The MLB Draft is special for any young player selected. This week, 615 players from the high school and college ranks were drafted by the 30 major league teams to start their professional careers. Dreams came true this week.

It is especially special when a player is drafted by a local team, meaning he can stay close to home near friends and family.

Luke Johnson is a 6-foot-1, 195-pound right-hander out of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County who the Nationals selected with their 10th-round pick, No. 290 overall.

The 22-year-old is native of Lewes, Del., and went to Cape Henlopen High School, just a couple of hours east of Washington, D.C. He then played three years of college ball at UMBC, just 45 minutes up the road from Nationals Park.

Johnson started his college career as a two-way player at UMBC. He slashed .250/.313/.386 with a .699 OPS, seven doubles, one triple, three home runs and 24 RBIs in 97 games over his first three seasons while playing all over the field. And although he did take three at-bats, he made the transformation as a full-time pitcher for his senior season.

After a busy and exciting first day, the Nationals continue the 2024 MLB Draft with Rounds 3-10 this afternoon.

The Nats made three picks over the first two rounds last night: Shortstop Seaver King out of Wake Forest at No. 10 overall, catcher Caleb Lomavita out of Cal at No. 39 overall (the pick they received from the Royals as part of the Hunter Harvey trade) and shortstop Luke Dickerson from Morris Knolls (N.J.) High School at No. 44 overall.

“We were able to meet with all three guys at the Combine,” said new assistant director and national crosschecker of amateur scouting Reed Dunn over Zoom last night. “We were able to speak with all three during the year. And we really felt that we weren’t just getting three really good players, we were getting three really good people.”

The search for more good players and people continues today. The Nats will make eight picks Tuesday, starting with No. 79 overall in the third round. After the new draft lottery rules meant they couldn’t pick in the top 10 in the first round, all subsequent rounds are back to the traditional order of worst-to-first. So the Nats will pick fifth in each round for the remainder of the Draft.

This post will be updated throughout the day with the Nationals’ selections, so be sure to check back in!