ATLANTA — The Washington Nationals selected Oklahoma high school shortstop Eli Willits on Sunday night with the No. 1 pick in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft in a selection seen by some as a surprise.

The 17-year-old Willits is the youngest player taken No. 1 overall since Ken Griffey Jr. with Seattle in 1987. He’s the son of ex-big leaguer Reggie Willits, who played six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels and also coached with the New York Yankees.

Willits, from Fort Cobb-Broxton High School, is a switch-hitter who is expected to develop a power swing.

“I feel like I have good hitability and I’m going to take that to the next level,” Willits said when asked about his strengths. “And I feel like my power is up and coming, but I needed to get into an organization like the Nationals that can help develop that and take that to the next level.”

Willits will likely get a signing bonus below the $11.08 million value assigned to the first overall pick, allowing Washington to redistribute those savings to later selections.

The Los Angeles Angels added another surprise with the No. 2 pick by selecting UC-Santa Barbara right-hander Tyler Bremner. Seattle followed by taking LSU lefty Kade Anderson.

The Colorado Rockies picked shortstop Ethan Holliday at No. 4, landing the son of longtime Rockies star Matt Holliday. Ethan, from Stillwater, Oklahoma, was a candidate to go first overall, just like brother Jackson Holliday with did with Baltimore in 2022. They would have been the first brothers to be drafted with the first overall pick.

More highly rated players followed with St. Louis selecting Tennessee left-hander Liam Doyle at No. 5, followed by Pittsburgh’s choice of right-hander Seth Hernandez from Corona High School.

JoJo Parker, a shortstop from Purvis (Mississippi) High School was the No. 8 pick by Toronto. Another high school shortstop, Steele Hall from Hewitt Trussville (Alabama), was No. 9 by Cincinnati.

The Athletics selected left-handed pitcher Jamie Arnold with the 11th pick of the first round. Arnold was 8-2 with a 2.98 ERA in 15 starts as a junior this year at Florida State. He ranked 10th in the nation with 119 strikeouts and held the opposition to a .208 batting average and was a First Team All-America selection by Perfect Game, the NCBWA, ABCA and the College Baseball Foundation.

Arnold compiled a 21-10 record, a 3.61 ERA and 327 strikeouts in 234 1/3 innings over 58 games in three seasons with the Seminoles.

Millar picked: Right-handed pitcher Cameron Millar of Alhambra High School was drafted in the third round, 97th overall, by the Kansas City Royals.

Millar was the Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division pitcher of the year as he had a 0.11 ERA and struck out 117 batters in 64 innings. The University of Arizona commit routinely threw pitches in the mid-90s.