Hundreds of the top prospects in baseball saw their dreams come to fruition as part of the 2023 MLB Draft, including many of those who got their start on the Little League® field.
Below are all the names of the former Little Leaguers® who were selected among the first 75 picks of the 2023 MLB Draft, including a number of graduates who played in the Little League World Series as noted.
Pick | MLB Team | Player | Little League |
1 | Pittsburgh Pirates | Paul Skenes | Lake Forest (Calif.) LL |
2 | Washington Nationals | Dylan Crews | Lake Mary (Fla.) LL |
3 | Detroit Tigers | Max Clark | Franklin (IN.) LL |
11 | Los Angeles Angels | Nolan Schanuel | West Boynton Beach LL (Lake Worth, FL.) |
13 | Chicago Cubs | Matt Shaw | Quaboag Valley LL (Holland, MA.) |
16 | San Francisco | Bryce Eldridge | Vienna (VA.) National LL |
30 | Seattle Mariners | Tai Peete | Peachtree City (Ga.) American LL – 2018 LLBWS |
33 | Milwaukee Brewers | Josh Knoth | North Patchogue Medford (N.Y.) AM LL |
37 | Detroit Tigers | Kevin McGonigle | Drexel Hill (Pa.) LL |
38 | Cincinnati Reds | Ty Floyd | Rockmart (Ga.) LL |
40 | Washington Nationals | Yohandy Morales | Kendall LL (Miami, Fla.) |
41 | Oakland Athletics | Ryan Lasko | Jackson Township (N.J.) LL |
42 | Pittsburgh Pirates | Mitch Jebb | Swan Valley LL (Saginaw, Mich.) |
43 | Cincinnati Reds | Sammy Stafura | Cortlandt (N.Y.) American LL |
46 | Colorado Rockies | Sean Sullivan | Andover (Mass.) National LL |
49 | Minnesota Twins | Luke Keaschall | Pajaro Valley LL (Watsonville, Calif.) |
58 | Cleveland Guardians | Alex Clemmey | Middletown (R.I.) LL |
60 | Los Angeles Dodgers | Jake Gelof | Rehobeth Beach (Del.) LL |
61 | Houston Astros | Alonzo Tredwell | Trabuco Canyon (Calif.) LL |
62 | Cleveland Guardians | Andrew Walters | Palm Bay (Fla.) East LL |
64 | Arizona Diamondbacks | Caden Grice | Northwood LL (Taylors, S.C.) |
65 | Colorado Rockies | Cole Carrigg | Turlock (Calif.) National LL |
66 | Kansas City Royals | Carson Roccaforte | Port Neches (Texas) LL |
70 | Atlanta Braves | Cade Kuehler | Weddington (N.C.) LL |
75 | Kansas City Royals | Hiro Wyatt | Westport (Conn.) LL |
Tai Peete is playing in the Little League World Series for the Southeast Region Champions. But he isn’t the first member of his family to take part in a World Series Tournament event.
Full Story: https://t.co/pyh8uOJlKw pic.twitter.com/QnoCxyeHri— Little League (@LittleLeague) August 22, 2018
In addition to those noted above from the Top 75 selected, below are a number of other notable Little League World Series alumni who were selected in this year’s draft:
- Scott Bandura – San Francisco Giants (Round 7, Pick 210 Overall) – Taney LL (Philadelphia, Pa.) – 2014 LLBWS
- John Lopez – Pittsburgh Pirates (Round 15, Pick 437 Overall) – Radames Lopez LL (Guayama, P.R.) – 2018 LLBWS
- Blake Money – Baltimore Orioles (Round 12, Pick 361 Overall) – South Nashville (Tenn.) LL – 2013, ‘14 LLBWS
- Nate Nankil – Oakland Athletics (Round 7, Pick 196 Overall) – Sweetwater Valley LL (Bonita, Calif.) – 2015 LLBWS
- Carson Rucker – Detroit Tigers (Round 4, Pick 107 Overall) – Goodlettsville (Tenn.) Baseball LL – 2016 LLBWS
- Jared Wegner – New York Yankees (Round 9, Pick 282 Overall) – Kearney (Neb.) LL – 2012 LLBWS
Along with the LLBWS grads, the second ever French baseball player to be drafted, Mathias Lacombe, also got his start playing for Nouvelle-Aquitaine Little League.
Bravo à Mathias Lacombe drafté par les @whitesox au 12e tour de la draft @MLB 2023. Il devient le deuxième français formé en métropole à être drafté par une franchise MLB après Joris Bert (2007, LA Dodgers). pic.twitter.com/MtS0HdaKQz
— France Baseball Softball ⚾️ 🥎🖐 (@ffbs_baseball) July 11, 2023
To learn more about other former Little Leaguers who went on to play in the MLB, including a list of active alumni, visit LittleLeague.org/Alumni.
NOTE: If you know of a Little League graduate that would fit into any of these categories and is not listed, please complete the Little League Alumni Submission form.