2016 MLB Draft Division II Recap

An underrated, yet very important part of the Division II baseball season has just concluded, and that is the MLB Draft. The returns are good for Division II, as the overall number of draftees went up this year, from 84 in 2015 to 92 in 2016. Although there were no draft picks higher than the fourth round, the landscape certainly shifted this year. Below, we have a multitude of breakdowns when it comes to the Division II field that was drafted.

On Friday, day two of the MLB Draft, eight Division II products came off the board, led by California Baptist's RHP Tyson Miller, who was drafted 134th overall by the Chicago Cubs. He was followed in order by Millersville RHP Brandon Miller (6th round, #177, Seattle), East Stroudsburg RHP Matt Festa (7th round, #207, Seattle), Lake Erie CF Luke Raley (7th round, #221, LA Dodgers), Tusculum LHP Placido Torres (8th round, #250, NY Mets), Cal Poly Pomona RHP Peter Bayer (9th round, #270, Tampa Bay), Metro State RHP Julian Garcia (10th round, #287, Philadelphia) and Florida Southern RF Sam Machonis (10th round, #295, Detroit).

Day three is obviously the highlight of the draft for Division II baseball. D-II had at least one player selected in every round from 7th on except for the 14th and 16th rounds. 

With all that said, here is a list of all 92 NCAA Division II draftees in the 2016 MLB Draft, by round first. Below that is a breakdown of how the draft played out in various forms.

Round 4

134. Tyson Miller (California Baptist) - Chicago Cubs - RHP - JR

Round 6

177. Brandon Miller (Millersville) - Seattle Mariners - RHP - JR

Round 7

207. Matt Festa (East Stroudsburg) - Seattle Mariners - RHP - SR

221. Luke Raley (Lake Erie) - Los Angeles Dodgers - CF - JR

Round 8

250. Placido Torres (Tusculum) - New York Mets - LHP - SR

Round 9

270. Peter Bayer (Cal Poly Pomona) - Tampa Bay Rays - RHP - SR

Round 10

287. Julian Garcia (Metro State) - Philadelphia Phillies - RHP - SO

295. Sam Machonis (Florida Southern) - Detroit Tigers - RF - SR

Round 11

327. Michael Koval (Cal Poly Pomona) - Seattle Mariners - RHP - JR

Round 12

349. Brandon White (Lander) - Atlanta Braves - RHP - JR

357. Timothy Viehoff (Southern New Hampshire) - Seattle Mariners - LHP - SR

Round 13

378. Ryan Olson (Cal Poly Pomona) - Cincinnati Reds - RHP - JR

380. Taylor Snyder (Colorado State-Pueblo) - Colorado Rockies - SS - JR

391. Brandon Bonilla (Hawaii Pacific) - Baltimore Orioles - LHP - SR

406. Shane Billings (Wingate) - St. Louis Cardinals - CF - JR

Round 15

437. Alex Wojciechowski (Minnesota-Duluth) - Philadelphia Phillies - 1B - SR

440. Justin Valdespina (Southern New Hampshire) - Colorado Rockies - RHP - SO

450. Dalton Moats (Delta State) - Tampa Bay Rays - LHP - JR

451. Nick Jobst (USC Aiken) - Baltimore Orioles - RHP - SR

453. Tyler Wells (Cal State-San Bernardino) - Minnesota Twins - RHP - JR

457. Alex Degoti (Barry) - Houston Astros - SS - SR

463. Mike Messier (Bellarmine) - Kansas City Royals - LHP - JR

Round 17

497. Danny Zardon (Nova Southeastern) - Philadelphia Phillies - 3B - JR

499. Devan Watts (Tusculum) - Atlanta Braves - RHP - JR

505. Brandyn Sittinger (Ashland) - Detroit Tigers - RHP - JR

519. Reid Anderson (Millersville) - Texas Rangers - RHP - JR

520. Jay Jabs (Franklin Pierce) - New York Mets - 3B - JR

Round 18

533. David Gauntt (Washburn) - Miami Marlins - C - SR

547. Colin McKee (Mercyhurst) - Houston Astros - RHP - SR

Round 19

558. Matt Blandino (Felician) - Cincinnati Reds - RHP - JR

584. Matt Swarmer (Kutztown) - Chicago Cubs - RHP - SR

Round 20

605. Justin Alleman (Lee) - San Francisco Giants - RHP - SR

609. Stephen Lohr (California Baptist) - Texas Rangers - 3B - JR

Round 21

634. Jacob Howell (Delta State) - Washington Nationals - RHP - JR

635. Will Albertson (Catawba) - San Francisco Giants - C - SR

644. Samuel Tidaback (North Georgia) - Chicago Cubs - C - SR

Round 22

653. Alex Mateo (Nova Southeastern) - Miami Marlins - RHP - SR

663. Hank Morrison (Mercyhurst) - Minnesota Twins - OF - SR

664. Sterling Sharp (Drury) - Washington Natinoals - RHP - JR

672. Connor Eller (Ouachita Baptist) - Toronto Blue Jays - RHP - SR

676. Mick Fennell (California (Pa.)) - St. Louis Cardinals - CF - SR

Round 23

678. Manny Cruz (Southern New Hampshire) - Cincinnati Reds - SS - JR

692. Michael Letkewicz (Augustana) - Cleveland Indians - RHP - SR

706. John Crowe (Francis Marion) - St. Louis Cardinals - OF - SR

Round 24

712. Robert Bennie (East Stroudsburg) - Oakland Athletics - OF - JR

716. Brady Conlan (Cal State-Dominguez Hills) - Chicago White Sox - 3B - SR

727. Troy Sieber (Saint Leo) - Houston Astros - 1B - JR

732. Mike Ellenbest (Saginaw Valley State) - Toronto Blue Jays - RHP - SO

Round 25

739. Ryan O'Malley (Sonoma State) - Atlanta Braves - 3B - SR

749. Myles Babitt (Cal State-East Bay) - Arizona Diamondbacks - CF - SR

764. Trent Giambrone (Delta State) - Chicago Cubs - 2B - SR

Round 26

768. Patrick Riehl (Mars Hill) - Cincinnati Reds - RHP - SR

770. Austin Moore (West Texas A&M) - Colorado Rockies - RHP - SR

785. Nick Hill (Eckerd) - San Francisco Giants - CF - SR

Round 27

807. Paul Covelle (Franklin Pierce) - Seattle Mariners - RHP - SR

814. Jeremy McDonald (California Baptist) - Washington Nationals - LHP - SR

817. Nathan Thompson (Oklahoma Baptist) - Houston Astros - LHP - SR

826. Michael O'Reilly (Flagler) - St. Louis Cardinals - RHP - SR

Round 28

827. Jordan Kurokawa (Hawaii-Hilo) - Philadelphia Phillies - RHP - SR

830. Ryan Luna (Sonoma State) - Colorado Rockies - RHP - SR

833. Colby Lusignan (Lander) - Miami Marlins - 1B - SR

841. Matt De La Rosa (Lenoir-Rhyne) - Baltimore Orioles - RHP - SR

844. Jonathan Reid (Azusa Pacific) - Washington Nationals - LHP - JR

845. Jayden O'Dell (Angelo State) - San Francisco Giants - RHP - SR

848. Will Jones (Lander) - New York Yankees - RHP - SR

Round 29

857. Alex Kline (Nova Southeastern) - Philadelphia Phillies - LHP - JR

861. Brennan Price (Felician) - Milwaukee Brewers - RHP - JR

873. Dane Hutcheon (Montevallo) - Minnesota Twins - SS - JR

883. Grant Gavin (Central Missouri) - Kansas City Royals - RHP - JR

885. Geoff Hartlieb (Lindenwood) - Pittsburgh Pirates - RHP - SR

Round 30

889. Cameron Stanton (St. Edward's) - Atlanta Braves - RHP - SR

890. Rico Garcia (Hawaii Pacific) - Colorado Rockies - RHP - SR

894. Dalton Erb (Cal State-Chico) - San Diego Padres - RHP - SR

Round 31

917. Tyler Frohwirth (Minnesota State) - Philadelphia Phillies - RHP - SR

Round 32

951. Wilson Adams (Alabama-Huntsville) - Milwaukee Brewers - RHP - SR

972. David Jacob (Quincy) - Toronto Blue Jays - 1B - JR

Round 33

980. Tyler Orris (Millersville) - Colorado Rockies - SS - SR

989. Paxton De La Garza (Angelo State) - Arizona Diamondbacks - SS - SR

1006. Caleb Lopes (West Georgia) - St. Louis Cardinals - 2B - JR

Round 34

1009. Jared James (Cal Poly Pomona) - Atlanta Braves - LF - SR

1013. Trenton Hill (Lee) - Miami Marlins - LHP - SR

1025. CJ Gettman (Central Washington) - San Francisco Giants - RHP - SR

1029. Preston Scott (Fresno Pacific) - Texas Rangers - OF - SR

1036. Jonathan Mulford (Adelphi) - St. Louis Cardinals - RHP - SR

Round 35

1063. M.J. Sanchez (California Baptist) - Kansas City Royals - C - JR

Round 36

1096. Robbie Gordon (Maryville) - St. Louis Cardinals - RHP - SR

Round 37

1103. Zach Daly (Lander) - Miami Marlins - CF - SR

Round 38

1147. Chaz Pal (USC Aiken) - Houston Astros - OF - SR

Round 39

1173. Casey Scoggins (Tampa) - Minnesota Twins - CF - SR

Round 40

1192. Brett Bittiger (Pace) - Oakland Athletics - 2B - SR

1201. Joe Johnson (Erskine) - Baltimore Orioles - RHP - SR

1207. Lucas Williams (Central Missouri) - Houston Astros - RHP - SR

And here are some breakdowns of the draft picks:

No. of MLB Draft Picks for Each Division II School

Four Selections

Cal Poly Pomona (Avg. Pick - 496)

California Baptist (Avg. Pick - 655)

Lander (Avg. Pick - 783.25)

Three Selections

Delta State (Avg. Pick - 616)

Millersville (Avg. Pick - 558.67)

Nova Southeastern (Avg. Pick - 669)

Southern New Hampshire (Avg. Pick - 491.67)

Two Selections

Angelo State

Central Missouri

East Stroudsburg

Felician

Franklin Pierce

Hawaii Pacific

Lee

Mercyhurst

Sonoma State

Tusculum

USC Aiken

One Selection

Adelphi

Alabama-Huntsville

Ashland

Augustana

Azusa Pacific

Barry

Bellarmine

Cal State-Chico

Cal State-Dominguez Hills

Cal State-East Bay

Cal State-San Bernardino

California (Pa.)

Catawba

Central Washington

Colorado State-Pueblo

Drury

Eckerd

Erskine

Flagler

Florida Southern

Francis Marion

Fresno Pacific

Hawaii Hilo

Kutztown

Lake Erie

Lenoir-Rhyne

Lindenwood

Mars Hill

Maryville

Metro State

Minnesota State

Minnesota-Duluth

Montevallo

North Georgia

Oklahoma Baptist

Ouachita Baptist

Pace

Quincy

Saginaw Valley State

Saint Leo

St. Edward's

Tampa

Washburn

West Georgia

West Texas A&M

Wingate

No. of MLB Draft Picks for Each Division II Conference

10 Selections

CCAA

PBC

Nine Selections

PacWest

PSAC

Eight Selections

SSC

Seven Selections

GSC

NE-10

Six Selections

SAC

Four Selections

GLVC

MIAA

Three Selections

GLIAC

LSC

NSIC

Two Selections

CACC

GAC

RMAC

One Selection

Conference Carolinas

GNAC

Heartland Conference

No. of MLB Draft Picks for Each Division II Region
Atlantic - 9
Central - 9
East - 9
Midwest - 7
South - 15
Southeast - 17
South Central - 6
West - 20

No. of Division II MLB Draft Picks by Listed Position on MLB.com

C - 4

1B - 4

2B - 3

SS - 6

3B - 5

(INF - 18 + 4 C's)

LF - 1

CF - 7

RF - 1

OF - 5

(All OF - 14)

RHP - 46

LHP - 10

(P - 55)

Position Players - 36

Pitchers - 56

No. of Division II MLB Draft Picks by School Year

Sophomores - 3

Juniors - 31

Seniors - 58

No. of Division II Picks for Each MLB Team

Seven Selections

St. Louis Cardinals

Six Selections

Colorado Rockies

Houston Astros

Philadelphia Phillies

Five Selections

Atlanta Braves

Miami Marlins

Seattle Mariners

San Francisco Giants

Four Selections

Baltimore Orioles

Chicago Cubs

Cincinnati Reds

Minnesota Twins

Washington Nationals

Three Selections

Kansas City Royals

Texas Rangers

Toronto Blue Jays

Two Selections

Arizona Diamondbacks

Detroit Tigers

Milwaukee Brewers

New York Mets

Oakland Athletics

Tampa Bay Rays

One Selection

Chicago White Sox

Cleveland Indians

Los Angeles Dodgers

New York Yankees

Pittsburgh Pirates

San Diego Padres

Zero Selections

Boston Red Sox

Los Angeles Angels