WCC in the MLB Draft: 28 Players Selected
By Josh Horton
May 20, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; General view of baseballs before the St. Louis Cardinals game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
It was an immensely successful weekend for West Coast Conference baseball, as 28 different players were drafted from WCC schools this weekend during the MLB Draft. 8 of the 9 teams in the WCC were represented in some form or another. Here is a breakdown of WCC schools that these 29 players were drafted from.
San Diego: 7 Players Selected (Kris Bryant, Dylan Covey, Austin Green, Michael Wagner, Dillon Haupt, Trevor Bayless, and Max Homick)
BYU: 4 Players Selected (Jacob Hanneman, Adam Law, Jaycob Bruggman, and Adam Miller)
Pepperdine: 4 Players Selected (Scott Frazier, Corey Miller, Michael Swanner, and Aaron Brown)
Saint Mary’s: 4 Players Selected (Ben Griset, Brandon Kalfus, Jordan Mills, and Cole Norton)
San Francisco: 3 Players Selected (Alex Balog, Adam Cimber, and Justin Maffei)
Gonzaga: 3 Players Selected (Marco Gonzales, Tyler Olson, and Arturo Reyes)
LMU: 2 Players Selected: (Aaron Griffin, and Colton Plaia)
Santa Clara: 1 Player Selected (Justin Viele)
What is most exciting about this 2013 draft is the amount of players that were selected in the first round. In the last five years, four players have been selected in the first round and were from a WCC school, two of which were selected in the 2013 MLB draft. Kris Bryant and Marco Gonzales were both selected in the opening round by the Cubs and the Cardinals respectively. Bryant was the 2nd overall pick and Gonzales was the 19th overall pick. Both of these prospects are predicted to cruise through their minor league systems and be up in the major leagues in due time. There is a chance you could see Gonzales pitching against Bryant in the great baseball rivalry that is St. Louis vs. Chicago.
The University of San Diego reinforced the notion that the Torero’s boasted an enormous amount of talent this past season. In addition to Bryant, 6 other players were selected in the draft, including right-handed pitched Dylan Covey, and catcher Austin Green.
The Chicago Cubs picked 4 WCC players, the most of any major league ball club. They selected San Diego superstar Kris Bryant with their first round pick, and then followed that up by taking BYU’s Jacob Hannemann in the 3rd round, Pepperdine’s Scott Frazier in the sixth, and Bryant’s teammate at USD Michael Wagner in the 15th.