Four K-State Wildcats Selected In The First Two Days Of MLB Draft
The first two days of the MLB draft proved that Kansas State baseball program is not only heading in the right direction, but it is a place for elite talent.
On the first day of the MLB draft, shortstop Kaelen Culpepper was taken in the first round by Minnesota with the 21st pick.
As nice as that was for the K-State program, day two of the draft was just as impressive and even more significant. Any program can have one talented player to get picked in the first round.
Having multiple players taken in the later rounds show the strength and depth of a team. The Wildcats definitely had it, advancing to the Super Regional for only the second time in school history.
K-State right-handed pitchers Tyson Neighbors (4th round) and Jackson Wentworth (5th round) along with second baseman Brady Day were each selected on the second day of the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft Monday.
Neighbors was selected by the San Diego Padres with the 118th overall pick while Wentworth was drafted 158th overall by the Toronto Blue Jays and Day was chosen by the Philadelphia Phillies with the 312th overall pick.
Neighbors' and Wentworth's selections, along with Culpepper being taken in the first round, marks the first time in history K-State had three players taken in the first five rounds. K-State's four picks in the first 10 rounds ties the program record set in 2011.
Day becomes the second Wildcat to be selected by Philadelphia and first since 2008, while Neighbors is the second player from K-State taken by San Diego and first since 1997. With Wentworth's selection, Toronto has now picked up three players from K-State, that includes Nick Goodwin in the seventh round (No. 214 overall) in the 2023 MLB Draft.
David Boyce is a contributing writer to K-State On SI. He can be reached at davidboyce95@gmail.com.
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DAVID BOYCE