Indiana's Cole Barr, Grant Richardson Picked on Final Day of 2021 MLB Draft
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana third baseman Cole Barr and center fielder Grant Richardson were drafted during the final day of the 2021 MLB Draft on Tuesday, giving the Hoosiers a Big Ten-best six players chosen this year.
No other school had more than three players drafted.
Barr was picked by the Seattle Mariners in the 15th round, with the 444th overall pick. Richardson went in round 17 to the New York Yankees with pick No. 513 in the three-day, 20-round draft.
The two position players followed four Indiana pitchers were were drafted on Monday, McCade Brown (Colorado Rockies, third round), Gabe Bierman (Miami Marlins, seventh round), Matt Litwicki (Boston Red Sox, 10th round) and Tommy Sommer (Chicago White Sox, 10th round)
Barr, a Yorktown, Ind., native spent four years at Indiana, and was a second-team all-Big Ten third baseman in 2019 and a third-team choice this year. During his career in Bloomington, he hit .262 with 27 home runs and 99 RBIs in 141 games, 124 of which were starts.
This season, he batted .292 with a team-high eight home runs, 45 hits, 36 runs scored and a team-high 35 RBI. Barr was also drafted by the Mariners in 2019, in the 37th round, but opted to stay in school at the time.
Richardson was a first team All-Big Ten selection in 2021 and he led Indiana with a .320 batting average and team-high 55 hits with seven home runs. He held a .517 slugging percentage and 33 RBI while also going 11-for-13 on stolen bases.
In addition to the six Hoosiers selected, two high school players who are signed with Indiana were also drafted. Colson Montgomery (Round 1, Pick 23 to the Chicago White Sox) and TJ White (Round 5, Pick 143 to the Washington Nationals) heard their names called during the three-day draft.
Big Ten draft picks in 2021 MLB Draft
- INDIANA (6): McCade Brown, Gabe Bierman, Matt Litwicki, Tommy Sommer, Cole Barr, Grant Richardson.
- NEBRASKA (3): Spencer Schwellenbach, Cade Povich, Cam Wynne.
- OHIO STATE (3): Seth Lonsway, Garrett Burhenn, Jack Neely.
- MICHIGAN (3): Steven Hajjar, Benjamin Sems, Blake Beers.
- PENN STATE (3): Conor Larkin, Kyle Virbitsky, Bailey Dees.
- NORTHWESTERN (3): Michael Trautwein, Tyler Uberstein, Shawn Goosenberg.
- ILLINOIS (2): Andrew Hoffman, Nathan Lavender.
- MARYLAND (2): Sean Burke, Benjamin Cowles.
- MICHIGAN STATE (1): Mason Erla.
- MINNESOTA (1): Zach Raabe.
Related stories on Indiana baseball
- McCADE BROWN TO ROCKIES. Indiana pitcher McCade Brown was the first Hoosier drafted this year when he was picked in the third round of the MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies. CLICK HERE
- TOMMY SOMMER TO WHITE SOX: Lefty pitcher Tommy Sommer wasn't expected to be selected on Day 2 of the MLB Draft, but the Chicago White Sox had a better plan, and it all worked out in the 10th round. CLICK HERE