The Washington Nationals selected Florida shortstop in the 20th round of the MLB Draft, with the 590th overall pick.
His selection comes after one season with the Gators as a transfer from Alabama.
Colby Shelton was an outstanding player at Alabama and largely maintained that level of performance at Florida. Shelton was named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball News, D1Baseball.com, Baseball America, and the NCBWA as a Crimson Tide freshman in 2023. Shelton was also selected to the Freshman All-SEC team.
Shelton wasn’t as productive at Florida, but he still had a good season for the Gators. In his first season at Florida, Shelton hit.254 with 20 home runs, 14 doubles, and a triple, giving him a.551 slugging percentage. In 256 at-bats, he struck out 82 and walked 35 times. He concluded the 2024 season with 56 RBIs.
That followed a season in which he hit.300 at Alabama, with 25 home runs, ten doubles, and one triple. He had 51 RBI, 49 runs, 33 walks, and 10 hits by pitch. Shelton broke the Alabama single-season home run record for freshman by a wide margin.
What MLB Draft analysts are saying on Colby Shelton
MLB.com listed Shelton as the draft’s No. 133 overall prospect. Reviews cited his “uneven performance at the plate” as a reason why his draft stock slowed.
Shelton’s strikeout rate is one area where he will need to improve at the next level. Notes from MLB.com:
“Shelton’s main weapon is his left-handed bat. When he returned last autumn with a more flattened out stroke, as opposed to his prior swing, which was significantly steeper in the zone, there was hope that he would demonstrate greater barrel consistency.
“He doesn’t have elite-level bat speed, but there’s at least average power for him to reach, and while the pop has shown up to some extent, his strikeout rate has remained around the 25 percent he had at Alabama.” He does draw some walks to help counter that, but scouts are concerned about his consistency in making enough contact to reach his power.”
The 2024 MLB Draft takes place from July 14 to July 16. The first round is broadcast on ESPN, and the remainder of the draft is shown on MLB.com.
Leave a Reply