SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara University baseball senior pitcher Alex Rivers was selected by the Kansas City Royals Wednesday on Day Three of the 2010 MLB First Year Player Draft. Rivers was recently named Santa Clara's `Pitcher of the Year' after throwing four complete games and two shutouts in 2010.
Rivers was taken in the 39th round (1,169 overall) by Kansas City. He becomes the fourth Santa Clara player drafted by MLB in 2010. Rivers finished his four-year SCU career with 228 strikeouts in 290-plus innings. He posted six complete games in two full seasons in SCU's starting rotation.
On Tuesday, SCU standouts Tommy Medica, Geoff Klein and Nate Garcia were selected in the 2010 MLB First Year Player Draft. Medica - a Collegiate Baseball All-American in 2010 - was the top Bronco selected, taken by the San Diego Padres in the 14th Round.
C Tommy
Medica (Jr./San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine Prep)
Round 14, San Diego Padres (424 overall)
C Geoff
Klein (Sr./Huntington Beach, Calif./Ocean View HS)
Round 15, St. Louis Cardinals (469 overall)
RHP Nate
Garcia (Sr./San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine Prep)
Round 16, Tampa Bay Rays (491 overall)
RHP Alex
Rivers (Sr./Lodi, Calif./Lodi HS)
Round 39, Kansas City Royals (1,169 overall)
Medica was the 29th catcher taken overall and San Diego's 14th pick as an organization. Medica, who led the West Coast Conference in RBI (67) and total bases (152) this season, was recently named a Third Team `Louisville Slugger' All-American by Collegiate Baseball. Medica needed just three full seasons to rank sixth all-time at SCU in hits (329).
Medica's career batting average (.369) ranks second all-time at Santa Clara. He was named a 'Louisville Slugger' Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball in 2007 and played for the USA National Team later that summer at the 2007 Pan-American Games. He was named a First Team All-WCC player in each of his three full seasons at SCU.
Klein - a switch hitting catcher with power - was taken in the 15th round by the St. Louis Cardinals. The 2009 WCC batting champ, Klein hit .346 as a senior in 2010, with 19 doubles and 47 RBI. Klein finished his outstanding college career with offensive numbers ranking among the best in school history: .344 batting average, 52 doubles and 135 RBI. He was named a First Team All-WCC player in each of the past two seasons.
Garcia was selected in the 16th round by the Tampa Bay Rays. The hard-throwing right-hander led the WCC in strikeouts as a junior last season and set a career high with 112 strikeouts in 2010. Garcia was Santa Clara's No. 1 starting pitcher for three consecutive seasons, totaling 23 wins and 357 K's in 365-plus innings.
