Hello, Wisconsin.
The Milwaukee Brewers made Texas pitcher Taylor Jungmann their first pick of the MLB First-Year Player Draft, selecting the right-handed junior with the No. 12 overall spot.
“Being drafted in the first round is a testament to what Taylor Jungmann is,” said Texas’ pitching coach Skip Johnson in a press release. “It says everything about his work ethic and the hard work he puts into pitching and how much he cares about baseball. We couldn’t be happier for him.”
Jungmann is the highest-selected Longhorn in the draft since center fielder Drew Stubbs went No. 8 overall to Cincinnati in 2006.
For his junior season, Jungmann is 13-1 with a 1.40 ERA — largely inflated after he gave up seven runs to Kent State on Saturday — and 119 strikeouts. The Brewers, apparently trying to bolster a pitching rotation that already includes Zack Greinke and Yovani Gallardo, spent the No. 15 pick on an arm as well, going with lefty Jed Bradley from Georgia Tech.
If Jungmann chooses to sign with the Brewers — all indications are that he will — he’ll have until August to work out the negotiations. If he declines, he would have one year of eligibility remaining at Texas.
The Longhorns also had two high school signees drafted in the first round. Dylan Bundy, a pitcher from Oklahoma, was taken No. 4 overall by the Baltimore Orioles, and Blake Swihart, a switch-hitting catcher from New Mexico, was chosen at No. 26 by the Boston Red Sox.
Texas fans shouldn’t hold their breath on these two guys. It’s all but a lock that Bundy will go, though he is reportedly asking for an absurd signing price — near $30 million — and Swihart might be unable to turn down the allure of playing for the Sox and whatever money Boston might throw at him.
Rounds 2-30 of the draft continue today, so expect Longhorns Brandon Loy, Sam Stafford, Cole Green, Tant Shepherd and Cohl Walla to be off the board by the end of the night.
