MORGANTOWN — WVU starting pitcher Tyler Switalski was selected in the 16th round Tuesday by the San Francisco Giants, but the final day of the Major League Baseball draft concluded with much of the Mountaineers’ lineup for next season intact.
Switalski, from nearby Waynesburg, Pa., was the 478th overall selection.
He transferred to WVU this season from Gardner-Webb and went 5-3 with a 5.10 ERA in 18 appearances. He struck out 58 over 67 innings.
Players picked outside of the first 10 rounds are drafted with no slot value assigned, meaning teams can make their own individual offer to those players.
Just a junior, it’s possible the left-handed Switalski could turn down the Giants and return to WVU for his senior season with the hopes of improving his draft status for 2025. Teams have until 5 p.m. on Aug. 1 to sign players or else lose their draft rights.
The Mountaineers, coming off their first-ever appearance in a super regional, will enter next season with first-year head coach Steve Sabins, but also a lineup that will include the school’s all-time home run leader in Grant Hussey, as well as an experienced outfield and catcher in Logan Sauve.
Sauve, who batted .308 with eight home runs and 37 RBIs last season, was eligible for the 2024 draft, but announced late Monday through social media he had withdrawn his name from eligibility.
“My dream has always been to play in Omaha (Neb., site of College World Series) and to play in the MLB,” Sauve tweeted. “I’m taking my name out of the draft so I can chase my dream of helping take WVU baseball to Omaha.
“We are building something special in Morgantown. I look forward to playing for this state and university.”
Already the school’s career home run leader with 37, Hussey will add to that total as a senior, but WVU will also return junior utility man Sam White and outfielder Kyle West, who combined for 24 home runs and 85 RBIs last season.
Infielder Brodie Kresser is also expected to return, possibly to play shortstop, which is where J.J. Wetherholt played last season before getting picked No. 7 overall by the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night.
With West not being drafted, the Mountaineers’ outfield will all be back. Former Morgantown High star Aaron Jamison and Skylar King — neither were draft eligible this season — combined to play in 102 games in different spots in the outfield last season.
Especially if Switalski decides to turn pro, Sabins will have to rebuild the pitching staff.
Aidan Major, Derek Clark and David Hagaman all went off the board Monday, meaning WVU could have to replace its three weekend starters and top reliever.
There is potential in pitchers Gavin Van Kempen, Carson Estridge, Joseph Fredericks, Robby Porco and Maxx Yehl to fill many of those roles, but Sabins is also expected to go pitcher-heavy in the transfer portal.
WVU also has 17 incoming freshmen in its recruiting class. That class will not include outfielder Griffin Burkholder, who was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the second round and decided to turn pro rather than going to college.
