Seven amateur players are among the guests scheduled to attend the opening night of Major League Baseball’s 2023 Draft on Sunday, July 9^th at Lumen Field in Seattle.  The opening night of the Draft, broadcast live on ESPN and MLB Network with a simulcast on MLB.com, will feature the first 70 picks of the Draft before continuing on Monday with the start of the third round.

The seven scheduled attendees include outfielder Colton Ledbetter from Mississippi State University; right-handed pitcher Noble Meyer from Jesuit High School (OR); right-handed pitcher Charlee Soto from Reborn Christian Academy (FL); third baseman Brayden Taylor from Texas Christian University; right-handed pitcher Juaron Watts-Brown from Oklahoma State University; shortstop Jacob Wilson from Grand Canyon University; and shortstop Nazzan Zanetello from Christian Brothers College High School (MO).

A total of 64 amateur players all-time have attended the Draft, including three-time American League Most Valuable Player, 11-time All-Star and 2012 AL Rookie of the Year Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels (2009); 2015 AL Rookie of the Year and 2012 number one overall selection Carlos Correa of the Minnesota Twins; 2016 AL Rookie of the Year and five-time All-Star Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees (2013); 2017 number two overall selection Hunter Greene of the Cincinnati Reds; 2021 top overall selection Henry Davis of the Pittsburgh Pirates; two-time All-Star Tim Anderson of the Chicago White Sox (2013); Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm (2018); Orioles outfielder Aaron Hicks (2008); and Angels shortstop Zach Neto (2022).

The Draft is scheduled for July 9^th-11^th during All-Star Week in Seattle.  The Draft will feature 20 rounds across the three days, including the first two rounds, compensatory rounds and competitive balance rounds on the opening night of the Draft. The Draft will begin exclusively on MLB Network, ESPN and MLB.com on Sunday, July 9^th at 7:00 p.m. (ET)/4:00 p.m. (PT).  The Draft will resume at 2:00 p.m. (ET)/11:00 a.m. (PT) on Monday, July 10^th with the first pick in Round 3, and will continue through Round 10 on MLB.com.  Day three of the Draft on Tuesday, July 11^th will begin at 2:00 p.m. (ET)/11:00 a.m. (PT), featuring picks in rounds 11-20 on MLB.com.

The order of the first six picks in the Draft were determined via MLB’s inaugural Draft Lottery held at the Winter Meetings in December.  Starting with the seventh selection, the remaining order is determined by the reverse order of finish at the close of the previous championship season among the remaining non-Postseason teams with Postseason teams ordered by their finish in the 2023 Postseason (i.e., the Houston Astros will have the last selection in the first round after winning the 2022 World Series).  For the sixth time in history, the Pittsburgh Pirates will have the first overall selection of the Draft.  Previously, Pittsburgh drafted infielder Jeff King (1986); right-handed pitchers Kris Benson (1996), Bryan Bullington (2002) and Gerrit Cole (2011); and Davis (2021).  The Seattle Mariners have a Major League-best four picks on the Draft’s opening night, followed by 15 different Clubs which have three picks apiece (AZ, ATL, BAL, CIN, CLE, COL, DET, KC, MIA, MIL, MIN, OAK, PIT, SF, TB).

In addition to ESPN’s broadcast coverage, the MLB Draft will be available on the ESPN App, and for the first time, the entirety of the Draft’s opening night will be available on ESPN+.  Karl Ravech will host the Draft for ESPN with analysts Eduardo Perez, Jessica Mendoza, Kyle Peterson, Chris Burke and Xavier Scruggs as well as MLB Insiders Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel.

For the 15^th consecutive year, MLB Network will produce comprehensive coverage of the MLB Draft presented by Nike.  MLB Network will air the first 70 picks on Sunday, July 9^th, beginning live at 7:00 p.m. (ET) from Lumen Field inside the Capital One PLAY BALL PARK.  MLB Network’s Greg Amsinger, Melanie Newman, Dan O’Dowd, Harold Reynolds, Xavier Scruggs, College World Series winning LSU head baseball coach Jay Johnson, MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis and Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo will provide pick-by-pick analysis and breakdowns throughout the night.  Footage from Club draft rooms, extensive highlight packages, player profiles, and interviews with newly-drafted players and front office personnel will be part of the telecast.  Preview coverage will begin at 6:00 p.m. (ET) with a one-hour program leading up to the first selection.

MLB Network’s MLB Draft coverage follows its recent exclusive on-site coverage of Major League Baseball and USA Baseball’s MLB Draft Combine, which recently took place at Chase Field, the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks.  For more than ten hours across two days, MLB Network covered more than 200 of the top high school and college baseball prospects as they underwent a pro-style showcase workout.  Following ESPN and MLB Network’s coverage on Sunday, July 17^th, MLB.com will exclusively cover the remainder of the Draft with Day Two set for Monday, July 18^th at 2:00 p.m. (ET), and Day Three scheduled to also begin at 2:00 p.m. (ET).

The MLB Network Radio channel on SiriusXM will also offer live on-site MLB Draft coverage from Lumen Field to listeners nationwide.  SiriusXM’s Grant Paulsen, Mike Ferrin and former MLB general managers Jim Duquette and Jim Bowden will host Sunday, July 9^th starting at 6:00 p.m. (ET) and will provide live pick-by-pick analysis throughout the first round on SiriusXM channel 89 and with your phone on the SXM App.

COURTESY MLB MEDIA RELATIONS & MLBpressbox.com