Virginia catcher Kyle Teel, the ACC Player of the Year and consensus All-American who led the Cavaliers to the College World Series, was selected in the first round with the 14th overall pick by the Boston Red Sox in the Major League Baseball amateur draft Sunday evening.
Teel, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound junior from New Jersey, is UVA’s first top-15MLB draft pick since first baseman Pavin Smith and outfielder Adam Haseley were selected seventh and eighth overall, respectively, in 2017.
MLB.com estimated Teel’s pick value at $4.66 million.
Teel started all 65 games this season for a UVA team that finished 50-15 and won its Charlottesville Regional and a Super Regional at home in the NCAA Tournament. The Cavaliers went 0-2 in the College World Series, losing a pair of one-run games to Florida and Texas Christian.
Teel finished the season with a .407 batting average — sixth-highest in UVA history — and became just the third Cavalier since 1985 to bat over .400. Teel also had 25 doubles, a career-high 13 home runs and 65 RBIs. His 105 hits ranked fourth in the country.
Behind the plate, Teel managed a Cavalier pitching staff that boasted the fourth-lowest ERA in college baseball. He was the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award winner and was named a first-team All-American by six publications.
Teel’s career batting average was .343 — 10th in UVA history — and he ranks among the Cavaliers’ top 10 all-time in career home runs, runs scored, total bases and doubles.
Pittsburgh selected hard-throwing LSU right-hander Paul Skenes with the top pick.
Skenes went 12-3 with 209 strikeouts in 122 innings in helping lead the Tigers to the College World Series championship. The pick was announced by Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., the top pick of the 1987 draft by the Seattle Mariners.
Skenes was the first college pitcher selection No. 1 overall since Casey Mize by Detroit in 2018.
For the second time in three years, the Pirates held the top overall selection after picking catcher Henry Davis at the top of the 2021 draft. Davis made his major league debut last month for Pittsburgh.
It seemed to be a debate between Skenes and LSU’s Dylan Crews for the top pick. Crews, who hit .426 with 18 home runs while playing center field for the Tigers, was chosen No. 2 by Washington — marking the first time college teammates were taken with the top two picks.
Skenes’ slot value is expected to be about $9.7 million.
Detroit selected high school outfielder Max Clark from Franklin, Indiana, at No. 3. Clark was the Gatorade national Player of the Year after hitting .646 with six homers and 33 RBIs during his high school season.
Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford went No. 4 to Texas, and high school outfielder Walker Jenkins, from Oak Island, North Carolina, went fifth to Minnesota.
Oakland took college shortstop Jacob Wilson, the son of former major league shortstop Jack Wilson, from Grand Canyon at No. 6.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
