Jayhawks Look Forward to MLB Draft This Week
June 3, 2012
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Several members from the Kansas baseball team hope to hear their names called in the 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft this week. The draft, which will air its first round on the MLB Network as well as MLB.com, begins at 6 p.m. CST Monday evening with the first round and the supplemental round of selections. The second and third days will both begin at 11 a.m. CST and conclude after the 40th round of picks.
Players who have enrolled in a four-year institution cannot be selected until they have completed their third year at the school or have turned 21 prior to the draft. This year’s draft-eligible players include a handful of Jayhawks. They are:
– Alex DeLeon, a 6-foot-1 junior catcher/designated hitter from Woodland Hills, Calif., hit .261 this year with seven doubles, four homers and 23 RBIs. DeLeon was one of the best clutch hitters in the Jayhawk lineup this season, batting .395 with men in scoring position and recorded a team-best 16 two-out RBIs.
– Jordan Dreiling, a 5-foot-11 redshirt junior infielder from Lawrence, Kan., batted .301 in 45 games for the Jayhawks and led the team with a .453 on-base percentage. Dreiling started games at both third base and second base during the year and scored 29 runs.
– Zac Elgie, a 6-foot-2 senior infielder from Minot, N.D., switched from first base to third base this season and committed just four errors in 126 chances at third. He batted .252 with a team-best 11 doubles, five homers and 28 RBIs. Elgie finished his KU career with a .275 batting average, 19 homers and 106 RBIs in 160 games. He was drafted out of high school in the 12th round of the 2009 MLB Draft by the Oakland Athletics.
– Jordan Jakubov, a 6-foot-4 senior right-handed pitcher from Maize, Kan., pitched in 26 games out of the bullpen, which was the most on the team. Jakubov posted a 1-2 record with a save in his second appearance of the year with a 4.75 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings. He did not allow a run over his first seven appearances of the year.
– Kevin Kuntz, a 6-foot-1 junior infielder from Tulsa, Okla., started all 58 games at shortstop for the Jayhawks in 2012. Kuntz finished the season with a .251 batting average, collecting three doubles, two triples and 10 stolen bases. He also made several dazzling plays in the field and committed just 10 errors in 254 chances and helped turn 31 double plays.
– Chris Manship, a 6-foot-2 senior infielder/designated hitter from Cave Creek, Ariz., batted .271 in 41 games with a team-high four triples along with six doubles and a homer. Manship started eight games at first base during the season and committed just one error.
– Jake Marasco, a 6-foot-3 senior first baseman from Wichita, Kan., made the switch to first base after starting at three other positions during his KU career prior to 2012. Marasco batted .232 with seven doubles and 21 runs scored this year and committed just two errors in 464 chances in the field.
– Tanner Poppe, a 6-foot-5 junior right-handed pitcher from Girard, Kan., pitched in 26 games, including 25 out of the bullpen in 2012. Poppe recorded a team-best five saves and posted an 0-5 record with a 6.52 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 38 2/3 innings. He was selected in the 37th round of the 2011 MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays, but chose to come back to KU for his junior season.
– James Stanfield, a 5-foot-10 senior catcher from Owasso, Okla., was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention following the regular season. Stanfield batted .289 during the year with seven doubles and 17 RBIs. He was one of the best defensive catchers in the league, throwing out 17 of 53 (32.1 percent) of would-be base stealers.
– Thomas Taylor, a 6-foot-4 junior right-handed pitcher from Overland Park, Kan., posted a 5-7 record with a 4.76 ERA in 15 starts, which included a complete game victory over No. 6 Texas A&M in the Big 12 Championship. Taylor recorded 68 strikeouts in 90 2/3 innings and ranks 14th in KU history with 171 career strikeouts.
After being drafted, players have until Aug. 15 to agree to terms with the organization which selected them.
