Washington Nationals Take College Shortstop with No. 10 Overall Draft Pick

As the Washington Nationals continue to go through their rebuild, they've added to their farm system by selecting Wake Forest shortstop Seaver King in the MLB Draft.

Wake Forest utility Seaver King (5) seen on deck against Florida State during the ACC Baseball Tournament at Truist Field. / Cory Knowlton-USA TODAY Sports

As the Washington Nationals continue to come through their rebuild, they added another piece to the farm system on Sunday night.

With the No. 10 pick in the MLB Draft, the Nationals selected shortstop Seaver King out of Wake Forest University. He was the third Wake Forest player selected in the top 10 following pitcher Chase Burns (Reds) and first baseman Nick Kurtz (Athletics).

King was listed as the No. 17 draft prospect according to MLB.com. The following comes from a portion of his MLB.com draft profile:

King excels at putting the ball in play with a compact right-handed stroke geared for hitting line drives to all fields. He needs to improve his plate discipline, however, because he swings and chases too much, making a lot of weak contact and cutting into his walk totals. While he has added 20 pounds since arriving in college and has impressive bat speed, his approach and flat stroke may not be conducive to more than 12-15 homers per year.

With well above-average speed and solid arm strength, King is a versatile defender.

This season for the Deamon Decons, King hit .308. He was named a third-team All-ACC selection. King will join talent likes James Wood and Dylan Crews in the Nats system. Wood was recently called up to the big club and joined already-established young talent like MacKenzie Gore, Keibert Ruiz and CJ Abrams.

Washington is currently 44-53 and in fourth place in the National League East. After winning the World Series in 2019, they subsequently traded stars like Trea Turner, Max Scherzer, Kyle Schwarber and Josh Bell in the following years. They also dealt away Juan Soto and it's those deals that have helped re-stock the farm system.

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