Pitcher Trey Braithwaite drafted in 16th round, joins WVU teammates Jacob Watters, Victor Scott II chosen in 4th, 5th rounds
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Right-handed pitcher Trey Braithwaite, a fifth-year senior at West Virginia, was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 16th round of the MLB Draft on Tuesday.
Braithwaite, a transfer from Navy, was named to the All-Big 12 first team and was a third-team National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-American. He was 3-0 with a 1.70 ERA this season, recording 36 strikeouts and eight saves in 37 innings while limiting batters to a .151 average.
Braithwaite followed WVU pitcher Jacob Watters and outfielder Victor Scott II, who were chosen in the fourth and fifth rounds Monday.
Watters was chosen 124th overall by the Oakland Athletics, Scott II 157th to the St. Louis Cardinals. They are the first pair of Mountaineers baseball players drafted among the first five rounds since Rick Oliver and Rick Wagener were taken by the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets in the first and second rounds of the 1971 January Secondary Draft.
West Virginia has had 105 players drafted all-time, including 35 since coach Randy Mazey took over the program in 2013. The Mountaineers also has had multiple picks in nine of the past 10 drafts.
Watters was 3-7 with a 6.22 ERA in 18 appearances in 2022, including 11 starts. He recorded 75 strikeouts in 59 1/3 innings. He whiffed a career-high 15 batters in 6 1/3 innings against Texas on May 7.
Scott II stole 62 bases in three seasons at West Virginia and improved his batting averages from .222 as a freshman in 2020 to .232 as a sophomore before hitting .278 this season. He recorded six home runs and a team-leading 47 RBIs, with 35 walks and 20 extra-base hits in 55 games (all starts).
In the field, he committed only two errors.