EAST LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – When Mitch Jebb heard his name called on Sunday night at his home in Saginaw, Michigan during the 2023 MLB Draft, his dreams of playing professional baseball came with a side of history by becoming the Spartans’ highest draft pick since Mark Mulder was selected second overall in 1998, and the highest ever in Jake Boss’ 15 seasons as head coach.

“It’s definitely something you’ve always dreamed about since you’ve been as little to know what a big leaguer is,” Jebb said. “You’ve always wanted to get that call and it’s almost like just a rush of excitement like ‘Oh, let’s go!’ like this is where it starts.

Now during Jebb’s media Zoom call, another Spartan came off of the draft board. Teammate Brock Vradenburg was selected 78th overall by the Miami Marlins.

“Oh really?” Jebb said. “That’s awesome! I couldn’t be more proud of him, he’s a great guy and a great teammate.”

These two guys have been at the top of the draft boards all year long and have enjoyed going through this journey together.

“It’s just good to have that support and when you’re talking about the draft, you’re talking about it and that kind of gets rid of the nervousness to it too while you’re in the middle of the season,” Jebb said. “It’s like, oh, my buddy right here is going right through with me and so you can rely on each other to pick each other up in the tough spots.”

During his time as a Spartan, Jebb earned All-Big Ten honors for three consecutive years at shortstop, but he isn’t married to the position. He said the Pirates envision him staying in the middle of the field but that could mean shifting to second base or even centerfield, and he is willing to make whatever changes. He just knows two things, he wants to stay in the pros as long as possible and he wants to hit baseballs.