UCLA SS Matt McLain Taken by Reds in First Round of 2021 MLB Draft
UCLA SS Matt McLain Taken by Reds in First Round of 2021 MLB Draft
The draft continues today with rounds 2-10.
The MLB Draft has traditionally been held in the first half of June. This year, MLB decided to move the draft to All Star Weekend and, as a result of the move of the All Star Game from Atlanta to Denver, it began last night in the Mile High City.
UCLA junior Matt McLain was the only Bruin selected yesterday in the first round when he was taken 17th by the Cincinnati Reds.
It is the second time that McLain has been chosen in the first round. In 2018, he was picked 25th by the Arizona Diamondbacks, but he decided to attend UCLA and play for the Bruins rather than sign with the D-Backs.
That decision seems to have paid off for McLain. Not only did he get an education from the #1 public university, but he also was selected higher than he was in 2018. His bonus value will be almost $1 million more than he would have received if he had signed with the D-Backs.
McLain had a solid season offensively for the Bruins in 2021. While he didn’t lead the team in any category, he was near the top in almost every offensive category. He was second in batting average, OPS, doubles, homers, total bases, walks and stolen bases.
The MLB draft continues today with rounds 2 through 10 and it concludes tomorrow with rounds 11 through 20. Both sessions will be streamed on MLB.com. Today’s selections begin at 10 am PT and tomorrow’s selections begin at 9 am PT. MLB.com also has Draft Central set up with all the latest draft information. It will be interested to see what other Bruins are selected today or if any members of UCLA’s 2021 recruiting class are selected.
Congratulations to Matt McLain on being drafted!
Go Bruins!!!
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Congrats to Matt! But the Reds? I'm still conditioned to hate the Reds from my childhood of watching Bench and Concepcion and Foster and Griffey and those guys battling the Dodgers every year haha.