Cal Baseball: No Bears Players Taken in First Round of MLB Draft

Cal had two players taken in the first round of last year's Major League Baseball draft, but no Golden Bears were selected in the opening round of this year's draft, which was held Wednesday.

This comes as no surprise. Second baseman Darren Baker is the Cal player most likely to drafted in this year's unusual virtual draft, and he is not expected to be taken before the third round. Outfielder Brandon McIlwain, infielder Quentin Selma and outfielder Max Flower are the other three Golden Bears hoping to be drafted.

Only the first round was conducted Wednesday night, with the final four rounds to be conducted Thursday.

Unlike most years, when the draft consists of 40 rounds, the MLB draft will have only five rounds this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last season, Cal's Andrew Vaughn and Korey Lee were both first-round picks, and the Bears have had seven players taken in the first round since 2003, when Conor Jackson was taken in the first round.

Four Pac-12 players were chosen in this year's first round, which includes the Competitive Balance picks at the end and a total of 37 selections.

And for the second straight year, a Pac-12 player was the first overall draft pick. Last year Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman was the No. 1 overall pick, by the Baltimore Orioles, and this year Arizona State third baseman Spencer Torkelson was the first overall selection, taken by the Detroit Tigers.

The other three Pac-12 players selected were UCLA outfielder Garrett Mitchell (20th overall, by Milwaukee), Arizona catcher Austin Wells (28th overall, by the Yankees) and Arizona State shortstop Alika Williams, who was a Competitive Balance Round A pick by the Tampa Bay Rays and the last of the 37 players chosen Wednesday.

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by searching: @si.calsportsreport

Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Cal Sports Report on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.

Add us as a preferred source on Google