Duke Baseball: Five Blue Devils and two recruits selected in MLB Draft

There were seven players associated with the Duke Baseball program selected in the 2019 MLB Draft this week.

Aside from sweeping the Morgantown Regional and preparing for the Super Regional against Vanderbilt in Nashville this weekend, there were five current Duke Baseball players and two, potential, future players selected in the 2019 MLB Draft.

More dreams came true and turned to realites when the first player associated with the Duke Baseball program was selected and he was still in high school. It was signee Sam Siani who was selected with the No. 37 overall pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

More from Ball Durham

While it is unclear whether Siani will come to Duke to sign with the Pirates, the Duke Baseball press release said that the commit played in 32 games in his high school senior season and hit .457, with eight doubles, nine triples, six home runs, 25 RBI and 16 stolen bases, while being ranked No. 47 overall prospect in the 2019 class.

The would be ace of this year’s Duke pitching staff, Graeme Stinson, was selected in the fourth round of the MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays.

Stinson was only able to start five games this season but was a Pre-Season All-American entering the season after his superb sophomore season. According to the team, the left hander became the fourteenth Duke Baseball player to be selected in the fifth round or higher in the MLB Draft and was the highest pick since Jimmy Herron was taken in the third round of the last year’s draft.

Stinson also became the twenty-second current Duke Blue Devil drafted under head coach Chris Pollard.

The star from Friday afternoon’s shutdown of Texas A&M in Game 1 of the Morgantown Regional, Ben Gross, was taken in the tenth round of the MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins.

The graduate student posted a 7-4 record with a 4.09 ERA this season and threw seven innings of run one baseball to start the Blue Devils run in the NCAA Tournament.

Kennie Taylor, the captain of the Duke Baseball team, was selected in the fourteenth round of the MLB Draft by the New York Mets.

Taylor, the team leader in batting average (.324), also had six home runs and 39 RBI in his senior season.

Another Blue Devil that got hit by the injury bug this season was pitcher AJ Laskey, but the New Jersey native was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the nineteenth round of the MLB Draft.

Laskey took the mound six times this season, three starts, and in 12 innings, posted a 1-0 record.

The Duke second recruit, Chad Knight, was selected in the thirty-first round of the MLB Draft by the New York Yankees.

Knight was named as the 2019 Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Connecticut after he hit .554 with 10 home runs, 23 RBI according to the Duke Baseball release.

It is still not known whether Knight will attend Duke or sign with the Yankees organization.

The final Blue Devil selected in the 2019 MLB Draft was the MVP of the Morgantown Regional, Bryce Jarvis.

Jarvis tossed eight scoreless innings against the No. 15 West Virginia Mountaineers on its home turf in the winners bracket of the regional.

Like his potential teammate in Durham in Chad Knight, Jarvis was selected by the Yankees in the thirty-seventh round of the draft.

The sophomore has a 5-1 record with a 4.06 ERA and after being selected by the Bronx Bombers, the Duke had at least five players drafted in the last two drafts, marking the first time in program history.

The Blue Devils are in Nashville for the Super Regional of the NCAA Tournament where Duke will play Vanderbilt on its home turf in a best two-of-three series.

Home/Duke Baseball