Washington University in St. Louis baseball junior Caleb Durbin was drafted in the 14th round of the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft by the Atlanta Braves. Durbin was the 427th draft pick overall.
Additionally, recent graduate Ryan Loutos signed with the St. Louis Cardinals as an undrafted free agent.
Durbin
Durbin marks just the third player in WashU baseball history to be drafted into the majors, and the first since Chambliss in 1997.
During his junior campaign, Durbin was an integral part of the Bears' historic run to the Division III World Series. While at the World Series, he recorded eight RBI, five runs including two homeruns, 10 hits and four stolen bases. For his performance, he was one of three Bears named to the 2021 NCAA Division III World Series All-Tournament Team.
Durbin finished the season with a .385 batting average with 46 runs on 62 hits, 16 doubles, two triples, seven homeruns, 47 RBI and 20 stolen bases. He was the toughest batter to strikeout in Division III with over 94 at-bats.
After a stellar season, Durbin earned ABCA/Rawlings Second Team All-Central Region Honors as well as All-UAA honors. He collected several weekly awards as well, including D3baseball.com Shortstop of the Week on May 10 and NCWBWA Hitter of the Week on March 10.
In his career at WashU, Durbin has played in 93 games and has a career batting average of .386. He has made 365 plate appearances, scoring 117 runs, recording 141 hits including 10 homeruns and 89 RBI. He has a career on-base percentage of .477 and has stolen 39 bases. He is a three-time All-UAA Selection, including UAA Rookie of the Year in 2019. He was also named D3baseball.com Central Region Rookie of the Year that same season.
Loutos
Loutos has had a stellar career for WashU, capping off his senior season with the program's first-ever trip to the World Series.
As a senior, Loutos was named a D3baseball.com and ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-American, as well as a First Team All-Central Region selection. He also earned All-UAA recognition after setting a program record with 116 strikeouts in a single season.
For his career, Loutos is a three-time D3baseball.com and ABCA/Rawlings All-Central Region Selection. He is a three-time All-UAA selection and was named the UAA Rookie of the Year in 2018. Throughout his time at WashU, he has appeared in 38 games, starting 36 of them for a career pitching reord of 18-5 with two saves. In total, Loutos has put in 230 innings of work and has struck out 287 batters. The 287 mark puts him at third all-time.
WashU Draftees
The Bears have had two previous draft picks. The first-ever draft pick from WashU was John Herzing in 1967, who was drafted in the eighth round by the Detroit Tigers.
In 1997, Chambliss was drafted in the 54th round by the New York Yankees. He has previously been drafted in 1996 by the Yankees in the 52nd round and in 1993 by the San Diego Padres in the 64th round.
