There was little doubt that consensus All-American catcher Kevin Parada was going to be picked early in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft, but the wait ended up being a little longer than expected and a bit of a heartbreaker for many Tech fans. Parada ended up going at pick 11 to the New York Mets the division rival of the Atlanta Braves the favorite team of the majority of Georgia Tech fans.
Parada won the Buster Posey Award and Johnny Bench Award this past season and was a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy following a banner 2022 season where he set a school record with 26 home runs with 85 RBI and 74 runs scored and 174 total bases while hitting .360. His sophomore season also saw him catch 55 of the Jackets' 60 games and he played in all 60.
“I’m extremely proud of Kevin and his night tonight. To be drafted by a great organization like the New York Mets and to join other Georgia Tech greats as a first-rounder is a tremendous honor. Kevin has worked extremely hard for this moment and to see it all pay off in-person here on this great stage in his hometown is a thrill for me as well. He will continue to represent us well as the next in a very long line of terrific catchers from Tech and I couldn’t be more happy for him,” Tech head coach Danny Hall said in a statement via Georgia Tech.
From Georgia Tech on the pick historically:
Parada joins an illustrious group of Yellow Jackets in becoming the 12th first-round pick in school history and is the ninth under head coach Danny Hall. He joins Joey Bart (2nd), Jed Bradley (15th), Deck McGuire (11th), Matt Wieters (5th), Tyler Greene (30th), Mark Teixeira (5th), Nomar Garciaparra (12th), Jason Varitek (21st, 14th), Ty Griffin (9th) and Kevin Brown (4th) in first-rounders from The Flats. Overall at Georgia Tech, he is the 42nd Yellow Jacket ever selected in the first round across all major North American professional sports – MLB, NFL, NBA, WNBA and NPF (National Pro Fastpitch Softball).
Speedy infielder Chandler Simpson transferred home to Georgia Tech from UAB after two seasons and his draft stock skyrocketed. He had a great 2022 season with a staggering.433 batting average and a 506 on-base percentage. Simpson stole 27 bases in 31 tries as well. The Tampa Bay Rays selected him with the 70th pick in the second round of the MLB Draft on Sunday night.
Simpson was the first Yellow Jacket to hit .400 since Mark Teixeira in 2000 and he fell just short of Jay Payton's school-record .434 average. He earned multiple All-American honors after the season.
Monday begins the second day of the MLB Draft and several more Jackets are expected to hear their names called. Stay tuned to JOL for the latest on the MLB Draft.
