Jayhawks Prepare for MLB Draft
June 6, 2011
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Several members from the Kansas baseball team hope to hear their names called in the 2011 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 50th 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:
– Zac Elgie, a junior first baseman from Minot, N.D., who led the team with 60 hits, 22 doubles and tied for team-lead with seven home runs. He finished with a .297 batting average and a slugging percentage of .520. Elgie was drafted by the Oakland A’s in the 12th round of the 2008 draft following his senior year of high school.
– Casey Lytle, a senior outfielder from Phoenix, Ariz., who led the team in batting average (.301) and steals (11). Lytle was one of two players to start every game for the Jayhawks this season.
– Brandon Macias, a senior shortstop from Flagstaff, Ariz., who finished the year hitting .248 with four home runs, 19 RBIs and 34 runs scored. He batted .290 in his junior season with KU and made a handful of spectacular plays at shortstop.
– Chris Manship, a junior catcher from Cave Creek, Ariz., who finished the season hitting .250 with two home runs and 13 RBIs.
– Jake Marasco, a redshirt sophomore second baseman from Wichita, Kan., hit .286 with two home runs, nine doubles and 23 RBIs.
– Wally Marciel, a redshirt, senior left-handed pitcher from Kailua, Hawaii, appeared in 23 games with seven of them being starts. He finished the year 5-3 with a 4.64 ERA.
– Colton Murray, a junior right-handed pitcher from Overland Park, Kan., who led the team with seven saves. Murray posted a 3.79 ERA in 40 innings of work while striking out 35 batters on the season.
– Tanner Poppe, a sophomore right-handed pitcher from Girard, Kan., started 13 games for the Jayhawks this season while posting a 3.66 ERA in 71 innings of work. Poppe is draft-eligible because of his birth date. He was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 37th round in 2009 following his senior year of high school.
– T.J. Walz, a senior right-handed pitcher from Omaha, Neb., who led the team with six wins on the mound. Walz went 6-5 with a 3.97 ERA in 14 starts and a team-high 85 strikeouts in 90 1/3 innings. He was a two-time All-Big 12 selection and was drafted by the Oakland A’s in the 50th round of last season’s amateur draft, but decided to return for his final year at KU.
– Jimmy Waters, a senior outfielder from Council Bluffs, Iowa, finished the season tied for the team-lead with seven home runs. Waters hit .278 with a team-high four triples, 15 doubles and 38 RBIs. Waters, along with Lytle, started every game for the Jayhawks. He was named second team All-Big 12 this past year.
After being drafted, players have until Aug. 15 to agree to terms with the organization which selected them.
