[mikev]

First Round Draft Pick, 1 of 2

With the fifth selection in the 2023 GUBA draft, the California Crusaders select...

Domenic Voigt, Pitcher, New Zealand

Just like that, we made the highest draft pick we've had since the 2007 season.

Voigt is a 6'3", 200lb flamethrower, able to touch 99 on the radar gun with his fastball, and also features a devestaing splitfinger.

The 21 year old is already reasonably developed, with 10/12/4 ratings, but his talents are an otherworldly 10/8/8 and he's got starter potential. He's got the work ethic to do it, but unless he develops a third pitch it's more likely that his future is a 120 inning reliever. Voigt immediately tops the Crusaders prospect list, and he'll likely be joined by whoever California takes with the 9th selection acquired from Taipei.

It may be the worst draft class we've had in the GUBA, maybe ever, but still having a pair of top 10 picks goes a long way toward helping a rebuild.