Kyle Teel Selected No. 14 Overall by Boston Red Sox in 2023 MLB Draft

UVA star catcher Kyle Teel became the highest draft pick for the Virginia baseball program since 2017

Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

Welcome to Major League Baseball, Kyle Teel. 

Virginia star catcher Kyle Teel was selected by the Boston Red Sox with the No. 14 overall pick in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft on Sunday night. 

With the 14th pick, the @RedSox select @UVABaseball catcher Kyle Teel, No. 7 on the Top 250 Draft Prospects list.

Watch live: https://t.co/1s1j9XMnG5 pic.twitter.com/DdbAi40am9

— MLB Draft (@MLBDraft) July 10, 2023

A junior catcher from Mahwah, New Jersey, Teel becomes the highest draft pick for the UVA baseball program since 2017, when Pavin Smith and Adam Haseley went No. 7 and No. 8 overall in the first round. Teel is also the first Cavalier to be picked in the first round since Daniel Lynch and Jake McCarthy in 2018. 

According to the slot values distributed from the MLB to each franchise, the No. 14 overall pick is valued at $4,663,100, an estimate for the figure Teel may be expected to receive upon his signing with the Boston Red Sox. 

Kyle Teel's 2023 season was one for the record books. He became the first Cavalier in program history to be named a consensus First-Team All-American by six different college baseball publications. Teel also became the first Cavalier since 2006 and just the third in program history to be named the ACC Player of the Year. He had by far his best season at the plate, batting .407 and recording 65 RBI, 13 home runs, 25 doubles, and 105 hits, fourth-most in the nation and second-most in program history. 

Teel started all 65 games behind the plate for the Cavaliers and missed just 23 total innings this season. Teel committed only three errors all season and caught 15 runners stealing on 24 attempts, receiving the nod as the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year. 

In three years at Virginia, Teel appeared in 177 games and totaled 170 runs, 236 hits, 28 home runs, and 155 RBI. Teel helped the Cavaliers reach the College World Series twice in his three seasons, the fifth and sixth trips to Omaha in program history. Teel's career at UVA has has come to an end, but he leaves a lasting legacy as one of the best players in the history of the Virginia baseball program.

With Kyle Teel hearing his name called, Virginia has now had 15 players selected in the first round of the MLB Draft, with 13 of those picks coming under Brian O'Connor, and UVA has produced 144 all-time MLB Draft selections. 

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