It’s the big leagues for five Lobo baseball players.
The UNM baseball team had five players drafted in the 2010 MLB Draft on June 8, 9 and 10.
Although no Lobos were taken on the draft’s first day, four players were taken on the second day and one on the final day.
The Lobos send two starting pitchers and the heart of their batting order from the 2010 season to the professional ranks.
UNM head baseball Coach Ray Birmingham said he is not surprised that five Lobos were drafted this year.
“I thought seven were going to come out of this draft,” Birmingham said. “At least.”
Junior catcher Rafael Neda was the first player taken in the 10th round (309th overall pick) by the Milwaukee Brewers.
Two Lobo pitchers were the next players to be taken in the draft.
The Seattle Mariners took Willy Kesler in the 18th round with Kenny Toves following. Toves was selected in the 21st round by the Florida Marlins.
“I thought I would be a little more relaxed, but when I got the call it was an overwhelming feeling of excitement,” Toves said. “I couldn’t stop smiling for an hour after I got the call.”
Round out the draft were Justin Howard and Ryan Honeycutt. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Howard in the 24th round.
On the final day of the draft, the San Francisco Giants picked Honeycutt. Honeycutt was the Lobs’ primary designated hitter and batted in the clean-up the Lobos this season.
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He had a .353 batting average with 78 hits, 11 doubles, 55 RBIs and six home runs this season for UNM.
Birmingham said four additional seniors Max Willett, Chris Juarez, Daniel Gonzalez and Edwin Carl had an outside shot at being drafted by MLB teams.
Even though the Lobos lost three upperclassmen, Birmingham said he expects his future team to continue to achieve the goal of making it to Omaha one day.
“Our program has had 11 guys go pro in the last two years — actually, 14 in the last three years — and I think our program will continue to improve,” Birmingham said. “I think the guys drafted will do great. They are wonderful people. They made us all proud, and I love them immensely. I wish them the best, and I think they will make a run at the big leagues.”
