The 2015 Major League Baseball draft, which begins on Monday, June 8, and continues through Wednesday, June 10 could continue the streak of Matador players that have been drafted since 2005.
The draft will cover the first two rounds which includes compensation and competitive balance picks. It will air on MLBTV and be streamed live on MLB.com. Rounds 3-10 will take place on Tuesday, June 9 and rounds 11-40 finish up on Wednesday. High school players who have graduated, junior college players regardless of how many years completed, college players who have completed their junior or senior seasons or who are at least 21 years-old are draft-eligible, according MLB.com.
Infielder Ryan Raslowsky, outfielder Chester Pak, utility player Nick Blaser, pitcher Jerry Keel and catcher Nick Murphy headline a senior class that helped lead the Matadors to 33 wins, the most since 2002.
Raslowsky lead the team with a career-best average of .293, in addition to being first with 11 doubles and 15 sacrifice bunts in 55 games this season. He finished his CSUN career with a .281 average, 43 RBI’s on 177 hits, 34 stolen bases, .346 on-base percentage and a .314 sluggling percentage. Defensively, Raslowsky’s career fielding percent is .964. He is also the matadors all-time leader in sacrifice bunts with 35.
In 57 games, Pak finished the season hitting .275 with six home runs, 28 RBI’s, 36 runs and seven stolen bases. Pak hit .279 for his career with a .345 OBP, .394 slugging percentage on 187 hits, 105 runs, 81 RBI’s, 26 stolen bases and nine home runs. Pak fielded .978 for his career.
Blaser played in 51 games in his final season and had a .231 average on 36 hits with 21 RBI’s, 18 runs and two stolen bases. A transfer from Sierra College, Blaser’s two years at CSUN totaled a .269 hitting percentage, .311 OBP, .314 slugging percentage, four stolen bases, 44 RBI’s, 34 runs, all on 91 hits.
Murphy split time as a catcher and designated hitter in 32 games with 18 starts. He hit .244 with nine RBI’s, nine runs and a stolen base. A transfer from Pierce College, he hit .260 for his CSUN career with three stolen bases, 20 RBI’s, one home run, 22 runs, 52 hits, with a .320 OBP and a .315 slugging percentage. Murphy had a fielding percentage of .991 this past season.
Keel was 5-7 and had 80 K’s with a 2.66 ERA in 91.1 innings pitched this year. He has 18 wins for his career with 57 saves in 63 games. His freshman season is where he had his lowest ERA of 2.07. He leaves CSUN with 269 K’s, and a 2.75 ERA in his career.
Juniors like infielder Yusuke Akitoshi, pitcher Rayne Raven, and Big West All-Conference honorable mentions William Colantono and Angel Rodriguez are also draft-eligible.