The 2015 Major League Baseball Draft begins in June, and the Oregon Ducks have been represented well in recent history.
Who will be the first off the board in 2015?
Garrett Cleavinger
Junior closer Garrett Cleavinger may boast the strongest arm on the team and certainly owns the top D-1 pitching resume. Cleavinger shattered Jimmy Sherfy’s Oregon all-time record of 77 career appearances on March 6 and currently sits at 104. As a freshman he finished with a 9-0 record and team-best 1.24 ERA, while striking out 57 in 43.2 innings. In 2015, he rocks a team-best 0.94 WHIP; his 9 saves rank fifth in Pac-12. Cleavinger has never been drafted, but with a mid-nineties fastball and consistency on his side, he may be the first Duck off the board in the MLB Draft.
Mitchell Tolman
Junior infielder Mitchell Tolman broke four Oregon all-time records in 2015: consecutive starts, career doubles, career RBIs and career multi-RBI games. He would likely break several more if he returns to Oregon his senior year. Consistent offensive production is rare at any level of baseball, yet Tolman managed to hit .315 his freshman and sophomore seasons and he’s still improving. He carries the Ducks with a .332 batting average, .467 on-base percentage and .488 slugging percentage in 2015. His durability, blue collar work ethic and ability to play second or third base are all reasons why Tolman’s name could be called in the early rounds.
Josh Graham
Josh Graham is unique in that he’s pitched, caught and hit fifth for the Ducks all throughout the 2015 season. Originally recruited as a catcher, Graham lost the position battle to Shaun Chase as a sophomore, then transitioned to the bullpen his junior year and thrived. With a fastball that touches 95 mph, he amassed a 1.83 ERA over 34.1 innings in his first 14 outings. He found himself back behind the dish and hitting fifth when Chase flamed out and the Ducks lost five of six in March, then in the starting rotation when the Conor Harber experiment went awry in April. Selected by the Minnesota Twins in 22nd round of the 2012 MLB Draft, Graham will get a call based on his arm strength alone. Surely, though, scouts will inquire about the team rule he violated in April, which prompted his ensuing three-game suspension.
Others
Cole Irvin may also receive a phone call from a team on Draft day, however, he’s spent the 2015 season recovering from Tommy John Surgery and is expected back to play another season for the Ducks. Irvin, the current ace of Oregon’s staff, was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 29th round of the 2012 Draft, but chose college ball instead.
Turning down an MLB Draft offer is commonplace. Many players do so in efforts to save their NCAA eligibilities and improve their stock for upcoming Drafts. In fact, nine current Ducks have already been drafted 10 times. Matt Eureste turned down the Cleveland Indians in 2011; Mark Karaviotis turned down the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2013; Scott Heineman, freshmen David Peterson and Tim Susnara declined offers in the 2014 Draft; Harber rejected offers in 2013 and 2014.
Sophomore Matt Krook was drafted in the first round (35th overall) by the Miami Marlins in 2013 but a post-draft MRI revealed a slight tear in his pitching shoulder. Krook declined to Miami and came to Eugene, where, like Irvin, he won Louisville Slugger first-team Freshman All-America honors then redshirted his sophomore season. He will be eligible for the Draft again next year as a junior.
Since manager George Horton took over the baseball program in 2009, 27 of his players have been drafted 29 times, including starting pitchers Jake Reed and Tommy Thorpe in the fifth and eighth rounds last year. A record eight Ducks were chosen in the 2011 Draft, including four in the first seven rounds. Seventeen former Oregon Ducks are currently playing professional baseball: Zack Thornton of the New York Mets organization is in Triple-A, five are in Double-A, two in Class-A (Advanced), three in Class-A, two in short-season A, one in Rookie League, two in the Independent League and one in the Canadian American League.
Follow Kenny Jacoby on Twitter @KennyJacoby