Georgia Tech outfielder/utility Caleb Daniel (6), infielder Kent Schmidt (10), catcher Vahn Lackey (25) and outfielder Drew Burress (8) await pitcher/infielder Alex Hernandez (4) on his three-run home run against Western Kentucky during an NCAA regional baseball game on Friday, May 30, 2025, in Oxford, Miss. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
SOURCE: Vasha Hunt
Georgia Tech teammates picked in top 10 of MLB draft
ATLANTA —
Georgia Tech teammates Vahn Lackey and Drew Burress were selected among the top 10 picks in the 2026 Major League Baseball draft Sunday, marking the first time in program history that two Yellow Jackets were taken in the top 10 of the same draft.
Lackey, a catcher from Suwanee, Georgia, was chosen No. 3 overall by the Minnesota Twins. Burress, an outfielder from Houston County, Georgia, went No. 8 to the Athletics.
Georgia Tech also had two players selected in the second round. Infielder Jarren Advincula was taken No. 45 overall by the Los Angeles Angels, and Carson Kerce went No. 53 overall to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The four selections gave Georgia Tech 233 draft picks in program history, including 14 first-round picks and 38 players chosen in the first three rounds.
Lackey became the fifth Georgia Tech catcher drafted in the first round and only the second player in school history selected in the top three, joining Joey Bart, who went No. 2 overall in 2018.
According to Georgia Tech, Lackey and Burress are the sixth and seventh top-10 picks in program history and just the 15th pair of teammates in MLB draft history to be selected in the top 10 in the same year.
Lackey helped raise his draft stock with a standout 2026 season, batting .397 with a .519 on-base percentage and a .772 slugging percentage. He hit 20 home runs, drove in 78 runs and scored 85 times in 61 games. He also won the ACC Defensive Player of the Year award and the Johnny Bench Award.