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MLB Draft Recap

Bradley juniors Boby Johnson and Luke Mangieri selected in the 2018 MLB First-Year Player Draft

Drafted - Boby Johnson and Luke Mangieri
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Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Baseball 6/7/2018 10:34:00 AM
NEW YORK – For the third time in the last four years and the 21st time since its introduction in 1965, multiple Bradley players were selected in the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft when juniors Boby Johnson and Luke Mangieri had their names called Wednesday.
 
A right-handed pitcher from Miller, MO, Johnson was selected in the 16th round (486th overall) by the Colorado Rockies.  A first baseman from Peoria, IL, Mangeiri was selected in the 25th round (744th overall) by the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Both players have a year of college eligibility remaining and have until Aug. 15 to sign with their respective organizations or decided to return to Bradley for the 2018-19 season.
 
In his first year with the Braves after transferring from Fort Scott C.C., Johnson led the pitching staff with 24 appearances and five saves in 2018.  A second-team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection, he posted a 4-2 record with a 3.93 ERA, while boasting a .216 opponent batting average in his 50.1 innings.  His 24 total appearances and 23 relief outings both tied for the seventh-most in a single season in program history.
 
Since the Colorado franchise was introduced in 1991, Johnson becomes the sixth Bradley player selected by the Rockies in the MLB First-Year Player Draft.  Including Johnson, five of Colorado's six Bradley picks have been pitchers – Bryan Rekar (1993), Joel Moore (1993), Rob Scahill (2009) and Matt Dennis (2016) – while outfielder Mike Tauchman was picked by the Rockies in 2010.  Rekar, Scahill and Tauchman all reached the Majors with the Rockies.
 
A product of nearby Dunlap H.S., Mangieri completed his third Bradley season in 2018 as the team's active leader with 174 career hits, 104 runs scored and 31 doubles and he is tied for fifth in program history with nine career triples.  A member of the 2018 MVC All-Defense Team, the first baseman also was one of Bradley's top offensive players this past season, batting .322 with 24 extra-base hits (15 doubles, four triples, five home runs) and 34 RBI's.
 
Mangieri becomes just the third Bradley player ever selected by Pittsburgh, following pitcher Brian Shouse in 1990 and shortstop Tyler Leffler in 2016.  Prior to the creation of the draft, however, several Braves signed with Pittsburgh as free agents – Eugene Handley (1935), Lee Handley (1936), Lee Utt (1956), Dick Jamieson (1957) and Mike Owens (1960).  Rick Buckner also signed with the Pirates as an undrafted free agent in 1975. 
 
Four Bradley players have played at the Major League level for the Pirates.  Lee Handley played eight seasons for the Pirates from 1937-46.  Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1984, pitcher Mike Dunne made his MLB debut for Pittsburgh in 1987, when The Sporting News named him the National League Rookie Pitcher of the Year.   Shouse made his Big League debut with the Pirates in 1993.  Scahill was traded from Colorado to Pittsburgh Nov. 11, 2014 and pitched out of the Pirates bullpen during the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
 
The pair of MLB Draft picks helped Bradley equal the best turn-around season in program history, flipping a 20-31 record in 2017 to a 32-19 mark in 2018.  The Braves also won a program-record eight MVC road games on their way to a third-place finish in the final league standings for the third time in four years.
 
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Players Mentioned

Luke Mangieri

#17 Luke Mangieri

IF
6' 3"
Junior
L/R
Boby Johnson

#22 Boby Johnson

RHP
6' 1"
Junior
R/R

Players Mentioned

Luke Mangieri

#17 Luke Mangieri

6' 3"
Junior
L/R
IF
Boby Johnson

#22 Boby Johnson

6' 1"
Junior
R/R
RHP
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