2022 MLB Draft recap: Analysis on Notre Dame commits, current player picks and roster outlook
The 2022 MLB Draft has come and gone. Notre Dame baseball was well represented.
Here’s a look at every pick with Notre Dame ties.
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No. 20 overall: Owen Murphy
The commit out of Riverside (Ill.) Brookfield High School always had first-round potential. Would that materialize in a first-round selection? You never know. Wait and see. All things considered, Murphy didn’t have to wait long. He was selected No. 20 overall by the Atlanta Braves.
The slot value of $3,407,400 is going to be too much to turn down. Murphy is expected to sign his professional contract, which means Notre Dame loses its top commit from the class of 2022. The odds of Murphy actually ending up on campus were slim from the start, though. If anything, it was a thrill for Notre Dame to say it secured a commitment from one of the top two-way prospects in the country.
No. 83 overall: Jack Brannigan
Talk about another player who didn’t have to wait long. Brannigan wasn’t projected to be a day one pick, so he could take Sunday night easy. He was bound to hear his name called sometime Tuesday. He was the third player to go off the board in the third round.
Brannigan immediately tweeted how grateful he is to have the chance to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Brannigan hit .291 with 46 RBI as a junior in 2022. He hit 12 home runs. He also appeared in 11 games with one start on the mound. He struck out 28 batters and walked eight.
No. 166 overall: Liam Simon
Notre Dame’s Sunday starter is headed to the San Francisco Giants organization. Simon came off the board in the fifth round. A would-be rising senior like Brannigan, it would have helped Notre Dame if Simon was taken late enough to want to return to school. That wasn’t the case. Simon went 2-1 with a 4.99 ERA in 30 2/3 innings last season. He struck out 56 batters and walked 28.
No. 242 overall: Alex Rao
Rao was Notre Dame’s go-to reliever after Ryan McLinksey was lost for the season due to Tommy John surgery. Rao pitched 47 innings in relief across 25 appearances. He had a 3-1 record with a 3.83 ERA. He struck out 57 batters and walked 28. Those statistics were enough for an eighth-round selection by the Philadelphia Phillies.
No. 316 overall: John Michael Bertrand
Notre Dame nearly had the first pick of the second day of the draft, and Notre Dame had the very last pick of the second day of the draft. Talk about going wire to wire. The Irish ace who went 10-3 with a 2.81 ERA as a sixth-year senior will get a chance to keep pitching as a 24-year-old minor leaguer. He’ll be a teammate of Simon’s with the San Francisco Giants organization.
Undrafted Notre Dame commits
High school prospect rankings per Perfect Game are in parenthesis
- David Lally (No. 23 RHP)
- Estevan Moreno (No. 53 SS)
- Caden Spivey (No. 131 RHP)
- Cooper Clapp (No. 182 SS)
- Peter Fasciglione (No. 298 SS)
- Rory Fox (No. 131 SS)
- RJ Rickabaugh (No. 53 C)
- Hunter Russell (No. 23 1B)
