LHP Joshua Hartle Withdraws From 2021 MLB Draft, Plans To Attend Wake Forest

Image credit: (Photo by Brian Westerholt/Four Seam)

High school players continue to opt out of the 2021 draft. 

A day after Nick McLain, Cody Schrier and Grant Hussey withdrew from the 2021 MLB Draft, the trio is joined by North Carolina high school lefthander Joshua Hartle, who notified teams that he is opting out of the draft and will no longer be eligible. 

See Hartle’s full scouting report here 

Hartle’s withdrawal is good news for Wake Forest, which lands one of the best overall pitching prospects in the class without having to stress the draft at all. Hartle ranked as the No. 37 overall prospect on the BA 500 before opting out. 

While it’s not new for high school players to opt out of drafts—Louisiana State outfielder Dylan Crews did so last year and players like former North Carolina righthander J.B. Bukauskas emailed teams saying not to sign him out of high school—the number of high-profile high school players withdrawing this year seems greater than a typical year.

Delaware outfielder Lorenzo Carrier was one of the first players to withdraw his name from the 2021 draft.