The MLB Draft Starts Tonight
[caption id="attachment_173479" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
(UK Athletics)[/caption]
It has been a relatively, almost completely, quiet time for Kentucky Baseball. Following their loss to Auburn in the SEC Tournament, the BatCats did not receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament. I took the quiet weeks as a time to jump on a plane and head to Lake Tahoe (if you have not traveled there, I highly recommend it) and took a quick vacation. But with the MLB Draft beginning tonight, all focus is back on Kentucky Baseball.
There will most likely be three Kentucky players selected in the first two days of the draft. The first player to come off the board will be pitcher Kyle Cody. Projected as a first round pick early in the season, Cody fell to being a comp pick or an early second rounder in the final months of the season. The first 75 picks will be announced tonight, meaning Cody will have a chance to hear his name called on MLB Network at some point this evening. If not, he will be one of the first players off the board Tuesday morning.
https://twitter.com/TreyHuntsmanKSR/status/604122122093363200
The second and third names that will be called are Kyle Barrett and Ka'ai Tom. Both players are going to be picked on the second day of the draft from somewhere in the 4th-7th round range (there are 40+ rounds so that's pretty solid). Barrett and Tom are excellent hitters and are ranked in the top 250 for the Draft by Baseball America, but they are only juniors. Both players, along with Cody, will have the option to return to Kentucky for their senior seasons rather than sign with an MLB team.
The final group of players that could hear their named called this week are seniors Spencer Jack and Thomas Bernal, and junior Dustin Beggs. Both Jack and Bernal will be mid to late round picks if they are drafted. Bernal not playing in the final couple games and Jack struggling to be consistent through the season may hurt their stock. Beggs is an interesting case. The junior college transfer was selected in the 17th round last year, but chose to attend UK instead of signing. He could be picked up somewhere in that range, but choose to return to Kentucky as well.
Nick Plummer, Kentucky's number one recruit, will be selected fairly early on Monday night. Projected to be in the top ten early in the season, Plummer has fallen to the late first round. But that is still going to guarantee somewhere around one million in signing bonus money, so look for him to sign with whoever drafts him.
The MLB Draft takes place tonight, with the first pick being announced at 7 p.m.
@TreyHuntsmanKSR
(UK Athletics)[/caption]
It has been a relatively, almost completely, quiet time for Kentucky Baseball. Following their loss to Auburn in the SEC Tournament, the BatCats did not receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament. I took the quiet weeks as a time to jump on a plane and head to Lake Tahoe (if you have not traveled there, I highly recommend it) and took a quick vacation. But with the MLB Draft beginning tonight, all focus is back on Kentucky Baseball.
There will most likely be three Kentucky players selected in the first two days of the draft. The first player to come off the board will be pitcher Kyle Cody. Projected as a first round pick early in the season, Cody fell to being a comp pick or an early second rounder in the final months of the season. The first 75 picks will be announced tonight, meaning Cody will have a chance to hear his name called on MLB Network at some point this evening. If not, he will be one of the first players off the board Tuesday morning.
https://twitter.com/TreyHuntsmanKSR/status/604122122093363200
The second and third names that will be called are Kyle Barrett and Ka'ai Tom. Both players are going to be picked on the second day of the draft from somewhere in the 4th-7th round range (there are 40+ rounds so that's pretty solid). Barrett and Tom are excellent hitters and are ranked in the top 250 for the Draft by Baseball America, but they are only juniors. Both players, along with Cody, will have the option to return to Kentucky for their senior seasons rather than sign with an MLB team.
The final group of players that could hear their named called this week are seniors Spencer Jack and Thomas Bernal, and junior Dustin Beggs. Both Jack and Bernal will be mid to late round picks if they are drafted. Bernal not playing in the final couple games and Jack struggling to be consistent through the season may hurt their stock. Beggs is an interesting case. The junior college transfer was selected in the 17th round last year, but chose to attend UK instead of signing. He could be picked up somewhere in that range, but choose to return to Kentucky as well.
Nick Plummer, Kentucky's number one recruit, will be selected fairly early on Monday night. Projected to be in the top ten early in the season, Plummer has fallen to the late first round. But that is still going to guarantee somewhere around one million in signing bonus money, so look for him to sign with whoever drafts him.
The MLB Draft takes place tonight, with the first pick being announced at 7 p.m.
@TreyHuntsmanKSR
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard