It’s been three days of MLB Draft excitement for six Illini baseball players. Here’s a quick review…
These are the six Illinois baseball players that were drafted in the 2019 MLB Draft this past week:
| Player | Team | Round | Pick |
| Michael Massey | Kansas City Royals | 4 | 109th |
| Jack Yalowitz | Colorado Rockies | 10 | 309th |
| Ben Troike | Tampa Bay Rays | 11 | 338th |
| Cyrillo Watson | Los Angeles Dodgers | 23 | 701st |
| Quinten Sefcik | Cincinnati Reds | 24 | 714th |
| Zac Taylor | Chicago Cubs | 25 | 762nd |
The six picks in one year ties for second most draftees with the 1985 season. Only the 2015 season can boast more drafted players with a total of nine.
And here is a feather that Coach Hartleb can put in his cap… a total of 30 players from Illinois have been drafted in this decade. That far outstrips any other decade (the 80s and 90s each have a total of 19). The Illini have also seen 10 Illini drafted in the top ten rounds in this decade (I remember when that was practically unheard of).
In addition to the six Illini chosen, there was a potential future Illini drafted by the Seattle Mariners.
This guy…
Antoine Mistico was taken by the Ms in the 12th round. This was Mistico’s second dance with the MLB Draft as we was drafted by the Tigers in 2017. As you see, he has good numbers, so we’ll keep an eye on his signing status.
Random Ramblings
A couple of kudos are appropriate for this time.
Illinois closer Garrett Acton has gotten a LOT of hype all year. The nation knows about him. That includes the news released today that he is on the NCWBA Stopper of the Year award finalist list. Now Acton, who leads the nation in saves, is a junior and honestly, I was a little surprised he wasn’t drafted.
Don’t get me wrong, I am more than happy to have him back on the Illinois roster. Congratulations, Garrett!
Finally, congratulations to senior catcher David Craan! He receives the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. This is what Coach Hartleb had to say about David…
“David is involved in nearly everything in the athletic department and into the community, from SAAC to FCA to even photography for Illini Athletics social media. You will find David everywhere volunteering his time. He is everything you want in a student, teammate, community member and role model. David is a leader because of how he goes about his business every day.”
I snapped the above photo of David at the viewing of NCAA Regional Selection Show. David was busy documenting the occasion himself.
Congrats, David!