After five Wildcats came off the board Sunday and Monday, no Arizona players or UA signees were selected on the third and final day of the MLB Draft.
It was a disappointing outcome for third baseman Tony Bullard and center fielder Mac Bingham — in particular Bullard, who’s out of eligibility.
Bingham has the option to return. If he does, the Wildcats could have a stacked outfield next season — even without All-American left fielder Chase Davis, who was taken in the first round by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Draft-eligible right fielder Emilio Corona wasn’t picked either. The same goes for incoming freshman Easton Breyfogle, whom Baseball America ranked among its top 175 prospects for this year’s draft.
Bullard had a stellar senior season, batting .328 with 12 home runs and 42 RBIs in 198 at-bats. After returning from a concussion on April 6, Bullard hit .403 (52 of 129) with 13 doubles, 11 home runs and 38 RBIs. He also had more walks (15) than strikeouts (10) during that span.
Bullard has the size (6-4, 212) and athleticism that usually are enticing for MLB clubs. But he also suffered a shoulder injury during the 2022 season and is on the older side for a prospect (23 years old, turns 24 in February). He’s likely to sign a minor-league deal as an undrafted free agent.
Bingham notched career bests in multiple offensive categories this past season while patrolling the vast outfield at Hi Corbett Field. He batted .360 with a .432 on-base percentage, 20 doubles, 10 home runs, 51 RBIs and 68 runs scored.
Bingham put his name in the transfer portal before the draft, so playing for another school is also a possibility. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
Arizona’s Mac Bingham, right, beats the throw to second base in the Pac-12 championship game in Scottsdale in late May.
16 draftees from ’21 Cats
Two former UA pitchers were selected on Day Three of the draft, which consisted of rounds 11 through 20.
Right-hander Chandler Murphy was taken by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 12th round. Murphy spent his first three seasons at Arizona before transferring to Missouri. The Rays picked UA righty TJ Nichols earlier in the draft.
One round later, the Baltimore Orioles selected left-hander Riley Cooper. Cooper played for Arizona in 2021 before transferring to LSU, where he helped the Tigers win this year’s College World Series.
The selections of Murphy and Cooper raised the number of draftees from Arizona’s 2021 CWS team to 16. Nine are position players, and three were first-rounders: Davis, Daniel Susac and Jacob Berry.
Susac and Berry were both picked in 2022 as draft-eligible sophomores. Berry spent his second season at LSU playing for former UA coach Jay Johnson.
Three other members of the ’21 Wildcats signed free-agent contracts and are playing in the minors.
Arizona's Kiko Romero shatters his bat grounding out and ending the Wildcat sixth against Hermosillo in the Mexican Baseball Fiesta, Tucson, Ariz., October 6, 2022.
‘It means everything’
Arizona’s Kiko Romero and Chris Barraza, both from Tucson, were drafted Monday. They’re proud to represent their hometown.
“It means everything,” said Romero, a Canyon del Oro High School graduate picked in the seventh round by the New York Yankees. “Not a lot of kids come out of Tucson and get picked.
“Tucson kids are kind of on the come-up right now and getting recognized for their talent. It’s pretty awesome.”
“I’m very happy for myself and very happy for Kiko,” said Barraza, a Sahuarita High product drafted in the 10th round by the Los Angeles Angels. “It’s going to be a good steppingstone for other kids.”
Barraza joins an Angels organization that drafted another UA right-hander, Chase Silseth, in 2021. Silseth already has pitched for the big-league club.
“If I ever get to see Chase, I’m gonna pick his brain and ask him a million questions,” Barraza said. “I know he has the talent, and he’s been there before.”
Inside pitch
• Six Arizona State players were selected Tuesday, including five pitchers. The one non-pitcher, infielder Wyatt Crenshaw, was taken by the Diamondbacks in the 19th round. Crenshaw prepped at Chandler Perry.
• ASU led Arizona’s three Division I programs with eight draftees. The UA had five, and Grand Canyon had three.
• ASU tied for the fourth-most draft picks from any school. LSU led the way with 13. Wake Forest had 10, and Stanford had nine.
• Pima Community College pitcher Anthony Imhoff was taken in the 18th round by the Chicago White Sox. Imhoff, a 6-7 lefty from Queen Creek, went 10-5 with a 3.78 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 81 innings this past season for the Aztecs.
• Only two high school players from Arizona were drafted: Chandler Hamilton’s Josh Tiedemann (13th round, Yankees) and Chandler Basha’s Justin Chambers (20th round, Brewers). The highest-ranked Arizona prep player, Hamilton High’s Roch Cholowsky, is headed to UCLA.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers used their 20th-round pick on Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. Uiagalelei was a standout pitcher at St. John Bosco in Southern California before playing QB the past three seasons at Clemson.
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