Indians draft East Carolina pitcher Gavin Williams in first round

Picking 23rd overall for the second consecutive year, the Cleveland Indians chose Gavin Williams, a right-handed pitcher from East Carolina University, on Sunday night as their 2021 first-round selection. Harris was Cleveland's only pick on the opening night of the first-year player draft. The 6-foot-6 righty just completed his fourth season at ECU. He was listed as the No. 31 prospect on the MLB.com draft ranking. In his final year with the Pirates, Williams made 15 appearances (12 starts) and struck out 130 batters in 81.1 innings pitched. He finished with a 1.88 ERA and opposing hitters batted .193 against him. "He was really good the second half of the year, and at some point you've got to take what's in front of you," said ESPN analyst Kiley McDaniel on the draft broadcast. "... this is the right pick. This is what you should be taking." Entering Sunday night, Cleveland's last five first-round picks were high school players, but Williams ended that trend. His fastball touched 99 miles per hour against Vanderbilt in the NCAA tournament when he struck out 13 batters against the eventual national finalists. "You've seen a ceiling that is a top-five ceiling," ESPN's Chris Burke said on the broadcast. After the draft was shortened to five rounds a year ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it expanded to 20 rounds for the 2021 edition. That's still only half the length of recent drafts prior to the pandemic, which were 40 rounds. The first round and Competitive Balance Round A took place Sunday night in Denver, Colorado, near the site of this week's All-Star festivities. Rounds two through 10 will take place Monday, beginning at 1 p.m. ET. The final 10 rounds will get underway Tuesday at noon. The Pittsburgh Pirates had the night's first overall selection and took catcher Henry Davis out of Louisville. The top-three was rounded out by Vanderbilt right-handed pitcher Jack Leiter to the Rangers and Jackson Jobe, a right-handed high school pitcher from Heritage Hall (Oklahoma), to the Tigers. After picking 23rd in the first round, the Indians will pick 58th overall in the second round and 69th overall in Competitive Balance Round B. They'll then be the 24th team to pick in each of the remaining rounds. Cleveland has until Aug. 1 to sign the players it selects in this year's draft. --- 2021 MLB Draft first round 1. Pittsburgh Pirates - Henry Davis, C, Louisville2. Texas Rangers - Jack Leiter, RHP, Vanderbilt3. Detroit Tigers - Jackson Jobe, RHP, Heritage Hall (Okla.) HS4. Boston Red Sox - Marcelo Mayer, SS, Eastlake (Calif.) HS5. Baltimore Orioles - Colton Cowser, CF, Sam Houston St.6. Arizona Diamondbacks - Jordan Lawlar, SS, Jesuit (TX) HS7. Kansas City Royals - Frank Mozzicato, LHP, East Catholic (CT) HS8. Colorado Rockies - Benny Montgomery, OF, Red Land (Pa.) HS9. Los Angeles Angels - Sam Bachman, RHP, Miami (OH)10. New York Mets - Kumar Rocker, RHP, Vanderbilt11. Washington Nationals - Brady House, SS, Winder-Barrow (Ga.) HS12. Seattle Mariners - Harry Ford, C, North Cobb (Ga.) HS13. Philadelphia Phillies - Andrew Painter, RHP, Calvary Christian (Fla.) HS14. San Francisco Giants - Will Bednar, RHP, Mississippi State15. Milwaukee Brewers - Sal Frelick, OF, Boston College16. Miami Marlins - Kahlil Watson, SS, Wake Forest (N.C.) HS17. Cincinnati Reds - Matt McLain, SS, UCLA18. St. Louis Cardinals - Michael McGreevy, RHP, UC-Santa Barbara19. Toronto Blue Jays - Gunner Hoglund, RHP, Ole Miss20. New York Yankees - Trey Sweeney, SS, Eastern Illinois21. Chicago Cubs - Jordan Wicks, LHP, Kansas State22. Chicago White Sox - Colson Montgomery, SS, Southridge (Indiana) HS23. Cleveland Indians - Gavin Williams, RHP, East Carolina24. Atlanta Braves - Ryan Cusick, RHP, Wake Forest25. Oakland Athletics - Max Muncy, SS, Thousand Oaks (Calif.) HS26. Minnesota Twins - Chase Petty, RHP, Mainland Regional (N.J.) HS27. San Diego Padres - Jackson Merrill, SS, Severna Park (Md.) HS28. Tampa Bay Rays - Carson Williams, SS/RHP, Torrey Pines (Calif.) HS29. Los Angeles Dodgers - Maddox Bruns, LHP, UMS-Wright (Miss.) HSNote: The Houston Astros didn't pick in the first round due to continuing punishment from their sign-stealing scandal. --- Indians' recent first-round picks 2021 - Gavin Williams, RHP 2020 - Carson Tucker, SS 2019 - Daniel Espino, RHP 2018 - Bo Naylor, C 2017 - none 2016 - Will Benson, OF 2015 - Brady Aiken, LHP; Triston McKenzie, RHP 2014 - Bradley Zimmer, OF; Justus Sheffield, LHP; Mike Papi, OF 2013 - Clint Frazier, OF 2012 - Tyler Naquin, OF 2011 - Francisco Lindor, SS