Tumwater alum Alex Overbay selected by Pittsburgh Pirates in MLB Draft

Tumwater alum Alex Overbay took the next step in his baseball career on Sunday, when he was drafted in the eighth round of the MLB draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Overbay, who spent this past spring pitching at Arizona State University, was the 228th overall pick.

“As a father and a coach, you see what he does and in preparation and all the hard work that he puts in,” Tumwater coach Lyle Overbay, Alex’s dad and high school coach, said. “We’re just happy for him to see him get a chance to show that all that work is paying off.”
Alex Overbay, a 2023 Tumwater graduate, was a standout for the Thunderbirds, earning EvCo MVP honors in 2023 while helping lead the T-Birds to back-to-back state titles in 2022 and 2023.

He finished his senior season with a perfect 8-0 record, striking out 75 batters, posting a 0.66 earned run average, and holding opponents to a batting average of just .098 across 53 innings while adding a .388 average, five home runs, 25 runs batted in, and a 1.441 OPS at the plate.

After graduation, Alex Overbay spent two seasons at UNLV before transferring to ASU for the 2026 season.

This past spring, he carved out a nice role for himself in ASU’s bullpen. Across 16 relief appearances, he posted a 3.16 earned run average, striking out 40 batters in 31.1 innings out of the pen. He finished the season with 50 strikeouts overall across 42 innings pitched, good for a K/9 mark of 10.7.

Entering draft weekend, he was Baseball America’s No. 419 overall draft prospect.

On Sunday, he was at home monitoring the draft with his family when his name came up on the board.

Lyle Overbay, a 14-year big-leaguer, played 103 games with the Pirates in 2011, the organization Alex is now set to join. The approximate slot value for his pick, No. 228, is $251,500, according to MLB.com draft tracker.

“You hear all these things about how he might get drafted,” Lyle Overbay said. “But until it really happens, you never trust it. When we saw it on the board, it was ‘okay, this is for real.’ It was pretty cool to be a part of … It’s obviously a big step. To get drafted and to get to the minor leagues, it’s a very elite club, and we’re all proud of him.”