Baylor baseball senior right-handed pitcher Troy Montemayor and sophomore third baseman Davis Wendzel were selected on the final day of the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Wednesday.
Montemayor went to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 25th round with the 753rd overall pick, and Wendzel was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 37th round with the 1,120th overall selection.
With the picks, Baylor has had at least one player selected in 41 of 43 drafts since 1976. The Bears have had 140 total draft picks in program history, including two selections in each of the last two years.
Montemayor is the sixth Baylor player selected by the Cardinals organization and the first since Daniel Castano was chosen by St. Louis in the 2016 draft. Previous Baylor players selected by the Cardinals include Blaine Beatty (1985, 2nd round of secondary phase), Brian Carpenter (1992, 8th round), Matt Williams (2001, 15th round), Mark McCormick (2005, 1st round) and Castano (2016, 19th round).
Wendzel is the sixth Baylor player chosen by the Red Sox and the first since Kendal Volz in 2009. He joins Jaime Bubela (1999, 31st round), Kelly Shoppach (2001, 2ndround), David Murphy (2003, 1st round), Chris Durbin (2003, 10th round) and Volz (2009, 9th round).
Montemayor finished his four-year Baylor career as the Bears’ all-time saves leader, tying Zane Carlson with 37 saves. His saves total tied for second in Big 12 Conference history, trailing only Texas’ Huston Street with 41 career saves. Montemayor converted his last 17 save chances, 28 of his last 29 and went 37-of-39 in closing save opportunities during BU career. He is the only player in program history with three seasons of at least 10 saves.
The Mayor posted a 6-6 record and 2.52 ERA in 107.1 career innings over 86 appearances. He limited opposing hitters to a .228 batting average and held them below the Mendoza line in each of his three seasons as the team’s closer. As a senior, Montemayor went 2-1 with 11 saves, a 2.39 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 26.1 innings over 23 relief appearances.
Wendzel has played two seasons for the Bears and is a draft-eligible sophomore due to reaching his 21st birthday prior to the draft. He’s played in 108 games and made 105 starts over two seasons, including starts in all 58 games as a sophomore in 2018. He hit .301 with 22 doubles, eight home runs, 49 RBI and 38 runs scored this season.
During his two-year career, Wendzel has hit .306 with 16 home runs and 79 RBI. He’s walked more times than he’s struck out, recording 69 bases on balls against only 62 strikeouts. Wendzel has also scored 72 runs, knocked 29 doubles and three triples, posting a .531 career slugging percentage and a .432 on-base percentage. He improved defensively as a sophomore, posting a .972 fielding percentage with only three errors after a freshman season with seven errors and a .945 fielding percentage.
Wendzel will have until July 6 to decide whether to sign a professional contract or return to Baylor for his junior season.
