LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Major League Baseball Draft begins Sunday, and one Las Vegan has a chance to become a first-round pick. 8 Sports Now found the Bishop Gorman grad grinding through the heat just a few days before his big day.
Thirty-six young men will go down in history as 2021 MLB first-round picks. It’s an honor, but with great power comes great responsibility.
That’s a great thing for Tyler Whitaker — who has prodigious power. The ball sounds different blasting off his bat. It rockets; it reverberates. It reels in interest from every MLB team.
Whitaker, the Nevada Gatorade player of the year, is committed to the University of Arizona, but a major league team could pick him high and heave hundreds of thousands of dollars his way on Sunday or Monday. He’s honored to follow in the Las Vegas star footprints of Bryce Harper, Kris Bryant and Joey Gallo.
It could be a life-changing next 72 hours for the Southern Nevada slugger.
“It’s motivation for me. I want to be at the level of those guys and all the great baseball players that have come through Vegas. I’ve been working hard; it’s paid off so far. I’m not slowing down by any means,” Whitaker told us. “It’s nice to reap the benefits of my hard work. I’ve been committed since eighth grade to Arizona. Whatever happens, happens. I’m ready for both outcomes. If my path is going professionally, I’m ready for it. But if my path is going to college, I’m super, super stoked to go to the University of Arizona.”
First round of the draft is Sunday, and it continues into Monday and Tuesday.