Konnor Pilkington headlines Day 2 of MLB Draft

The Mississippi State Friday night starter was selected with the 81st pick by the White Sox, his approximate slot value is slated at $726,700. Pilkington will certainly be starting his pro career, once the season ends. Konnor has struggled at times this season, but has also shown flashes of greatness during his starts earlier in the year. “The Hurley, Mississippi Hurler” will more than likely start for the Diamond Dawgs on Friday against Vanderbilt in the Super Regional, and hopefully with his selection this will help calm the LHP down.

The first Diamond Dawg signee selected on the day was RHP Keaton Winn, who was selected 136th overall (5th Round) by the Giants. Winn is a stellar JUCO prospect from Iowa Western, and at this time it is expected that he won’t be playing any college baseball beyond what he already has. Winn’s pick at slot value is approximately $394,600.

The second signee selected today was Madison Central RHP Regi Grace, Grace was expected to be drafted high also, but losing him is a blow to the strong pitching class Mississippi State put together. Grace was selected 304th overall (10th Round) by the Twins, and his approximate pick value is $138,400.

Losing three guys that were expected to be drafted early anyway is not a terrible loss for the Diamond Dawgs, but today could also be seen as a major win for next year’s team. Mississippi State had the potential to lose a couple of guys today including: Jake Mangum, Hunter Stovall, and Ethan Small, and they didn’t. Now it isn’t concrete, but usually players drafted after the 10th round go back to school, due to numerous factors, but the most important being that there is no guaranteed signing bonus.

Through the first two days of the MLB Draft, Mississippi State has had 5 signees drafted and 1 current player drafted. All in all it appears this could be a major development for the 2019 Mississippi State baseball team, which has the potential to be good enough to host a regional or be a top-8 national seed.

Players Drafted:

Current:

LHP Konnor Pilkington [Chicago White Sox] Rd. 3 Pick 81 (Pick value: $726,000)

Signees:

RHP Carter Stewart [Atlanta Braves] Rd. 1 Pick 8 (Pick value: $5 Million)
RHP JT Ginn [Los Angeles Dodgers] Rd. 1 Pick 30 (Pick value: $2.3 Million)
SS Jeremiah Jackson [Los Angeles Angels] Rd. 2 Pick 57 (Pick value: $1.2 Million)
RHP Keaton Winn [San Francisco Giants]Rd. 5 Pick 136 (Pick value: $394,600)
RHP Regi Grace [Twins] Rd 10 Pick 304 (Pick value: $138,400)