No guarantee: How MLB 1st-rounders drafted straight out of Indiana high schools have fared

On Sunday, Franklin star Max Clark will become the 18th player selected in the first round of the MLB draft straight out of an Indiana high school.

Despite their "can't-miss" scouting reports, of the seventeen before Clark, only three reached the big leagues (with three still trying to get there).

Here's how first-rounders drafted directly out of Indiana high schools have fared over the years:

2021, Colson Montgomery, Chicago White Sox, No. 22; Southridge HS

Montgomery led Southridge to a third-straight trip to the baseball state finals, capping his high school career with a Class 3A title. He’s also the school’s all-time basketball scoring leader with 1,966 points and put Southridge on his back during a memorable tournament run to the Class 2A semistate. In his senior year, he averaged 24.3 points and 8.7 rebounds.

Last season, Montgomery impressed, earning two promotions. At Class-A Kannapolis, he hit .324 with four home runs, 12 doubles and 26 RBIs in 45 games before a promotion to High Class-A Winston Salem where he hit five more home runs in 37 games. He was in Double-A Birmingham by late August ... at 20 years old.

Ranked the No. 39 prospect by Baseball America, Montgomery was invited to White Sox spring camp but was limited by an oblique strain, and has since been slowed by a mid-back strain. He only started his 2023 season in late June with a rehab assignment in Rookie ball.

More: How Colson Montgomery's athleticism caught eye of White Sox

2018, Nick Schnell, Tampa Bay, No. 32; Roncalli HS

As a high school senior, he hit .535 with 15 home runs and 37 RBIs for a 25-6 team that reached a Class 4A regional final. His four-year totals were .473 with 25 homers and 109 RBIs and he set three single-season and six career records.

“The kid is born to play baseball for a career,” Roncalli coach Aaron Kroll told IndyStar's Kyle Neddenriep in 2018.

“We’re going to look back 20 years from now and be able to say we played with Nick Schnell,” said senior outfielder Mark Cobb. “It’s going to be awesome to see what his future looks like.”

So far, as a pro, strikeouts have been an issue for Schnell. A career .228 hitter, he's struck out 313 times in 219 games. He has 26 home runs, 109 RBIs, 25 stolen bases in four-plus seasons. The 23-year-old is at High Class-A Bowling Green this season with a .216 average, career-high nine home runs with 32 RBIs.

2015, Ashe Russell, Kansas City, No. 21; Cathedral HS

A two-time Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year, Russell used a 90-plus mph fastball and wicked slider to dominate prep hitters. As a senior, he had 67 strikeouts, nine walks, just 21 hits allowed and a 1.02 ERA in 41 innings.

"He's one of the most overpowering guys this state has ever seen, I think," then-Cathedral coach Rich Andriole said.

"I have heard he touches the upper 90s with his fastball but I was more impressed by his slider," said New Castle coach Brad King. "I would say it's the best that I've seen in my 13 years as a varsity head coach."

He signed with the Royals instead of attending Texas A&M and went 0-3 with a 4.21 ERA in 11 starts in Rookie ball in 2015. He threw just two innings in 2016 before stepping away from the game for a "mental break." He struggled with Steve Blass disease, a confidence issue where players inexplicably seem to lose their ability to throw a baseball accurately. He took 2017 and 2018 off and missed 2019 because of Tommy John surgery.

He appeared in four games in the Arizona Complex League in 2021, posting a 6.75 ERA over four innings before the Royals released him.

2015, Nolan Watson, Kansas City, No. 33, Lawrence North HS

Baseball America had Watson projected 56th overall. Instead the Vanderbilt recruit heard his name called late in the first round. Watson was 5-1 as a senior with a 0.63 ERA and 70 strikeouts in nearly 45 innings pitched.

His first three years as a pro were forgettable. Watson went 4-26 with a 7.36 ERA between Rookie and Class A ball. He reached High Class-A in 2018 and threw a career-high 125.1 innings and won 10 games, but he threw just four innings a year later and required Tommy John surgery.

In his eighth professional season, Watson was recently promoted to Triple-A El Paso in the Padres organization. Now 26, he got off to a great start this season at Double-A, not allowing more than two earned runs in each of his first 10 appearances.

For his career, he's 27-50 with a 6.15 ERA and 733 hits allowed in 579.2 innings.

2013, Trey Ball, Boston, No. 7; New Castle HS

The 2013 USA Today high school player of the year, Ball went 6-0 on the mound as a senior with a 0.76 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 46 innings and added 10 home runs and 29 RBIs from the plate. A $2.75 million signing bonus helped convince Ball to pass on his scholarship to Texas and begin his pro career.

"Makeup, athleticism, stuff, projectability," Red Sox GM Ben Cherington told ESPN.com. "We sort of go through the checklist of things that we need to see in a high school pitcher to invest a first-round pick, and he just checks all the boxes. He's got the chance to be really good one day."

Ball was average in his first three pro seasons with a 14-24 record and 4.76 ERA over 236 innings with 150 strikeouts. In 2016, he improved in his second season with High-A Salem, going 8-6 with a 3.84 ERA in 23 starts, though the 68 walks were worrisome. A year later in Double-A, he struck out a career-high 103 batters but had a 5.27 ERA and 1.75 WHIP. He was moved to the bullpen a year later and actually tried out as a two-way player in a disastrous season. He posted a 7.58 ERA with 97 hits allowed in 65.1 innings. At the plate, he was 2-for-14 in five games.

The Red Sox let the 24-year-old's contract expire in November 2019.

2010, Justin O’Conner, Tampa Bay, No. 31; Cowan HS

Twenty-seven of the 30 MLB teams sent a scout when Cowan opened the 2015 season against Frankton. He started the game on the mound with a 95-mph fastball and striking out the first two batters. Then in the bottom half of the inning, he blasted a home run in his first at-bat of the season.

The scouts returned by the dozens the next day against Lapel. “They obviously liked what they saw,” an American League scout told The Star Press' Thomas St. Myer. “If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have come back. Their time is too precious.”

New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya caught Cowan's regional game against Lafayette Central Catholic the week before the draft.

O’Conner, who pitched and played catcher and shortstop, batted .494 with 11 home runs and 49 RBIs, with a 5-1 record, 1.56 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 36 innings. He finished his career with the state’s all-time RBIs record (198) and share of career homers record (51).

“If his arm fell off tomorrow, I’m not sure what he would do, I really don’t,” Randy O’Conner said of his son prior to the draft. “This is what he does. He has absolutely no other plans, than at some point, he wants to be playing Major League Baseball.

“If he ends up not getting to do what he wants to do, it’s not because he hasn’t tried. He has put in the time. I can’t think of anything, growing up or through the course of all this, that I wish he had done a little differently. In my opinion, he’s done everything he could’ve done to make it happen. If it doesn’t happen, it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Once considered one of the top catching prospects in the game, O'Conner played in the 2014 Futures Game and was ranked baseball’s No. 61 prospect ahead of the 2015 season. But his career was hindered by injury and a 50-game suspension for a second failed drug test for a drug of abuse.

In 12 years of pro ball, O’Conner has hit .235 with 89 home runs, 384 RBIs, and 834 strikeouts in 771 games.

He's spent the past two seasons in Independent League ball, and is hitting .228 in 25 games this year.

2007, Jarrod Parker, Oakland, No. 9; Norwell HS

Parker finished his high school career in style, pitching a shutout and hitting a home run to cap Norwell's undefeated season with a Class 3A state championship.

"This is the way every high school kid wants to end it — undefeated, state champion," he told IndyStar's Nat Newell. "It's an awesome feeling."

Parker finished his senior season 12-0 with a 0.10 ERA and struck out 116 batters over 70 innings.

“All the kids around here say, ‘Man, you’re going to be on TV someday,’” Parker said.

They were right.

After landing a $2.1 million signing bonus, Parker began his pro career with Arizona's Class-A affiliate in South Bend, two hours from home. He went 12-5 with a 3.44 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 117 2/3 innings. He started the 2009 season with a 0.95 ERA and 21 strikeouts in four starts at High-Class A before a promotion to Double-A at 20 years old. He impressed there, too. Southern League managers voted Parker best fastball, best breaking pitch and the league's best pitching prospect. But in July of that year, he suffered the first of what would be recurring arm issues. This injury required Tommy John surgery and cost Parker the entire 2010 season.

He returned in 2011 to start 26 times in Double-A with a 3.79 ERA, 11 wins and 112 strikeouts in 130 2/3 innings. He made his Major League debut in the second-to-last game of the year and pitched 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball.

Arizona traded him (and pieces) to Oakland over the offseason for starter Trevor Cahill and reliever Craig Breslow. Parker became a fixture in the A's rotation over the next two seasons, winning 25 total games and posting a 3.73 ERA and 274 strikeouts in 378 1/3 innings.

He was projected to be the A's Opening Day starter, but would need the dreaded Tommy John surgery, wiping out his 2014 season. He would fracture his elbow in 2015 and 2016, both times requiring surgery and officially retired in 2018.

1998, Andy Brown, N.Y. Yankees, No. 24; Richmond HS

A high school All-American outfielder, Brown hit .484 with nine triples, seven home runs and 48 RBIs as a senior. On the mound, he was 12-1 with 107 strikeouts in 63 innings.

Brown passed on a scholarship to Michigan to sign with his dream team. "The Yankees were my first choice. That was the call I was waiting on." Brown signed his contact with the Yankees in front of a public audience at Richmond's Tiernan Center.

"He has a chance to be special. … Just about everyone in our organization has seen Andy play and has been impressed," Yankees scout Tim Kelly told the Palladium-Item. "We feel he has an exciting chance to be a significant run-producer in Yankee Stadium.

"Nobody knows how the draft will go but when our cross checkers, our scouting director and our vice president for player development all come in to see Andy play and were excited about him, then you start to think perhaps you have a chance to get this young man."

Brown spent eight seasons in pro baseball, seven with the Yankees organization, but never advanced past Double-A. His best season was in 2000 with Class-A Greensboro where he hit .257 with 19 home runs and career-highs in doubles (31) and RBIs (63). Though he also led the league in strikeouts (182). He finished his career with 91 home runs and drove in 337 runs in 683 games, which included a final year in Independent ball.

He was out of pro baseball at 25.

1996, Josh Garrett, Boston, No. 26; South Spencer HS

A two-sport star (Garrett led South Spencer to four straight basketball sectional titles and still holds assists and steals records) and two-time Evansville Courier Player of the Year, Garrett was 8-1 with 0.42 ERA and 118 strikeouts in 74 innings as a senior.

“In 42 years of life that was one of my most memorable experiences, going to Fenway,” Garrett said in 2020. “It was just to get a physical, but I got to go into the (Red Sox general manager) Dan Duquette suite and meet Roger Clemens. He gave me some personal advice. I was a little nervous talking to him.”

Garrett spent six seasons in the Red Sox organization but never reached above Double-A. He posted a career 31-48 record with a 5.24 ERA in 156 career games and retired with shoulder problems.

He was out of pro baseball at 23.

A financial advisor, Garrett moved back to Spencer County in 2020. "My father had a heart attack and COVID happened," he told the Evansville Courier & Press. "... I took the opportunity to go home because you never know how much time you have left."

1996, AJ Zapp, Atlanta, No. 27; Center Grove HS

Chosen one spot behind fellow Hoosier Josh Garrett, it marked the first time in the draft's 31 years two Indiana high schoolers were taken in the first round.

"It's a great tribute to Indiana baseball," Garrett said. "I was real happy to be picked right next to AJ. I actually consider it a privilege. It's got to make high school baseball in Indiana look a lot stronger."

"To be very honest with you, this surprises me because nobody in their right mind could ever predict that both would be picked in the first round, even though both are really nice kids," said Dennis Kas, a Pittsburgh Pirates scout and longtime Noblesville coach.

A Notre Dame signee, Zapp hit .524 with 16 home runs and 50 RBIs as a senior for top-ranked Center Grove (they lost in semistate to Jasper).

Tapped as the most powerful high school hitter in the nation by Baseball America, Zapp used part of his $650,000 signing bonus by making $5,000 donations to Our Lady of the Greenwood Catholic Church, Center Grove's baseball and tennis program, Indiana Bulls summer program and Center Grove Little League."

"These programs helped me, so it's only right that I share with them," he said.

Zapp played 11 seasons in the minor leagues, reaching as high as Triple-A. He hit .255 with 136 home runs and 542 RBIs in 1,046 minor league games.

In 2004 at Triple-A Tacoma in the Mariners organization, Zapp hit .291 with a team-leading 29 home runs and 101 RBIs but never got the call to The Show.

"The numbers I put up I guess weren't enough," Zapp told The Daily Journal. "I'm a free agent and hopefully somebody out there will appreciate me more than the Mariners. What else could I have done?"

The only Johnson County resident ever selected in the first round (that will change Sunday).

"To this day, I have no regrets signing," Zapp told The Daily Journal's Rick Morwick in 2016. "Even though I did not get to the big leagues, I went to four major-league spring trainings and everything, but still no regrets. I had a good run, put up some great numbers, and wasn't at the right place at the right time, but I'm totally fine with that."

1983, Gary Thurman, Kansas City, No. 21; North Central HS

An All-State selection in baseball and football, Thurman had a scholarship to play football at Purdue, who wanted to convert the quarterback to receiver. Thurman opted instead to sign a letter-of-intent to play baseball at Miami (Fla.).

"I want to go to college and my parents want me to go to college. I'm just waiting for the negotiations... I just found out I was drafted today while I was out at Warren Central watching the baseball sectional."

As for the negotiations, Thurman signed for "the most a free agent has ever signed for with the Royals," said KC Midwest scouting supervisor Art Stewart.

"I don't remember a first round draft choice out of Marion County before," said Max B. Schumacher, president and general manager of the Indianapolis Indians. "... Often we don't have anybody taken in Marion County. Sometimes, we don't even have anybody taken in Indiana."

For most of his career, Thurman yo-yoed between Triple-A and the majors, and when he stuck in the big leagues, he was primarily a rotational outfielder and pinch-hitter/pinch-runner.

Over parts of nine MLB seasons, Thurman hit .243 with 65 stolen bases, 64 RBIs and 194 hits in 424 career games with the Royals (325), Tigers, Mariners and Mets.

1980, Tim Maki, Texas, No. 14; FW Carroll HS

As a senior for Carroll, Maki posted a 1.06 ERA with 99 strikeouts in 51 innings, including two no-hitters in a week.

Maki spent four seasons in the minors and never made it past Single-A. He posted a career 9-26 record with a 5.41 ERA, 1.75 WHIP with more walks (203) than strikeouts (189) over 302 innings.

He was out of pro baseball at 22.

The other top pitcher on the 1980 Indiana All-State team was Crown Point's Dan Plesac. Plesac was taken in the second round by St. Louis in the 1980 draft but decided to attend N.C. State. Milwaukee selected him No. 26 overall in 1983 and he went on to have an 18-year MLB career, including three straight All-Star appearances (1987-89).

1976, Pat Underwood, Detroit, No. 2; Kokomo HS

Underwood was drafted fresh off the heels of his older brother Tom's impressive rookie season with Philadelphia. Over four years at Kokomo, Underwood posted a 32-9 record with a 0.58 ERA and school-record 639 strikeouts in 338 innings. During his senior year, he threw three straight no-hitters.

"It's really hard to believe I was the second player drafted in the major leagues," Underwood told Journal and Courier's Bob Scott. "It's an honor to be considered one of Indiana's best players, but nationally... well, I never dreamed this would happen."

Pat skipped Rookie ball that summer and went straight to the Tigers' Class-A team in Lakeland, Fla.

"I'm just going going to try and go out and pitch the way I always have," he told Scott. "But there'll be a lot of people watching me. And I certainly don't want people asking themselves why I was drafted second."

Underwood made is major league debut in 1979 against... Tom, in Toronto.

"I didn't really like that," Pat said afterward. "I'm glad it's over with and I don't really want to ever have to go through that again. I don't want to put myself through it. And I don't want to put Tom through it."

The Underwoods threw a combined 17 1/3 innings that day in a 1-0 Tigers win. Pat retired the first 12 batters he faced and pitched into the ninth and Tom completed the nine. Baseball, man.

"God was with us," Pat said. "What better game can you ask for than two brothers pitching against each other and it ending 1-0?"

Pat would spend three-plus seasons in the big leagues, going 13-18 with a 4.43 ERA in 343 2/3 innings.

1975, Tony Moretto, Cincinnati, No. 22; Evansville Harrison HS

Moretto hit .300 in 24 games as a senior with 24 RBIs and four home runs. Over four years of high school, he hit .346.

"There's no doubt in my mind Tony has all the ingredients it takes to become a major league ballplayers," coach Frank Schwitz told the Evansville Press in 1975. "Tony has all the God-given physical tools... big league speed, a big league arm from the outfield and he has shown in the past he has an extra quick bat with power. Tony is in a class by himself in town as far as I'm concerned."

In July 1978, Moretto was demoted from Double-A to Class-A after batting .191 in 57 games with zero home runs. "I heard through the grapevine that he might not report to Tampa," Nashville GM Farrell Owens told the Evansville Press. "But he never discussed that matter with me."

"He's still pretty young. The Reds hope he can get his confidence back at Tampa. But I'd say his confidence is probably destroyed for now. The Reds may have pushed him too fast. He's just 21. He just wasn't quite ready for Double-A ball."

Moretto reported to Tampa and hit .243 in 44 games with two home runs and 17 RBIs.

He was out of pro baseball at 21.

1974, Steve Reed, Cincinnati, No. 23; Fort Wayne Wayne HS

Not to be confused with the Steve Reed, who played 14 years in the majors, this Steve Reed played none.

As a senior in high school, he struck out 109 batters in 59 1/3 innings with a 1.19 ERA. In his three prep years, Reed was 17-14 with 327 strikeouts in 217 innings and 1.20 ERA.

"If he doesn't pitch a shutout, he's in trouble," a Fort Wayne sportswriter said regarding the lack of help on the roster.

A Reds fan, Reed got the news he'd been drafted when his mom woke him up at 10 a.m. to deliver the news.

"I've always wanted to play pro baseball ever since I was a little kid," Reed said. "And I've always wanted to play for the Cincinnati Reds. … This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. There's no doubt about it."

He never got to play for the Reds, reaching as high as Triple-A in 1980, but in the Brewers system. In seven seasons, he was 37-41 with a 3.35 ERA, with 447 strikeouts in 656 innings.

1971, Jeff Wehmeier, Chicago Cubs, No. 16; Brebeuf Jesuit HS

Wehmeier went 7-1 as a senior, allowed just two earned runs, had 120 strikeouts in 56 innings and threw three no-hitters, including one in his final outing in sectionals, when he struck out 18 of a possible 21 Cardinal Ritter batters. He hit .466 with three home runs and a pair of triples.

In his first pro season, Wehmeier struggled mightily with his control, walking 61 batters in 46 innings with 11 wild pitches.

“Last year was a time of adjustment. It took a while to get back on the right foot and do what I expected," he said. "Then, I had a control problem and a little arm trouble which I didn’t anticipate, so last winter I went home to Dallas and got my confidence back.”

Wehmeier's dad, Herm, pitched 13 years in the big leagues (primarily with the Reds).

“A lot of people think that since my dad was a major leaguer that it would be added pressure. Actually, it’s been the opposite. He’s really been a big help and never pressured me," Wehmeier said in 1972. "He helped me get my confidence back."

He dominated in Rookie ball in 1972, going 6-0 with a 1.89 ERA over 38 innings but struggled once he was promoted to Class A.

In May 1973, Herm Wehmeier collapsed and died on the witness stand while testifying in an embezzlement case. Jeff finished the 1973 season 1-7 with a 6.60 ERA.

He was out of pro ball before he was 21.

1966, Larry Hutton, L.A. Dodgers, No. 19; Greenfield HS

Hutton posted an earned run average of 0.36 during his prep career. As a senior, he set a school record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched (39), averaged 15 strikeouts a game and threw more than a half dozen no-hitters. He struck out more than 660 batters during his high school career and was 40-5 in high school and 29-3 in the American Legion.

According to the Greenfield Daily Reporter, "During his appearance at Victory Field against Noblesville, 24 scouts and the president of the National League saw him pitch."

An estimated 1,000 people, including the mayor, fire and police departments, gathered to send him off after the draft. Mayor Berry S. Hurley said the city "is proud to have a Tiger become a Dodger. We know you are leaving for a short while, but hope to see you back soon. We know you will be in the big leagues a long time."

Hutton had a dazzling debut in Rookie ball as an 18-year-old, going 9-3 with a 3.03 ERA and struck out 142 batters in 119 innings. But he struggled after that and never advanced past Double-A Albuquerque, where he finished in 1971.

He was moved to the bullpen in 1970 and struggled with the smaller workload. “Primarily, I was scared," he told Dan Carpenter of the Greenfield Republican. "When I finally got into a game, I felt as though I had to try and overwhelm every hitter. If I didn’t, I figured ‘God knows when I’ll get another chance.’ So, I tried to blow it by everybody, and naturally I got shelled. I got madder and madder as things got worse, and things got worse as I got madder.

“I’m convinced that if you can throw a ball or swing a bat, no matter how many times you get your teeth kicked in, you make it. What you have to do is believe in yourself.”

Hutton was forced to retire in 1971 after being seriously injured in an accident, according to his 1972 engagement announcement in the Greenfield Daily Reporter. For his career, he was 22-28 with a 4.33 ERA in 117 appearances (64 starts) and struck out 379 batters over 432 innings.

First round supplemental picks straight out of Indiana high schools: Ben Van Ryn, Montreal, No. 37, East Noble HS (1990); Kelcey Mucker, Minnesota, No. 38, Lawrenceburg HS (1993); Preston Mattingly, L.A. Dodgers, No. 31, Evansville Central.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: How MLB draft first-rounders picked straight out of Indiana high schools have fared