Alright, let me walk you through how I ended up digging into the whole Kirby Connell MLB draft situation. It wasn’t anything super formal, just me getting curious one afternoon.
I think I first saw his name pop up during some college baseball talk, probably something about the Tennessee Volunteers. You know how it is, you hear a name, maybe see a highlight or two, and it sticks in your head. Connell’s did, maybe because he’s a lefty pitcher, or maybe it was just the flow, who knows. So, I figured, let’s see what’s up with this guy, especially with the MLB draft always being a topic.
Starting the Search
First thing I did was just punch “Kirby Connell baseball” into the search bar. Pretty basic stuff. That brought up the usual – his player profile on the Tennessee Athletics site, some stats, pictures. Confirmed he was a pitcher for the Vols, left-handed.
Then I got more specific. I tried searching for “Kirby Connell MLB draft projection” and “Kirby Connell draft stock”. This is where it gets a bit muddy sometimes. You get a mix of articles, some fan forum discussions, maybe some tweets.
- Found some mentions on draft preview lists.
- Saw some analysts discussing his role – mostly as a reliever, a specialist type.
- Read bits about his performance in college, particularly his durability and frequent appearances.
Checking the Draft Results
Okay, so projections are one thing, but I wanted to know what actually happened. The MLB draft is a big event, spans a couple of days, lots of rounds. I specifically started looking for “Kirby Connell 2023 MLB Draft results”. I scanned through some draft tracker sites and official MLB draft lists.
This was the interesting part. I went through the rounds, looking for his name. Didn’t see it. Round after round, no Kirby Connell drafted by any team. I double-checked a couple of sources just to be sure. So, he went undrafted in the main 20-round draft.
But then, almost immediately after checking the main draft results, I started seeing news about undrafted free agents (UDFAs). It’s pretty common for guys who don’t get picked to sign deals shortly after the draft ends. So I tweaked my search again, maybe something like “Kirby Connell signed after draft”.
The Outcome
And there it was. Found reports that Kirby Connell had signed a free agent contract with the Kansas City Royals. So, while he didn’t get the draft call officially during the main event, he still landed a spot with a pro team pretty quickly afterwards. It happens quite a bit, teams scoop up guys they had their eye on who slipped through the cracks.
So yeah, that was basically my process. Started with general curiosity, did some basic searching, then focused specifically on the draft aspect, checked the actual results, and finally looked for post-draft signings. It wasn’t complex, just following the trail from general info to the specific outcome of his draft journey, which ended up being an undrafted free agent deal. Pretty cool story for him, landing with the Royals anyway.
