew Painter, Florida commitment (Philadelphia Phillies, No. 13)
- SS Max Muncy, Arkansas commitment (Oakland A’s, No. 25)
- P Chase Petty, Florida commitment (Minnesota Twins, No. 26)
- SS Jackson Merrill, Kentucky commitment (San Diego Padres, No. 27)
- P Maddox Burns, Mississippi State commitment (Los Angeles Dodgers, No. 29)
- OF Jay Allen, Florida commitment (Cincinnati Reds, No. 30)
- 2B Cooper Kinney, South Carolina commitment (Tampa Bay Rays, No. 34)
- SS Noah Miller, Alabama commitment (Minnesota Twins, No. 36)
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
