Baylor baseball junior right-handed pitched Montana Parsons and junior outfielder Kameron Esthay were selected on the final day of the 2017 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Wednesday.
With the selections, BU has had at least one player chosen in 40 of the last 42 drafts, dating back to 1976. The Bears have a total of 138 draft choices in program history and their first multi-player draft since 2014 (Colorado Rockies 21st round pick RHP Josh Michalec and Minnesota Twins 38th round pick C Brett Doe).
Parsons was the 24th round (719th overall) pick by the Miami Marlins. After transferring to Baylor from San Jacinto Junior College, the Conroe, Texas native excelled in his lone season with the Bears as he won 2017 Co-Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, and was a second-team All-Big 12 honoree. The 6-3, 185-pound starter posted a 3.06 ERA with a 5-4 record in 15 appearances (all starts). In 88.1 innings, he allowed 35 runs on 88 hits and 38 walks with 71 strikeouts while holding hitters to a .263 batting average.
Esthay was the 26th round (793rd overall) pick by the Washington Nationals, making him BU’s highest position player selected since 2013 (Los Angeles Angels 17th round pick 3B Cal Towey). The Moss Bluff, Louisiana native was a 2015 Big 12 All-Tournament, 2015 Big 12 All-Freshman, 2016 All-Big 12 second team and 2017 All-Big 12 honorable mention selection. The 6-0, 215-pound right fielder had three very productive seasons with the Bears as he has a career .303 batting average with 86 runs, 167 hits, 32 doubles, four triples, 17 home runs, 91 RBI, 61 walks and 11 stolen bases in 159 games. In 2015 as a redshirt freshman, he hit a career-best .323 with 26 runs, 50 hits, seven doubles, one triple, five homers, 25 RBI, 12 walks and a career-high five steals. In 2016, he hit .307 with 20 runs, a career-high 59 hits and 14 doubles, one triple, three homers, 31 RBI, 19 walks and two steals. In 2017, he hit .283 with career highs in runs (40), triples (2), homers (9), RBI (35) and walks (30) while tallying 58 hits, 11 doubles and four steals.
