Three Terps, Two Maryland Commits Selected in MLB Draft

Yes, the MLB Draft. We actually care about this thing now, remember? It's the Erik Bakich era. You might remember that the Terps had a first-round draft pick and a handful of other picks poached from their recruiting class last season. This year, things were more mild: only one Terrapin recruit was selected, while four current Terps had their names called.

The highest Terp selection was the aforementioned commitment, K.J. Hockaday, a 3B from John Carroll who broke Mark Teixiera's MIAA HR record. Hocakday was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 14th round. That's a relatively high selection, and given that it's the hometown team, he'll be in for a tough decision on whether to sign on with the O's or head to College Park.

As was mentioned above, four current Terps were picked. The first of them was senior pitcher Eric Potter, who went 3-7 with a 4.80 ERA last season; he was picked by the Oakland A's in the 19th round. The next guy off the board was junior shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez, who led the Terps with 20 stolen bases and hit .234. He was picked in the 32nd round by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Sander Beck, a junior pitcher who went 2-5, came off the board just one round later: he went to Orioles in Round 33. And junior outfielder Matt Marquis, a Vanderbilt transfer, rounded things out for the College Park contingent in the 41st round when he was picked by the Boston Red Sox. Commitment Andrew Amaro, an infielder, finished things up for good when he was selected in the 47th round by the Philadelphia Phillies. It's his hometown team, but 47th is awfully low; I'm guessing he'll be a Terp.

Congrats go out to all five, though I'd like Hockaday a lot more if he decided the pros could wait. That said, most of Maryland's core players, as well as their recruiting class, remains intact. A.J. Lardo, the 2nd-highest ranked player in Maryland, wasn't selected and will be in College Park next year, as will William Bouey, the third-ranked player in the state.

Meanwhile, most key players will return to the team next year. Much of the core of the team last year was made up of freshmen, like outfielder Charlie White, who had the highest batting average of the team, and Jake Stinnett, who led the Terps in home runs. This year was a slog, as we knew it would be, but improvement is on its way. But the time this group of freshman is graduating, this team should be competing for a CWS bid.