Four Eagles Selected in MLB Draft

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Four Eagles Selected in MLB Draft

Palomaki Drafted in 18th Round by Tampa Bay

SECAUCUS, N.J. – Four Boston College baseball players were selected on day three of the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Jake Palomaki led off for the Eagles, who have had three or more players drafted in each of the last four years.

Palomaki was selected as a second baseman by the Tampa Bay Rays with the 540^th overall selection in the 18^th round. He is the first BC player drafted by the Rays since Blake Butera (2015), who is currently the manager of the Hudson Valley Renegades of the New York-Penn League in the Tampa farm system.

A four-year starter for the Eagles, Palomaki is the highest pick from BC since four players went in the first 17 rounds back in 2016. He is the 30^th player in program history to be drafted in the first 20 rounds. Palomaki moved from second to shortstop as a senior and hit .315 with 42 runs on his way to earning All-New England First Team. He finished his college career tied for second in runs (153) and second in stolen bases (60), sixth in on-base percentage (.426), seventh in at-bats (707) and games played (106) and tied for 10^th in hits (202) in the Boston College record book.

Right-handed pitcher Jacob Stevens was drafted for the third time in the last four years as he went in the 21^st round with the 639^th overall pick to the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was previously selected twice in the 33^rd round by the Philadelphia Phillies (2015) and New York Yankees (2017). He became the first Eagle selected by the Diamondbacks since major leaguer Mike Belfiore (2009).

Stevens holds a 12-18 record on the hill with a 4.18 earned run average through his junior season at BC. He went 3-7 this year with 70 strikeouts in 70.2 innings of work. Stevens’ 203 career strikeouts are the seventh most all-time by an Eagle.

Right-handed pitcher Brian Rapp came off the board with the 784^th overall pick to the Minnesota Twins in the 26^th round. He completed his senior season with a 3-5 record, 3.57 ERA, and a team-high 74 strikeouts in 70.2 innings of work. In his final game as an Eagle, Rapp pitched seven innings of one-run ball to beat Louisville (5/6) on the first “Senior Day” at the new Harrington Athletics Village in Brighton. He is the most recent BC player drafted by the Twins, joining former teammate Joe Cronin (2016), who plays for the Fort Myers Miracle.

The last BC selection of the draft was left-handed pitcher Dan Metzdorf, who was selected in the 38^th round by the New York Yankees with the 1,147^th overall pick. In his junior season, Metzdorf went just 1-8 with a 5.74 ERA and 61 strikeouts. He struck out 13 in eight innings of one-run ball against Virginia Tech (3/24), for which he was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week, and led the Eagles to a win at Notre Dame (4/28) with eight-shutout innings of two-hit ball. He is the third Eagle drafted by the Yankees in the last five years and first since Stevens (2017).

All-time, 80 players have been chosen in the MLB Draft, which started in 1965, from Boston College. In eight years under current BC head coach Mike Gambino, 23 Eagles have been drafted, which surpassed the 22 selections from 1999-2006 under former head coach Pete Hughes.