Dynamic duos: College teammates selected among the top-10 picks in the MLB Draft

When the MLB Draft kicks off on Sunday, the buzz surrounding the event will center around which of the LSU superstars — outfielder Dylan Crews and right-hander Paul Skenes — will be selected first overall. Whichever one doesn’t go 1-1 is likely to go next. Should such an occurrence take place, it would be the first time this century that players from the same school went No. 1 and No. 2 in the draft. But it wouldn’t be the first time teammates went in the top-10 picks of the draft.

With that in mind, we’re going to take a look at the previous teammate pairs that were selected within the top 10 picks since 2000.

2021: RHP Jack Leiter (No. 2) and RHP Kumar Rocker (No. 10) — Vanderbilt

Leiter: He is back at Double-A Frisco, pitching in the Texas League for the second season in a row after posting a 5.54 ERA across 23 games there as a first-time pro last year. The Texas League was an aggressive first assignment for Leiter, as he was just 22 and still hadn’t pitched in any official games since being drafted. It proved challenging to go straight to Double A from college. This year, he’s off to a slightly smoother start with a 4.85 ERA and 30.4 percent strikeout rate. However, his 14.6 percent walk rate shows he’s still experiencing issues with command.

College stats (2 seasons): 13-4 record, 2.08 ERA, 22 games, 21 starts, 125 2/3 IP, 53 BB, 201 K, 0.844 WHIP

Rocker: He went unsigned out of the 2021 draft when the Mets pulled the plug on a deal because of his medicals. Rather than return to Vanderbilt, Rocker played briefly in an independent league ahead of the 2022 draft then was drafted third overall by the Rangers last July. He went on to pitch in the Arizona Fall League, where he had a 4.50 ERA in six starts spanning 14 innings. His first regular-season assignment this year was to the High-A South Atlantic League. After posting a 3.86 ERA in 28 innings across six starts and striking out an astounding 37.8 percent of batters while issuing walks just 6.3 percent of the time, news dropped in mid-May that Rocker would need Tommy John surgery. The right-hander will now be sidelined through at least part of the 2024 season.

College stats (3 seasons): 28-10 record, 2.89 ERA, 42 games, 39 starts, 236 2/3 IP, 68 BB, 321 K, 1.001 WHIP

2017: OF Pavin Smith (No. 7) and OF Adam Haseley (No. 8) — Virginia

Smith: He has received major-league playing time with the Diamondbacks since 2020. He played an entire season with them in 2021 but struggled to retain his starting job in the first half of 2022, leading to a demotion to Triple A. Rather than play his way back onto the big-league squad, Smith fractured his wrist on a play in the outfield and spent two months on the injured list. Smith has played in the majors at times since the injury but he is still on unsteady ground, batting .190 with a .642 OPS in 61 MLB games this year. He was recently sent back to Triple A.

College stats (3 seasons): 186 G, 850 PA, .326/.403/.515, 40 2B,…