LSU pitcher Alex Lange was projected to be picked near the end of the first round of this year’s Major League Baseball draft.

That prediction proved to be accurate as Lange was selected by the defending champion Chicago Cubs with the final pick of the first round. The slot value for the No. 30 selection in the draft is about $2.2 million.

Tigers outfielder Greg Deichmann was drafted a little earlier than expected. Projected to be a late second-round pick, Deichmann was chosen early in the second round. Deichmann was the seventh selection of the second round by the Oakland A’s. The slot value for that pick is about $1.6 million.

Lange became the third LSU hurler to be chosen in the first round since Alan Dunn became pitching coach in 2012. Kevin Gausman was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the first round later that year and Aaron Nola was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the first round two years later.

Gausman and Nola are in the starting rotations for Baltimore and Philadelphia. Lange can hope he will make a quick run to the major leagues like Gausman and Nola. Prior to Gausman, the last Tigers pitcher to be drafted in the first round was Kurt Ainsworth, who was picked by the San Francisco Giants in 1999.

The Cubs drafted another pitcher with their other first-round pick – three spots ahead of Lange. Chicago selected Brendon Little of State Junior College of Florida. Little, a lefthander, began his college career at North Carolina.

Deichmann was the third outfielder selected in the first two rounds since Paul Mainieri became LSU coach in 2007. Jared Mitchell and Mikie Mahtook were previous outfielders chosen in the first round. The Chicago White Sox drafted Mitchell in 2009 and the Tampa Bay Rays picked Mahtook in 2011.

One Tigers signee was drafted in the opening round – pitcher Nate Pearson of College of Central Florida. Pearson was projected to be a first-round pick. He was the 28th selection of the first round by the Toronto Blue Jays. The slot value for the No. 28 pick is about $2.3 million.

There were 11 SEC players drafted Monday – the highest being Vanderbilt pitcher Kyle Wright by the Atlanta Braves with the fifth pick of the first round. LSU, Vanderbilt and South Carolina each had two players chosen. Rounds three through ten will be conducted Tuesday.

Here were the SEC players chosen Monday in the Major League Baseball draft.

First round

No. 5 – P Kyle Wright, Vanderbilt by the Atlanta Braves

No. 16 – P Clarke Schmidt, South Carolina by the New York Yankees

No. 17 – 1B Evan White, Kentucky by the Seattle Mariners

No. 18 – P Alex Faedo, Florida by the Detroit Tigers

No. 23 – OF Jeren Kendall, Vanderbilt by the Los Angeles Dodgers

No. 24 – P Tanner Houck, Missouri by the Boston Red Sox

No. 30 – P Alex Lange, LSU by the Chicago Cubs Compensatory round A

No. 35 – OF Brent Rooker, Mississippi State by the Minnesota Twins

Second round

No. 43 – OF Greg Deichmann, LSU by the Oakland A’s

No. 56 – P Corbin Martin, Texas A&M by the Houston Astros

No. 65 – P Wil Crowe, South Carolina by the Washington Nationals