Virginia junior standouts Pavin Smith (Jupiter, Fla.) and Adam Haseley (Windermere, Fla.) were selected back-to-back in the first round of the 2017 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Monday evening. Smith was taken seventh overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Haseley’s name was called next by the Philadelphia Phillies with the eighth pick.
Tommy Doyle (Vienna, Va.) was picked as part of the Competitive Balance B portion of the second round.
This marks the fourth straight year in which Virginia has produced a first-round draft pick. UVA is one of just two college programs to boast a first-round draft pick in each of the last four seasons. Smith and Haseley are the first set of position players from the same college to be selected in the top 10 of an MLB Draft since Oklahoma State’s Monty Fariss and Robin Ventura in 1988.
Smith and Haseley are the 11th and 12th first-round draft picks in Virginia Baseball history and join Seth Greisinger (No. 6 in 1996), Ryan Zimmerman (No. 4 in 2005), and Danny Hultzen (No. 2 in 2011) as the five top-10 picks in program history. The two were key figures on three straight NCAA tournament teams at Virginia, including the 2015 National Championship squad.
In 187 career games Smith hit 28 career home runs, tied for sixth in program history, and racked up 178 career RBI, which is second most in school history. A two-time All-ACC honoree, including a first-team selection in 2017, Smith was a semifinalist for the 2017 Golden Spikes Award. He batted .342 with 13 home runs and a UVA single-season record 77 RBI in 2017 and was a .325 career hitter. At the conclusion of UVA’s 2017 season, he ranked second in the ACC and fourth nationally in RBI.
Smith had an incredible rate of contact in 2017, with more home runs (13) than strikeouts (12). He recorded more than three times as many walks (38) than strikeouts and ranked fourth toughest nationally to strike out (19 at bats/strikeout).
A two-time All-American, Haseley batted an ACC-best .390 this season with 14 home runs and 56 RBI in earning First-Team All-America honors from Baseball America as well as First-Team All-ACC laurels. He was a finalist for the second straight year for the John Olerud Two-Way Player Award and was named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy. When UVA ended its season, Haseley was leading the ACC in batting, runs (66) and on-base percentage (.496) and ranked third in slugging (.676) fourth in hits (85), sixth in walks (41), seventh in home runs and ninth in RBI. He also was 7-1 with a 3.58 ERA in 65 1/3 innings over 11 starts on the mound.
Haseley was just the third player to bat .400 in the regular season under head coach Brian O’Connor (since 2004), joining Keith Werman (.446 in 2010) and Mike Papi (.408 in 2013). A .310 career batter, Haseley ranks third at UVA in career runs (185), ninth in triples (10) and 10th in walks (111) and total bases (360).
Doyle was 3-1 with a 1.87 ERA and 14 saves in 23 relief outings in 2017. Opponents batted just .228 against him, and he struck out 38 while walking just 10. He has made 61 career appearances and owns 17 career saves, which is tied for sixth in school history. He earned Third-Team All-ACC honors in 2017 as he recorded the fifth-most saves in a single season at UVA. He ranked second in the ACC and ninth nationally in saves. Eight of his saves came in league play.
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