UCLA Baseball: Five Bruins Selected on Final Day of MLB Draft
UCLA 2021 draft class stays in tact with only one more recruit drafted.
The final day of the 2021 MLB Draft saw five Bruins get selected. Jesse Bergin became the first Bruin of the day off the board when he was selected 329th overall by the Miami Marlins.
Just 12 picks later, he was joined by Sean Mullen who was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays with the 341st pick.
Another pitcher was chosen the third Bruin chosen yesterday when reliever Adrian Chaidez was selected by the Houston Astros in the 15th round with the 448th pick.
Mikey Perez was also selected in the 15th round when he was taken by the Minnesota Twins with the 459th pick.
The final Bruin selected in the draft was taken in the 16th round when the Cleveland Indians took pitcher Zach Pettway.
Pettway had a really rough season this year and there is little doubt that his poor performance this year resulted in him being selected much lower than he would have been if he had pitched better this season.
The only Bruin recruit selected on the third day of the draft was lefty pitcher Gage Jump from JSerra High School in Orange County. Jump was taken in the 18th round with the 550th overall pick by the San Diego Padres. He joins his high school teammate Eric Silva as the two Bruin recruits who were selected this year.
Now, the waiting game begins. Players have until August 15th to sign with the team which selected them. All ten Bruins selected have at least one year of eligibility remaining, meaning that they could opt to return to Westwood in hopes of improving their stock for a future draft.
Even Matt McLain, who was selected in the first round, could choose to come back. You may recall that he was taken by Arizona with the 25th overall pick in the first round in 2018 right out of high school, but he decided to come to UCLA instead.
Will he or any of the other Bruin draftees or drafted recruits choose to sign with the team which selected them? That remains to be seen. But the fact that ten Bruins and two UCLA recruits were chosen in this year’s draft continues to show the kind of quality program that John Savage has built in Westwood.
Congratulations to Jesse, Sean, Adrian, Mikey and Zach!
Go Bruins!!!
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