Kyle Schwarber was Indiana baseball's last first-round MLB draft pick. That may change Sunday

Indianapolis Star

12-07-2025

BLOOMINGTON — Devin Taylor on Sunday could become the first IU baseball player in more than a decade picked in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft.
Taylor, who holds a slate of program records including the Hoosiers' all-time home run mark (54), won't wait long to hear his name called this weekend. He could be taken as early as the opening round.
Not since the Cubs took Kyle Schwarber No. 4 overall in 2014 has a Hoosier heard his name called in the draft's first round, proper or compensatory. But Schwarber is not alone among program alumni to enter the professional game a first-rounder.
Here's the company Taylor — widely considered among the best college hitters in the draft — might join Sunday.
(draft picks listed chronologically)
Round 1, Pick 1, Oakland Athletics, 1966 secondary draft
Don Lohse is the answer to one of the MLB draft's great trivia questions: He was the first pick in the sport's first January draft.
Beginning in 1966, baseball held a secondary draft for players not taken in the regular draft the previous June. The Athletics took Lohse with the first overall pick, and he spent five years playing in the minors.
Lohse's Baseball Reference page suggests his playing career ended after the 1970 season, which he spent with Double-A Birmingham. A right-handed pitcher, Lohse finished his professional career with a 15-30 record, and a 4.56 ERA.
Baseball discontinued the January draft in 1986. But Lohse's name is forever attached to another famous draft story because of it. It was in that 1966 secondary draft the Atlanta Braves selected Tom Seaver, No. 20 overall, last pick of the first round, before commissioner William Eckert voided his contract citing exhibition games Seaver's USC team had played the previous season.
Because Seaver had already signed a professional contract, the NCAA ruled him ineligible to return and pitch in college, but Major League Baseball denied him entry via the draft until Seaver's father threatened legal action in the matter.
Eckert eventually ruled that other teams could match the Braves' offer, and via a lottery the New York Mets won the rights to sign Seaver, who went on to win National League Rookie of the Year in 1967. He eventually became one of the most decorated pitchers of his era, winning three Cy Young Awards on the way to first-ballot Hall of Fame induction.
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Round 1, Pick 8, California Angels, 1966 draft
Selected six spots after Reggie Jackson, Jim DeNeff went to the Angels listed as a shortstop, though he could play the field with more utility than that. His BBRef page also suggests he played third base, and in the outfield.
Like Lohse, DeNeff never made it to the majors, though he did come closer. Across six minor-league seasons, he played for six different teams, including the 1970 Hawaii Islanders, managed by eventual World Series-winning Pittsburgh Pirates skipper Chuck Tanner.
DeNeff spent his last two professional seasons in AAA, across stints with Toledo, Hawaii and Salt Lake City. According to BBRef his career ended following the 1971 season.
Round 1, Pick 29, Chicago Cubs, 1993 draft
Indiana went 27 years between first-round picks, before the Cubs used a compensatory slot to grab Kevin Orie in 1993.
The West Chester, Pennsylvania, native rose quickly through Chicago's system, making his debut in 1997. That season, Orie finished as a finalist for rookie of the year, in a race that also included Livan Hernandez, Andruw Jones and Vladimir Guerrero. Southern Indiana native Scott Rolen won it.
Orie would eventually spend parts of four seasons in the majors, splitting his time between Chicago and Florida (now Miami). He also spent time in the high minors with several teams including the Phillies, Yankees and Brewers, before formally retiring in 2006.
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Round 1, Pick 26, Milwaukee Brewers, 2009 draft
The first selection in one of the best drafts in program history, Eric Arnett at the time owned IU's single-season strikeout record when he was taken by Milwaukee in 2009.
A long, hard-throwing right-hander from Ohio, the Brewers hoped Arnett might develop into a major league-caliber started. But a raft of injuries plagued his professional career, including rotator cuff problems and a torn ACL.
Only once in five minor-league seasons did Arnett manage to throw more than 85 total innings, and he never advanced further than high Single-A ball. According to BBRef his career, spent entirely in Milwaukee's system, ended in 2013.
Round 1, Pick 38, Chicago White Sox, 2009 draft
The second of three first-rounders for IU that year, Josh Phegley was a compensatory pick to the White Sox.
One of the most prolific hitters in program history, he'd helped lead IU to a Big Ten tournament title and its first NCAA regional appearance in more than a decade that spring, leading Chicago to grab him with a comp pick.
Phegley reached the majors with Chicago four years later, eventually spending time with both the White Sox and Cubs, as well as Oakland.
Across eight major-league seasons, Phegley appeared in 387 games with more than 1,200 plate appearances, 35 home runs, 162 runs batted in and a career .649 OPS. He retired after the 2020 season, and later spent time on former IU coach Tracy Smith's staff at Michigan.
Round 1, Pick 46, Minnesota Twins, 2009 draft
The last of those three first-round picks in 2009, Matt Bashore closely followed his battery mate off the board to the Twins.
A left-handed Ohio native with a wicked curveball, Bashore served as the morning Saturday starter on that '09 regional team that eventually faced Sonny Gray in the NCAA tournament. Bashore's career would also be affected by injuries, namely a second Tommy John surgery required after suffering UCL damage in the minor leagues (he had also required Tommy John once in high school).
In total, Bashore made just 29 total appearances in the minors, across stints in the Twins' and Yankees' farm systems. He has since retired from baseball and now works in physical therapy with an emphasis on orthopedic injuries, in Carmel.
Round 1, Pick 4, Chicago Cubs, 2014 draft
One of the best IU baseball players ever, Kyle Schwarber remains a program legend both for his exploits in college and his career since.
A left-handed power hitter, Schwarber anchored the lineup that propelled Indiana to its only College World Series appearance, in 2013. He clubbed 40 home runs across three seasons in Bloomington, also leading the Hoosiers to their first national seed in the NCAA tournament, in 2014.
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Schwarber moved rapidly through the Cubs' system before suffering a serious knee injury early in the 2016 season. He still managed to return in time to contribute to Chicago's historic World Series win that fall.
He's since gone on to play for Washington, Boston and Philadelphia, where he's already hit 29 home runs this season. Schwarber's 313 career home runs are the most by any former IU player in major league history.
Schwarber — a fan favorite in Bloomington who served as guest picker during ESPN's "College GameDay" visit in 2024 — stands alongside Ted Kluszewski as one of the two best players in program history.