Ohio State pitcher Isaiah Coupet selected by the Colorado Rockies in 2023 MLB Draft

Ohio State pitcher Isaiah Coupet was selected by the Colorado Rockies with the No. 109th overall selection in the fourth round of the 2023 MLB Draft.

The southpaw was a key starting pitcher for the Buckeyes the past two seasons but projects to be a relief pitcher in professional baseball. In 2023, he was 4-3 with a 3.55 ERA with 72 strikeouts in 50.2 innings.

He pitched in two games this summer for the Cotuit Kettleers, finishing with a three hits, one run and 11 strikeouts in 7.1 innings.

Coupet is the No. 189 overall recruit in MLB.com’s prospect rankings for the 2023 MLB Draft.

“Coupet can generate more than 3,000 rpm on both his slider and curveball,” MLB.com’s scouting report on him reads. “He favors his low-80s slider, which has two-plane depth, but his mid-70s curveball is a plus pitch in its own right. His fastball sits at 89-91 mph and tops out at 93 without much life, and it gets hit hard when he doesn’t locate it with precision.”

More on the 2023 MLB Draft

The 2023 Major League Baseball Draft will begin during All-Star week, with the first two rounds getting underway at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 9. Rounds 3-10 will then begin at 2 p.m. ET on Monday, July 10, with rounds 11-20 starting at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 11.

This year’s MLB Draft is a historic one, as a draft lottery was used to determine the order for the first time. The Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates and Oakland Athletics each had a 16.5% chance to receive the No. 1 overall pick. Ultimately, Pittsburgh won the right to have the first selection, with Washington finishing right behind them at No. 2. Oakland, however, fell all the way down to No. 6 overall.

While the MLB Draft is always unpredictable, the consensus is that this year’s top prospects both hail from LSU, who won the 2023 College World Series. Pitcher Paul Skenes and outfielder Dylan Crews headline this year’s class, which is considered a deep one.

Within the first ten rounds of the draft, each slot is assigned a certain value. Each team has a bonus pool that they are able to spend on these picks, and players will sign at, above or below their assigned slot value.

In rounds 11-20, there is no assigned slot value and MLB teams are free to spend up to $150,000 to sign their picks from the second half of the draft. If they exceed the $150,000 mark, that added amount will be deducted from their bonus pool.

Following the final day of the 2023 MLB Draft, selected players like Isaiah Coupet will have until August 1 to sign a contract.