Georgia Baseball sees two selected on second day of MLB Draft
Georgia Baseball might not have as many players picked in the 2022 MLB Draft as Dawgs did back in April during the NFL Draft, but there certainly is still some talent available out of Athens. Right-handed pitcher Jonathan Cannon was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the third round with the No. 101 overall pick Monday afternoon.
Cannon, who was a junior this past season at Georgia, was named a Third-Team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association as well as College Baseball publication. The ace for the Bulldogs’ starting pitching rotation, he went 9-4 with a 4.02 ERA and was selected to the First-Team All-SEC by the league’s 14 coaches. He made a team-high 13 starts and pitched 78.1 innings, tallying 68 strikeouts and only 12 walks. In SEC action, Cannon went 6-2 to help the Bulldogs to a 15-15 mark, 36-23 overall, good for second-place in the Eastern Division.
Over the course of his career, Cannon went 16-16 with a 3.71 ERA in 31 appearances and 25 starts. In 153 innings, he registered 137 strikeout and 27 walks. Cannon becomes the first Georgia selection by the White Sox since they took All-American shortstop Gordon Beckham with the No. 8 pick in the 2008 MLB Draft. He would go on to debut in the big leagues a year later and enjoyed an 11-year MLB career.
Cannon wasn’t the only Georgia player taken on Monday though. Second baseman Cory Acton was selected by the Atlanta Braves during the ninth round with the No. 275 overall pick.
Acton, who transferred to Georgia after spending the first three years of his collegiate career at Florida, started 50 games during his lone season in Athens. He batted .266 with nine doubles, five home runs and 30 RBI. During Georgia’s appearance in the Chapel Hill Regional of the NCAA Tournament, Acton hit .357 with two doubles, one home run and four RBI, plus a perfect fielding percentage in 11 total chances.
It hasn’t been too long since a Georgia player ended up with the Braves not far down the road. Riley King was drafted in the 26th round of the 2019 MLB Draft, eventually opting to return to Georgia for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. After the 2020 MLB Draft, shortened due to COVID, the Braves were able to sign Georgia shortstop Cam Shepherd.
Georgia now has had a player drafted in each MLB Draft dating back to 1987. The Bulldogs have had a player sign in 49 straight seasons.
The MLB Draft began on Sunday night with two rounds and a total of 80 picks. Resuming on Monday and continuing into Tuesday, the draft will go 20 rounds streaming on MLB.com.
