Florida right-hander [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] is set to begin his professional baseball career after being picked 86th overall by the Boston Red Sox in the 2024 MLB draft.
Neely was considered a likely Day 2 pick for most of the season, but a brilliant performance in the postseason moved him up most draft boards. Although he snuck outside of the first two rounds, Neely ended up a third-round selection with a slot value of $878,800. The Red Sox have a chance to sign him for a bit less, too.
He is the 222nd draft pick in Florida program history and the 107th pick of the [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] era. He’s also the 24th O’Sullivan-coached pitcher to go in the first five rounds.
Neely’s career at Florida
As a freshman, it looked like Neely would compete for a spot in the weekend rotation. He made 10 starts, mostly in the midweek but some in the postseason, across 21 appearances while maintaining a 3.76 ERA.
A move to the bullpen took some convincing, but Neely immediately became one of the conference’s best closers. He ended his sophomore campaign as the SEC leader in saves (13) and upped his strikeout rate to an elite 30.1%.
Neely saved his best performances for the final season of his Gators career, though. He delivered seven multi-inning performances in the NCAA Tournament, five of which were scoreless. He earned the win over Oklahoma State in Regionals and shut down Clemson in the Super Regionals.
Despite posting an elevated ERA of 5.13 in 2024, he somehow raised his strikeout rate to 31.4% and became more of a groundball pitcher, which pleases scouts.
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