University of Georgia Athletics
Bulldogs Set For 2021 MLB Draft
July 09, 2021 | Baseball
ATHENS-----Â The 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft begins Sunday in Denver, Colo., as part of MLB All-Star week, and a handful of Georgia Bulldogs are expected to hear their name called during the three-day event.
Sophomore right-hander Jonathan Cannon and senior left-hander Ryan Webb are projected to be among the top 200 draft picks. With this year's draft pushed to July instead of June, Cannon was among several MLB draft-eligible prospects who opted to stay sharp by playing a bit of summer baseball. Cannon pitched for the Orleans Firebirds in the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL), going 0-0 with a 0.69 ERA in three starts. He allowed just one run earned run on nine hits with three walks and eight strikeouts in 13 innings. In 2021 for the Bulldogs, Cannon went 4-2 with a 3.98 ERA in 12 starts.
Webb and redshirt sophomore left-hander Ben Harris were among the "11 Sleepers To Know Entering the 2021 MLB Draft," according to Baseball America. Webb and Harris were identified as "under-the-radar picks" for various reasons. In Webb's case, he went down with an elbow injury in May and missed the final three weeks of the season. A first team preseason All-American, Webb posted a 3-4 mark and 3.32 ERA in 11 starts this year. Harris became the backbone of the bullpen, going 4-2 with a 2.33 ERA and three saves in 20 appearances. In 38.2 innings, he registered 66 strikeouts and 28 walks.
Additionally, a pair of Bulldog signees in right-handers Dylan Ross (Northwest Florida State College) and Coleman Willis (Houston County HS) were listed among the top 200 draft prospects according to MLB.com and Baseball America. Ross and fellow signee Glenn Green (RHP/3B, Sandy Creek HS) attended the first-ever MLB Draft Combine last month in North Carolina. Recently, Willis was named a Third Team High School All-American by Baseball America after going 9-2 with a 1.40 ERA to help lead the Bears to their latest state title.
Baseball America's 2021 MLB Draft prospects for the state of Georgia included the following Bulldogs: Cannon (#4 in the state/#68 nationally), Willis (#6/#122), Webb (#11/#180), Harris (#15/#363) senior left-hander C.J. Smith (#20/#427), junior right-hander Jack Gowen (#22/-), junior infielder Josh McAllister (#23/-), Green (#35/-), junior outfielder Ben Anderson (#51/-), graduate infielder/outfielder Riley King (#54/-), and sophomore right-hander Nolan Crisp (#56/-).Â
This year's 20-round MLB draft will start Sunday at 7:07 p.m. ET, and MLB Network and ESPN will have live coverage from the Bellco Theatre. The first night will feature a total of 36 picks (29 in the First Round plus one compensation and six in Competitive Balance Round A). Compensation and competitive balance round picks are at the end of the first two rounds. These selections are for teams that may not be able to compete with the strongest franchises for free-agents. Team with the 10 lowest revenues, and the 10 smallest markets are eligible to receive these bonus picks as determined by MLB using a formula that considers winning percentage and revenue. Also of note, the Houston Astros forfeited their first- and second-round picks as part of their penalty for illegally stealing signs.
Day two of the draft will begin Monday at 1 p.m. ET and feature rounds 2-10. On Tuesday, the draft resumes at Noon ET and will include rounds 11-20. The entire draft will be streamed on MLB.com. A total of 612 players will be selected this year.
Did You Know?
*Georgia has a string of 48 straight seasons with at least one player signing a professional contract.
*In school history, Georgia has had 11 players selected in the 1st round (including compensation and competitive balance picks), the most recent being Emerson Hancock, RHP, who was taken sixth overall by the Seattle Mariners in 2020.
*The MLB Draft had been 40 rounds annually since 2012 but was shortened to five rounds in 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.  The 2021 draft will be 20 rounds.
*Two Bulldogs (Hancock, Cole Wilcox) were drafted and signed in 2020 and two more (Tucker Bradley, Cam Shepherd) signed as free agents. Hancock was selected to play in the 2021 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game Sunday but now will not take part due to a minor shoulder/workload issue, according to the Seattle organization. Hancock is 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA in seven starts covering 26 innings this season.
*Teams will have until Aug. 1 to sign their draft picks. Each team has a bonus pool of money to work with and each choice in the first 10 rounds comes with an assigned value. A team can go over its spending limit but will incur a penalty resulting in future lost picks and must pay a percentage of tax on the overage. If a player taken in the top 10 rounds doesn't sign, his pick's value gets subtracted from his team's pool.        Â
