The title of this post is also a question I asked myself while writing a different post that appeared at TechGraphs this morning — over the course of which I provide a nearly competent summary on how and where to watch college baseball online.

One reason to do that (i.e. watch college baseball) is merely because, at a time when the professional game is only just beginning to yawn and stretch its legs after hibernating for the winter, the gentlemen ballplayers of America’s universities have already begun their season in earnest. And a second reason for watching it is (and I’m quoting myself when I say this), is that it allows one to become acquainted with a number of players who’ll be selected during baseball’s amateur draft this June.

How many players, though? It’s a question that’s been answered previously but not recently — and not as substantively as one might like.

To answer the question, then, I sorted through the draft data at Baseball Reference. Using said data, I found two ways of answering the question — looking first at entire drafts from the past three years and then, second, at first-round selections* from the past 10 years.

*The difference in career WAR produced by first-round picks versus later-round picks is substantial. If a viewer’s interest is in watching perhaps a future, real major leaguer, the first-round threshold is a useful one.

Below are the results from the last three complete drafts, rendered into graph form by new and talented FanGraphs contributor Sean Dolinar. 4Yr denotes draftees from four-year colleges; JC, draftees from junior colleges; and HS; draftees from high schools.

First, year by year:

And then the last three years, combined:

And here’s all that same data, except in table form:

Year	4Yr	JC	HS	Oth	4Yr%	JC%	HS%
2014	740	133	342	0	60.9%	10.9%	28.1%
2013	683	148	383	3	56.3%	12.2%	31.5%
2012	687	129	417	5	55.7%	10.5%	33.8%
Total	2110	410	1142	8	57.6%	11.2%	31.2%

If the last three years are any indication, it appears as though about 55-60% of all draftees are likely to be collegiate players.

As noted above, however, merely because a player is drafted doesn’t necessarily speak to the likelihood that he’ll one day become a major leaguer. That’s the province, most reliably, of first-round selections.

Below are the results from the past 10 first rounds (2005-14). I’ve omitted supplemental rounds from consideration, as they’re not uniformly sized from one year to the next. In other words, only the first 30 players selected have been considered. Here are the results, once again care of a graph artisanally crafted by Sean Dolinar:

And a table with that same information:

Year	4Yr	JC	HS	Oth	4Yr%	JC%	HS%
2014	18	0	12	0	60.0%	0.0%	40.0%
2013	15	1	14	0	50.0%	3.3%	46.7%
2012	13	0	17	0	43.3%	0.0%	56.7%
2011	17	1	12	0	56.7%	3.3%	40.0%
2010	14	1	15	0	46.7%	3.3%	50.0%
2009	13	0	16	1	44.8%	0.0%	55.2%
2008	20	1	9	0	66.7%	3.3%	30.0%
2007	13	0	17	0	43.3%	0.0%	56.7%
2006	15	1	13	1	51.7%	3.4%	44.8%
2005	20	0	10	0	66.7%	0.0%	33.3%
Total	158	5	135	2	53.0%	1.7%	45.3%

The data here is mostly similar to that which one finds with regard to recent, whole drafts, although high-school prospects occupy a larger portion (by nearly 15 points) of the last 10 years’ first-round picks; junior-college players, a smaller portion. Collegiate players still compose more than 50% of all first-round picks, however — meaning that, if one orders his or her affairs properly, it’s probably possible to watch more than half of this next draft’s first-round picks via one of college baseball’s various broadcast options before the relevant players are ever selected.