SEATTLE, Wash. – Auburn players Cole Foster and Bryson Ware were selected on the second day of the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft Monday.
Foster was drafted by the San Francisco Giants with the 85th overall pick in the third round, while Ware went to the Philadelphia Phillies with the 253rd overall pick in the eighth round. The duo is the highest-drafted pair of Auburn infielders since 1979.
This year's draft marks the 49th consecutive season dating back to 1975 Auburn has had at least one player selected in the MLB Draft – tied for the longest streak in the Southeastern Conference. It also marks the fifth straight season multiple players have been selected in the top 10 rounds, marking the longest such streak in program history.
Foster is the eighth Auburn player taken in the top three rounds in head coach Butch Thompson's tenure and is the program's second-highest drafted infielder since 2000 (Ryan Bliss – 42nd overall in 2021). Prior to Thompson's arrival, the Tigers did not have a player selected in the top three rounds from 2008-15. The Tigers have now had 18 players selected in the top 10 rounds under Thompson.
The Plano, Texas native turned in a career-best season with a .336 average to go along with 57 runs, 75 hits, 13 doubles, 13 home runs and 49 RBI en route to earned Second Team All-Region honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association. His run total was good for second on the team while he ranked third in hits doubles and homers and tied for third in RBI. In 123 career games in an Auburn uniform, Foster turned in a .305 career average with 128 hits, 27 doubles, 22 homers and 97 RBI.
Foster played shortstop in 55 of 58 games this season and turned in a .976 fielding percentage, committing just five errors in 212 chances. Foster was named a semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Award and was twice named the Brooks Wallace Award Shortstop of the Week.
Similar to Foster, Ware exploded for a career-best year during which he set the program record for home runs in a single season with 24. A native of Madison, Mississippi, he led the Tigers and ranked top 10 in the SEC in runs (66), home runs, RBI (63), slugging percentage (.731) and total bases (163) while hitting at a career-best .350 clip en route to being named Second Team All-SEC and ABCA First Team All-Region. His 66 runs scored were tied for the most in a season since 2000 and his 163 total bases were the most since 2010.
Ware, who was also named a semifinalist for the NCBWA Dick Howser Trophy and to the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list, started the year on a career-best 34-game on base streak and went on an 18-game hit streak from Mar. 14-Apr. 14, the longest by an Auburn player since 2015-16. He reached safely in all but two games this season.
In three seasons and 150 career games at Auburn, Ware hit .297 with 125 hits, 25 doubles, 31 home runs and 110 RBI while also stealing 14 bases.
The MLB Draft concludes Tuesday with rounds 11-20 beginning at 1 p.m. CT on MLB.com.
