MLB Draft: Hauppauge's Michael Oliveto taken 34th overall by Detroit Tigers, Rocky Point's Cody Miller 96th to Atlanta

Though  the panel hosting MLB Network’s 2025 MLB Draft coverage considered it a surprise pick, it was the most pleasant surprise of Michael Oliveto’s life.

Oliveto, 18, a lefthanded-hitting catcher who recently graduated from Hauppauge High School, was selected 34th overall by the Detroit Tigers on Sunday night in the competitive balance A round, becoming the first Long Islander to be selected this year.

Hauppauge coach Josh Gutes was at the Oliveto residence alongside family, friends, teammates and coaches when MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced the selection.

“When you talk about somebody put in work over all these years and seeing it come to fruition, just hearing his name called was incredible and one of the highlights of my coaching career,” Gutes said  over the phone Sunday.

When the sweet-swinging 6-3  slugger heard his name called, the whole room went crazy.

“Hearing them say, ‘With the 34th pick, the Detroit Tigers select Michael Oliveto,’ you couldn’t even hear anything after that,” Gutes said. “The place just erupted.”

Breaking news out of Hauppauge High School this morning…⚾️⚾️⚾️ pic.twitter.com/6gR3wFXJ0L

— Hauppauge Baseball (@HAUPbaseball) July 10, 2025

Oliveto’s 17 home runs over the last two years — nine of which came this year — led Suffolk. As a senior, he drew 30 walks (14 of them intentional)  and struck out only six times. He won the Blue Chip Silver Slugger Award, an honor given by Suffolk’s coaches to the county’s best hitter.

Oliveto came into the draft as MLB.com’s 219th-ranked draft prospect and was projected to go 52nd overall to the Texas Rangers in ESPN’s final mock draft.

“Michael’s a kid who I would never bet against,” Hauppauge athletic director Dan Butler said. “Knowing the person he is on top of the player he is really just blew people away. Nothing that Michael accomplishes really surprises us anymore. We’re just happy that we’re a minuscule part of his journey.”

Oliveto entered Sunday committed to Yale but now has a difficult decision to make. He could not be reached for comment Sunday night.

During the third round, Rocky Point’s Cody Miller — a junior at East Tennessee State University — was drafted 96th overall by Atlanta. The 21-year-old infielder batted .331 with 18 home runs and a 1.052 OPS and stole 27 bases in 30 tries. Through three years at ETSU, Miller is a .330 hitter with a .917 OPS and 56 steals in 62 attempts.

Miller was raised as a fan of the team by his father, Brian Miller,  and intends to sign with Atlanta.

“It’s  awesome,” Miller said over the phone. “I’ve been [an Atlanta] fan my whole life, my dad’s a die-hard [Atlanta] fan, so it’s a pretty special moment.”

Miller’s camp originally expected him to go early on Monday during Day 2 of the draft, somewhere between the fourth and seventh rounds. They had scheduled a draft party for Monday at former Rocky Point teammate Niko Sorice’s house. That get-together is still on, but now it has changed from a watch party to a celebration.

One of his former Rocky Point head coaches, Anthony Anzalone, will be at Monday’s party.

“He’s a once-in-a-lifetime player to coach,” Anzalone said. “He essentially was another coach on the field. If we were ever in a bind and you heard his walk-up song come on, you were like, ‘OK, we’re good.’

“He’s just that guy, and he’s been that way since he was a pesky ninth-grader in varsity, and he’s progressed every year since then. He’s the complete package, and obviously he’s reaping the benefits of it now.”