Four Las Vegas Valley players taken on Day 2 of MLB Draft
Four Las Vegas Valley players were taken on Day 2 of the MLB Draft on Tuesday, headlined by two UNLV players.
Rebels outfielder Kyle Isbel went in the third round, 94th overall, to the Kansas City Royals, and right-handed pitcher Alan Strong was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 10th round, 300th overall.
College of Southern Nevada right-hander Joey O’Brien went to the Seattle Mariners in the sixth round, 178th overall, and former Cimarron-Memorial standout and current Loyola-Marymount third baseman Niko Decolati went to the Colorado Rockies in the sixth round, 186th overall.
Isbel batted .357 for the Rebels with 14 home runs and 56 RBIs. Strong had a 3.90 ERA in 90 innings with 86 strikeouts.
O’Brien pitched 51 2/3 innings with 69 strikeouts and 2.61 ERA. He also batted .330 with nine homers, but was drafted as a pitcher.
Decolati hit .271 with six home runs and a .367 on-base percentage last season. He batted .411 with 10 home runs in his senior year for Cimarron.
There are plenty of Southern Nevada players still remaining on the board, including Bishop Gorman’s Austin Wells and Texas’ Nolan Kingham (Desert Oasis). Wells is the only high school player in Baseball America’s top 500 draft prospects, coming in at No. 206. Kingham was ranked No. 100.
Contact Justin Emerson at jeme
