2013 MLB Draft Results: Where Every Prospect Landed in 1st Round

After months of analysis and conjecture, the 2013 MLB draft is finally underway, and there were some surprising results in Round 1.

To nobody's surprise, however, Stanford's Mark Appel was the first overall pick to the Houston Astros. According to team beat writer Brian McTaggart, Appel grew up in Houston until he was 12 years old, so he'll likely be thrilled to play for his hometown squad:

Power-hitting slugger Kris Bryant was selected by the Chicago Cubs with the No. 2 overall pick, surprising many experts—including Jim Callis of Baseball America—who thought the team would select a pitcher:

This was just the first surprise of an exciting night of MLB draft action.

Here's a look at the entire first round, courtesy of MLB.com:

Pick	Team	Player	School	Position
1	Houston Astros	Mark Appel	Stanford	RHP
2	Chicago Cubs	Kris Bryant	University of San Diego	3B
3	Colorado Rockies	Jonathan Gray	Oklahoma	RHP
4	Minnesota Twins	Kohl Stewart	Pius X HS (TX)	RHP
5	Cleveland Indians	Clint Frazier	Logansville HS (GA)	3B
6	Miami Marlins	Colin Moran	North Carolina	3B
7	Boston Red Sox	Trey Ball	New Castle HS (IN)	LHP/OF
8	Kansas City Royals	Hunter Dozier	Stephen F. Austin	SS
9	Pittsburgh Pirates	Austin Meadows	Grayson HS (GA)	CF
10	Toronto Blue Jays	Phillip Bickford	Oaks Christian HS (CA)	RHP
11	New York Mets	Dominic Smith	Sierra HS (CA)	1B
12	Seattle Mariners	DJ Peterson	New Mexico	3B
13	San Diego Padres	Hunter Renfroe	Mississippi State	OF
14	Pittsburgh Pirates	Reese McGuire	Kentwood HS (WA)	C
15	Arizona Diamondbacks	Braden Shipley	Nevada	RHP
16	Philadelphia Phillies	JP Crawford	Lakewood HS (CA)	SS
17	Chicago White Sox	Tim Anderson	East Central CC (MS)	SS
18	Los Angeles Dodgers	Chris Anderson	Jacksonville	RHP
19	St. Louis Cardinals	Marco Gonzalez	Gonzaga	LHP
20	Detroit Tigers	Jonathon Crawford	Florida	RHP
21	Tampa Bay Rays	Nick Ciuffo	Lexington HS (SC)	C
22	Baltimore Orioles	Hunter Harvey	Bandys HS (NC)	RHP
23	Texas Rangers	Alex Gonzalez	Oral Roberts	RHP
24	Oakland A's	Billy McKinney	Plano West HS (TX)	OF
25	San Francisco Giants	Christian Arroyo	Hernando HS (FL)	SS
26	New York Yankees	Eric Jagielo	Notre Dame	3B
27	Cincinnati Reds	Phillip Ervin	Samford	OF
2013 MLB Draft Supplemental First Round
28	St. Louis Cardinals	Rob Kaminsky	St. Joseph Regional HS (NJ)	LHP
29	Tampa Bay Rays	Ryne Stanek	Arkansas	RHP
30	Texas Rangers	Travis Demeritte	Winder-Barrow HS (GA)	SS
31	Atlanta Braves	Jason Hursh	Oklahoma State	RHP
32	New York Yankees	Aaron Judge	Fresno State	OF
33	New York Yankees	Ian Clarkin	James Madison HS (CA)	LHP
2013 MLB Draft Competitive Balance Round A
34	Kansas City Royals	Sean Manaea	Indiana State	LHP
35	Miami Marlins	Matt Krook	St. Ignatius HS (CA)	LHP
36	Arizona Diamondbacks	Aaron Blair	Marshall	RHP
37	Baltimore Orioles	Josh Hart	Parkview HS (GA)	OF
38	Cincinnati Reds	Michael Lorenzen	Cal State Fullerton	RHP
39	Detroit Tigers	Corey Knebel	Texas	RHP

Now we'll take a look at some of the biggest storylines stemming from the first round of the 2013 MLB draft.

Mark Appel No. 1 Overall

MLB didn't take long to post an awesome "draftagram" card on Twitter:

After passing on Appel last year with the top pick of the 2012 MLB draft, Houston finally landed the star pitcher out of Stanford. Appel was eventually picked up with the No. 8 overall pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates but opted instead to stay in school for his senior season. 

And what a season he had for the Cardinal. Appel went 10-4 this past year, posting an ERA of 2.12 with 130 strikeouts.

The Astros won't rush Appel to the majors, however, according to McTaggart:

Given the team's current struggles, it seems like a smart move by Houston to bring him along slowly. That said, by this time next year, Appel could well be one of the hottest young pitchers in the league.

Red Sox Manage to Catch Everyone off Guard

Nobody thought Boston would select Trey Ball. Nobody even knew Ball was on Boston's radar, according to John Manuel of Baseball America:

Ball is a two-way player, excelling as a left-handed pitcher as well as an outfielder. According to Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal, the Sox haven't picked up a two-way player since 2008 when they selected Casey Kelly:

An intriguing prospect, Ball measures in at 6'6" and 180 pounds. He throws a fastball in the low 90s and features a strong curveball and changeup, according to MacPherson. 

It will be interesting to see how this young man develops in the next few years. The Red Sox passed up high-school outfielder Austin Meadows and college pitchers Braden Shipley and Ryne Stanek—all of whom were expected to be on the club's radar for this pick.

Royals With a Huge Reach At No. 8

It was a bit of a surprise that the Cubs selected Bryant over Gray.

But that selection paled in comparison with the shocking selection the Kansas City Royals made when the franchise picked up shortstop Hunter Dozier with the No. 8 overall pick.

Keith Law of ESPN had Dozier as his No. 38 overall player:

JJ Cooper of Baseball America postulated that the Royals are simply spreading their money around for later picks, which is the explanation that makes the most sense for this move:

Nobody's implying Dozier isn't going to be an excellent pro just because the Astros "reached" for him with the No. 8 pick. He was a productive player at Stephen F. Austin this past year, hitting .396 with 17 home runs and 12 stolen bases.

That said, the Royals' selection was just as shocking as when the Dallas Cowboys picked center Travis Frederick in Round 1 of the 2013 NFL draft earlier this year.

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