Virginia
Red Sox draft Kyle Teel, Virginia catcher, with No. 14 overall pick
With their first pick of the 2023 MLB draft, the Red Sox selected catcher Kyle Teel out of the University of Virginia.
Teel, 21, was ranked by both MLB.com (No. 7) and Baseball America (No. 10) as one of the top 10 prospects in the draft and fell from where most mock drafts expected him to go The New Jersey native hit .407 with 13 homers, 69 RBIs and a 1.130 OPS in 65 games for Virginia last season as a junior and was named the 2023 ACC Player of the Year as well as a consensus All-American. In three years as the Cavaliers’ starting catcher, he hit .343 with 28 homers, 155 RBIs and a .979 OPS in 177 games.
“Kyle is a guy that we had very high on our board for obvious reasons,” Red Sox scouting director Devin Pearson said in a statement. “He had an unbelievable 2023 season offensively and is arguably one of the best college athletes in the draft. We think he’s going to be really valuable for us. We’re excited to add an athletic catcher to the system, and we were thrilled to get him with the 14th pick.”
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Teel was widely considered the top catching prospect in this year’s draft class and fills an organizational need behind the plate. The Red Sox have enjoyed a bit of a breakout season from Connor Wong so far in 2023 but don’t have much in the way of top catching prospects in the upper minors. SoxProspects ranks 18-year-old Florida Complex Leaguer Johanfran Garcia as the best catching prospect in the system at No. 16; Nathan Hickey, who is at Double-A, is ranked No. 21 and Salem’s Brook Brannon is at No. 31.
Teel is the first catcher the Red Sox have taken in the first round since they took Blake Swihart with the 26th overall pick in the 2011 draft. It’s the highest they’ve drafted a catcher since 1984, when they took John Marzano out of Temple University. Coincidentally, longtime Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek was drafted 14th overall by the Mariners in 1994. The Teel pick also breaks a three-year trend for the Red Sox, who selected California high school shortstops (Nick Yorke, Marcelo Mayer and Mikey Romero) in the first round in each of the last three seasons. Teel is the first college player Boston has taken in the first round since the club took Mizzou’s Tanner Houck in 2017.
Here’s MLB.com’s scouting report on Teel:
A left-handed-hitting backstop, Teel has the chance to hit for average and power, though he’s gotten caught a bit in between trying to be a hitter with some pop or a power guy. He was more hit over power in high school, but he has been trying to show off the pop more, perhaps a reason why he hit just .276 in 2022, though he’s found the right balance this spring. He does have an advanced approach, walking more than he struck out last year, and while struggles in the Cape Cod League and with Team USA last summer led some to worry about the hit tool, he’s answered them during his junior year.
Extremely athletic, Teel has seen time in the outfield and probably could handle playing second or third, but he has every chance to stick behind the plate. He has an easily plus arm and his athleticism helps his overall receiving. He gets high marks for his baseball IQ and leadership skills, and with his bat showing up more consistently, his name is floating up Draft boards.
Teel was one of the top high school prospects in the 2020 draft but decided to go to college after the pandemic prematurely ended his prep career. In Charlottesville, he was an immediate contributor as a true freshman, starting at catcher, designated hitter and right field. Over the last two seasons, he has stayed behind the plate; in 2023, he caught all but 23 innings of Virginia’s season.
Teel’s father, Garret, was a Dodgers’ 11th round pick (318th overall) in 1989 who spent some time in the minors as a player and coach but never reached the majors.