Former Maryland baseball standouts Luke Shliger, Jason Savacool and Nick Lorusso were selected on Day Two of the 2023 MLB Draft on Monday. Shliger and Savacool were taken in the sixth round while Lorusso was selected in the ninth.
Shliger was picked by the San Francisco Giants with the 180th pick, becoming the second Terp selected after Matt Shaw was drafted by the Chicago Cubs with the 13th pick of the first round on Sunday.
The 2023 All-Big Ten first team selection led the nation in runs and was second in walks in his final collegiate season as a junior. The catcher led the Terps in on-base percentage this past season and became the program’s all-time leader in runs scored while batting out of the leadoff spot.
Shliger is the first Maryland catcher drafted since Kevin Martir in 2015.
The St. Louis Cardinals selected Savacool just five picks after Shliger at No. 185. Savacool, while underperforming expectations as a junior with a 4.22 ERA, saved his best moments of the season for the playoffs. The right-hander threw a combined 13 innings over three appearances in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments, allowing just two runs in the process.
Savacool was a two-time All-Big Ten selection in his time in College Park, throwing for a 2.93 ERA as a sophomore and striking out 123 batters in 107.2 innings. As the ace of the staff in his junior season, Savacool led the team in innings and strikeouts, compiling a 9-5 win-loss record.
Lorusso was drafted by the New York Mets with the 276th overall selection. The nation’s leader in runs batted in with 105, Lorusso put up historic numbers as a senior.
Despite playing just two seasons for the Terps after transferring from Villanova in 2021, Lorusso etched his name into the record books by setting single-season program records with 26 home runs and 105 RBIs in 2023, in addition to a program-record career 175 RBIs.
Lorusso was an All-Big Ten first team selection and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Big Ten tournament.
The selections of Shaw, Shliger, Savacool and Lorusso marked the first time since 2015 that four Terps were selected within the first 10 rounds of an MLB draft.
