The Nationals had the 10th, 39th, and 44th picks in the MLB Draft Sunday and walked away with a King at the top.
At No. 10 overall, the Nats went college infielder with Wake Forest’s Seaver King, the third Demon Deacon taken in the Top 10 and a man with two ties to the Navy Yard area – Wake’s coach, Tom Walter, was Danny Rouhier’s coach at GW, and King himself was at the draft party for current Nats No. 3 prospect Brady House back in 2020, as the two were childhood friends in Georgia.
“Being able to play together growing up and now maybe being able to play together as professionals is going to be something super cool,” King said to MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato when asked about House.
King transferred from Division II Wingate to Wake this past season after hitting .399 over two years at the lower level and .424 in the Cape Cod League, and he responded by hitting .308 with 16 homers, 64 RBI and a .954 OPS over 60 games.
“Going to Wingate, I knew I was going to play four years and get a 9 to 5 [job] and kind of be a normal human,” King said. “Then after my freshman year, I had a good year and I kind of knew that maybe Division I baseball was going to be it for me, and maybe I could go pursue that. Then I played in the Cape and for Team USA, and that’s kind of where it became real for me.”
And now he’s the No. 10 overall pick, which comes with a slot bonus of $5,953,800, after hoping to be just in the top half of Round 1 – and never expecting the Nats to be in the mix.
“They were really never on the radar,” King told the media in his first conference call Sunday. “I wasn’t expecting to go and ended up going. Just an overwhelming moment. If you had told me yesterday I would be a Top 10 pick, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
MLB.com’s write-up says “King showed his tools could translate from Division II to the ACC this year after transferring from Wingate, using his compact right-handed swing to make a ton of contact, and he might be more hit over power. He can really run and play multiple positions, with a chance to stay in the infield, but the outfield perhaps is a better fit.”
King played all three infield positions and center field last season, telling the media he’s most comfortable at shortstop – where the Nats’ lone All-Star, CJ Abrams, resides – and the Nats agree, although they could give him time at any or all of those positions given their current crop of top prospects or young MLB stars.
“Some of our special-assignment scouts were watching him one night, and the regular shortstop had an injury, and they got on the phone, called us and said, 'We think he’s going to play shortstop tomorrow,'” Nats vice president of amateur scouting Danny Haas told MLB.com. “We popped in there as quick as we could. He made a fantastic play at shortstop, and that one play convinced us that he was definitely a shortstop long term. He plays at a speed that very few guys do when he wants to. He’s just an incredible athlete, and we’re happy to have him.”