Rhett Lowder selected by Cincinnati Reds with No. 7 overall pick in MLB Draft

SEATTLE, WA – Just 16 days after throwing his final pitch in a Wake Forest uniform, Rhett Lowder found his next destination as the No. 7 overall pick by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2023 MLB Draft.

Lowder left Wake Forest as one of the most decorated athletes in the school’s history. He was awarded the ACC Male Athlete of the Year, just the sixth Deacon to do so, joining Tim Duncan, Randolph Childress, Brian Piccolo, Len Chappell and Dickie Hemric.

Along with the vaunted award, Lowder was named the ACC Pitcher of the Year for a second-straight season, along with being a finalist for NCAA Pitcher of the Year and a first-team All American for several publications.

Lowder holds the Wake Forest record for single-season wins (15), single-season strikeouts (143) and single-season win/loss percentage (15-0).

Over the course of his three-year career, Lowder accumulated a 3.29 ERA with 30 wins and just five losses. He struck out 326 batters in 287.1 innings, while only walking 72.

In his premier 2023 season, the junior posted a 1.87 ERA in over 120 innings. He recorded 143 strikeouts with just 25 earned runs.

Lowder’s final game with Wake Forest, despite the team’s loss, was one of his best. On short rest, Lowder held eventual national champion LSU scoreless over seven innings. It was the only game the Deacs lost this season with their star pitcher on the mound.

In that game, he went toe-to-toe with No. 1 overall pick Paul Skenes and held his own.

“Paul Skenes was fantastic, and Rhett matched him pitch for pitch,” head coach Tom Walter said. “It was one of the best pitched college baseball games I’ve ever seen…The most amazing thing is [Lowder’s] an even better kid than he is a pitcher. He’s just the kind of guy that you want to go to war with. He’s the epitome of what you want in a college baseball player.”

Now, he will take his talents to Cincinnati, where “Rhett Lowder Day” is expected to live long into the future.