Pair of Texas Baseball Commits Selected in First Round of MLB Draft

Unlike other sports such as college football and college basketball, college baseball faces a unique situation when it comes to the MLB Draft. While teams can land commitments from elite ballplayers at the high school level, they face the risk of those players being good enough to get drafted and subsequently never set foot on campus.

This is the situation the Texas Longhorns found themselves in on Sunday evening during the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft. With the draft status of potential impact returners such as Jalin Flores and Jared Thomas still in the air, they saw two of their recruits get drafted.

The first Longhorn commit off the board was shortstop Bryce Rainer, drafted with the No. 11 overall pick by the Detroit Tigers. Rainer, one of the top prospects in the country, played high school baseball at Harvard-Westlake HS (CA) and was always a long shot to actually end up on campus for the 2025 season.

Joining Rainer as a first-round pick was fellow Texas commit Theo Gillen, who heard his name called by the Tampa Bay Rays with the No. 18 overall pick on Sunday evening. Also a shortstop, Gillen was a local recruit from Austin Westlake (TX) and considered by many the best prospect at his position in the class.

Losing out on two elite shortstop prospects undoubtedly stings for the Longhorns, as there is little to no chance either of them play an inning of baseball at Disch-Falk Field. They could opt to play college ball, but with how high they were picked combined with the amount of money they’d make, don’t count on it.

These picks now mean Texas’ attention will turn Jalin Flores, who has still not announced whether or not he will return for the 2025 season. His decision will likely be influenced by his draft outcome, and how high he goes as well as where he ends up.

Elsewhere for potential recruits that could get drafted and not play college ball, some Longhorns’ commits to keep an eye on are a trio of right-handed pitchers in Jason Flores, Levi Sterling and Drew Rerick.