LOS ANGELES — From Rocky Mountain High School to Gonzaga University to the Colorado Rockies – Sunday in the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft, the Rockies selected Gabriel Hughes with the No. 10 pick.
Hughes, who played college baseball at Gonzaga, became the highest-drafted Zag in program history going 10th overall.
The selection comes as a bit of a surprise, as mock drafts had Hughes being taken between the late first round and early second round.
This comes after a season where Hughes cemented himself as a top major league prospect, hurling 98 innings for the Gonzaga Bulldogs with a 3.21 ERA. He was also ranked 9th in the country with 138 strikeouts.
KTVB spoke with Hughes before the draft where he was hoping to hear his name in the first round.
“I keep dreaming about the moment that my name gets called, and I’ve been dreaming about that for a long time. I’m ready for it. I’m excited for it,” Hughes said.
He wound up hearing his name called on draft day much earlier than expected.
Chris Frith, Hughes’s pitching coach at Rocky Mountain H.S. in Meridian, talked about what this means for kids in the Treasure Valley.
“For high school kids, the young teenagers, the kids that are playing Little League, to see a homegrown kid out of the Treasure Valley that went through the system, played with Meridian Youth Baseball, played all-stars, played locally here at high school, pitched right here in the northwest at Gonzaga University, those dreams are possible,” Frith said. “If you’re a young kid or a high school kid, you should be inspired by Gabe Hughes’s story.”
Hughes isn't the only Gonzaga pitcher expected to be drafted.
Trystan Vrieling and William Kempner are also likely to hear their names called. Vrieling and Kempner are expected to go in the later rounds.
The MLB draft continues Monday and Tuesday in Los Angeles.
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