After completing a 44-16 campaign and advancing to the NCAA Regionals, it was expected that a few players from the hugely successful 2023 Iowa baseball team would hear their names called during the 2023 MLB Draft. While it took a few days, that's exactly what happened, as Jared Simpson and Ty Langenberg were both selected in the 2023 MLB Draft.
Jared Simpson, a 6'4" lefthanded senior pitcher, was taken in the eighth round by the Washington Nationals.
Simpson, who transferred to Iowa after stints at Missouri and Iowa Western Community College, went 4-3 in 22 appearances primarily out of the bullpen in 2023. He threw 64 strikeouts and just 22 walks in 42.2 innings (an almost 3:1 strikeout:walk ratio), while allowing opposing hitters to post a .253 batting average. He finished the season with a 6.54 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP.
Baseball America's scouting report offered the following analysis on Simpson: "His fastball sits in the low-90s but he hides the ball well and has little effort in his delivery. His sweeping slider generated a 26% miss rate this spring, and he also mixes in a shorter, mid-80s cutter that is effective. There is room for Simpson to put on productive weight which will likely translate to a couple more ticks of velocity."
Ty Langenberg, a 6'2" righthanded junior pitcher, was taken in the eleventh round by the Minnesota Twins.
Langenberg went 6-3 in 17 appearances in 2023. 15 of those 17 appearances came as a starting pitcher; Langenberg was the third part of Iowa's very potent trio of starting pitchers alongside talented sophomores Brody Brecht and Marcus Morgan. Langenberg finished the season with 86 strikeouts and 34 walks (a 2.5:1 strikeout:walk ratio), while holding opposing hitters to a .276 batting average. He ended the year with a 4.15 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP.
Baseball America's scouting profile notes that Langenberg needs to develop more consistency and his improve his overall command, but describes him as "an intriguing player with upside."
Baseball America also praises Langenberg's fastball and slider: "The junior hurler has some deception to his low-90s fastball due to his lower arm slot that can create running action when timed up. Langenberg likes to throw his sharp breaking, low-80s slider to both lefthanded and righthanded hitters and it serves as his putaway pitch. He has feel for his firm mid-80s changeup that features similar movement as his fastball, which makes it an effective pitch."
Some of his best performances of the year came in the postseason. Langenberg pitched Iowa into the Big Ten Championship Game with a commanding outing against Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament. He held the Wolverines to just two hits over seven shutout innings, striking out nine batters and walking just two. He had Michigan's hitters chasing ghosts in that game.
Langenberg followed that up with a season-saving outing against North Carolina in an elimination game in the NCAA Regional. He threw six strikeouts and limited North Carolina's potent offense over seven innings (and 122 pitches). He was officially charged with allowing four earned runs, though the final two were credited to him after he had exited the game with a 5-2 lead. Regardless, he did enough to give Iowa an opportunity to win the game and stay alive in the NCAA Regional (which they did, albeit after 13 innings).
Iowa fans might be able to see Langenberg in action without having to travel too far as well. The Twins' High-A minor league affiliate is the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Langenberg will start in the Rookie League and with the Single-A Fort Myers Miracle, but if he progresses well in those locations, Iowa fans may be able to see him on the mound just up the road from Iowa City before too long.
Two other Iowa players, Will Christopherson and Keaton Anthony, signed with MLB teams as undrafted free agents. Christopherson, a redshirt junior and transfer from Michigan State, signed with the Los Angeles Angels. A 6'4" righthanded reliever, Christopherson finished the 2023 season with a 5-1 record in a team-high 29 appearances. He posted 59 strikeouts and 16 walks in 33 innings of work and finished the season with a 3.54 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP.
Anthony, a redshirt sophomore who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year earlier in his career and earned third-team All-America honors in 2023, signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. Anthony, a 6'4" righthanded hitter from Georgia, was a dominant presence while he was in Iowa's lineup in 2023. He finished the season with a .389 batting average, a .701 slugging percentage, and a 1.206 OPS.
Despite missing the final 17 games of the season, Anthony finished with 51 runs (4th most on the team), 61 hits (4th most), 9 home runs (4th most), and a team-high 22 doubles. He was the most consistent engine for the Iowa offense for most of the season.
Anthony also displayed some skill as a pitcher this season, going 2-0 in nine appearances. He finished with an ERA of 4.95 and a WHIP of 1.40 across 20 innings of work. Opponents hit .260 against him while striking out 14 times and walking eight times. Anthony's baseball future is with a bat in his hands, but he did display some aptitude for pitching as well.
As noted, Anthony missed the final 17 games of the season. That absence was the result of an ongoing investigation by the Iowa athletics department into allegations of gambling-related activities. That investigation undoubtedly resulted in him falling out of the draft slots and becoming an undrafted free agent.
Simpson and Langenberg became the 28th and 29th Iowa players selected in the MLB Draft since head coach Rick Heller arrived in 2014. The Hawkeyes have had at least one pitcher selected in every draft since Heller took over the program.
