Updated 7:46 p.m. Monday, July 14, 2025:
Three Kansas baseball players, including one graduating senior in Brady Counsell and two players with additional collegiate eligibility in Alex Breckheimer and Derek Cerda, were selected in the 2025 MLB Draft on Monday.
“Having guys drafted is one of the many signs of a healthy program and having guys drafted for the first time is a major sign of great development,” KU coach Dan Fitzgerald said in a press release.
Infielder Brady Counsell went No. 303 overall to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 10th round on Monday. The graduating senior spent one year at KU, where he primarily played third base. His defense at that position was so exceptional as to win him the program’s first-ever Rawlings Gold Glove Award, and the first for a Big 12 player since 2018.
Counsell also spent time at second base and in left field, and is listed on MLB’s draft tracker as a shortstop prospect.
“Brady will be a great Diamondback and really checks every box for the type of player you want in your organization,” Fitzgerald said in the release. “He can really work and is an incredible teammate. He is a total pro – on the field and in the clubhouse.”
The native of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, now joins his father in the professional ranks. Craig Counsell played in the major leagues from 1995 to 2011, including two separate stints in Arizona, and currently serves as the manager of the Chicago Cubs. Brady Counsell also has a younger brother, Jack, who plays at Northwestern.
Counsell, who has not been previously drafted, was the No. 2 shortstop in Wisconsin coming out of high school. He spent his first three seasons at Minnesota, where he started every game in 2023 and 2024, before joining KU as one of numerous experienced transfers headed to Lawrence via the transfer portal in the summer of 2024. He picked the Jayhawks over Louisville, Oregon State and Arkansas.
Counsell and his fellow transfers became part of the foundation of KU’s best team in recent memory, which went 43-17, led the Big 12 in wins at 20 and reached the NCAA Tournament. Counsell was an all-conference honorable mention. As the only player to start all 60 games for the Jayhawks, he batted .259 with an .851 OPS and tallied 12 home runs and 57 RBIs. On defense, he posted a fielding percentage of .992 and took part in eight double plays.
The No. 303 pick at which Counsell was selected has an estimated slot value of $189,800. He is the first Jayhawk selected by the Diamondbacks since 2018, when Jackson Goddard went No. 99 overall to Arizona in the third round.
Breckheimer went No. 480 overall to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 16th round of the draft, which is the first time St. Louis has selected a Jayhawk since Alex DeLeon in the 23rd round in 2013.
Breckheimer arrived at KU as the first-ever Division I recruit from the Wisconsin campus of Bryant & Stratton College, an unheralded righty who rose to become the Jayhawks’ closer during his first season on campus.
An imposing figure at 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds whom his teammates nicknamed “Fridge,” the native of Chilton, Wisconsin, reached 98 mph on his fastball during the 2025 season, mixing in a slider as well, and demonstrated composure in some challenging late-inning situations. He finished the year with a 3.56 ERA and seven saves, while tallying 50 strikeouts to just 14 walks.
Breckheimer had started at Bryant & Stratton, and Fitzgerald had spoken on a recent episode of his “Hawk Talk” radio show about the prospect of having him do so at KU as a senior (given that he has one remaining year of eligibility).
“In a perfect world, if Breck’s not taken really high, Breck’ll come back and start,” Fitzgerald said, “and I think that’s going to be really exciting because I think he’s built to start.”
That may not come to fruition for the Jayhawks; in the press release, Fitzgerald said Breckheimer “took a big jump in his one year with us and will continue to make strides in the bullpen for the Cards.”
Cerda, who also could choose to come back to college, served as KU’s starting center fielder, demonstrating an impressive range in the outfield over the course of the 2025 season. He is originally from the Dominican Republic and played at Western Oklahoma State College before joining the Jayhawks.
Cerda was selected with the first pick in the 17th round at No. 496 overall to the Chicago White Sox. He started 49 of the 50 games he played for KU in 2025, averaging .279 with a .913 OPS and 10 home runs. He also stole a team-high 10 bases on a team that did not often deploy speed along the base paths.
The White Sox signed undrafted Everhett Hazelwood in 2021, and their most recent KU draftee prior to Cerda was Michael Suiter in the 24th round in 2014.
“Derek is an exceptional center fielder and a great worker,” Fitzgerald said. “We couldn’t be happier for him. He made a huge impact on our program in a short period of time.”
Several KU players of note went unselected on Monday. Most prominent was Cooper Moore, the draft-eligible sophomore pitcher who entered the transfer portal shortly before it closed and has since gone on visits to schools like LSU and Tennessee. Fitzgerald previously predicted Moore would “have an active phone on draft day” and that it wouldn’t be long in any event before he signed to play professionally.
Also undrafted were outgoing seniors Tommy Barth, Michael Brooks, Ian Francis, Jackson Hauge and Sawyer Smith and junior designated hitter Dariel Osoria, among others.
Kansas pitcher Alex Breckheimer winds up during the game against Oklahoma State on Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Arlington, Texas.
Kansas outfielder Derek Cerda celebrates after scoring the winning run on a walk-off single by Mike Koszewski against BYU on Saturday, May 10, 2025, at Hoglund Ballpark.
Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World
Val Montanez/Special to the Journal-World
Sarah Buchanan/Special to the Journal-World