Red Sox Select Eight Players on Second Day of the 2015 June Draft
The Boston Red Sox today continued their participation in Major League Baseball's 2015 June Draft with eight additional selections in rounds 3-10. Red Sox Director of Amateur Scouting Mike Rikard made the announcement.
Over the first two days of the draft, Boston has selected three pitchers (two right-handers, one left-hander), three outfielders, two infielders, and one catcher. Of the nine players drafted, two are from high school and seven are from college.
With their first pick today, 81st overall, the Red Sox selected catcher Austin Rei (pronounced "RYE") out of the University of Washington. The 21-year-old junior was limited to 25 games this season due to a left thumb injury suffered in February, but led the team in batting average (.330), slugging percentage (.681), on-base percentage (.445), and OPS (1.127). He reached base safely in all but one game and, despite missing time, ranked second on the Huskies with both seven homers and 20 RBI. Baseball America rated him among the top three collegiate-level defensive players available in the draft. A native of Moraga, CA, he was selected to both the All-Pac-12 Team and the All-Pac-12 Defensive Team as a sophomore in 2014. A 6-foot, 185-pound right-handed hitter, he is the nephew of Fran Mullins, an infielder who played parts of three years in the major leagues with the Chicago White Sox (1980), San Francisco Giants (1984), and Cleveland Indians (1986). Rei was a 37th-round selection by the Minnesota Twins in the 2012 June Draft but did not sign.
Today's picks also included centerfielder Tate Matheny, Boston's fourth-round selection, a 6-foot, 190-pound junior at Missouri State University, where he started all 61 of the Bears' games in 2015. This year, the right-handed batter hit .291 (68-for-234) with 45 runs scored, 18 doubles, two triples, five home runs, 43 RBI, and 37 walks for a .417 on-base percentage. A Baseball America pre-season All-American, he went on to lead the team with 12 stolen bases in 14 attempts and rank among Missouri Valley Conference leaders in doubles (5th), walks (8th), and RBI (9th). In 2014, he hit .330 (72-for-218) with 10 homers and 37 RBI, and was a First-Team All-MVC selection. The son of current St. Louis Cardinals manager and 13-year major league catcher Mike Matheny, Tate was selected by the Cardinals in the 23rd round of the 2012 June Draft but did not sign.
Please see the attached release for a full list of the Red Sox' 2015 draft selections for Rounds 1-10.