The Cincinnati Reds went with a college bat with their first-round pick, taking Tennessee third baseman Nick Senzel with the second overall selection in the 2016 MLB Draft on Thursday night from MLB Network Studios in New Jersey.
2016 MLB Draft results: Tennessee 3B Nick Senzel picked 2nd overall by Reds
Senzel hit .352/.456/.595 with eight home runs and 25 doubles as a junior in 2016 at Tennessee and was named second-team All-SEC and a Louisville Slugger third-team All-American.
Senzel is the earliest pick from the University of Tennessee in the June draft, beating out first baseman Todd Helton, who went eighth overall to the Colorado Rockies in 1995.
The 6’1, 200-pound right-hander has been on teams’ draft radar since winning Cape Cod League MVP in the summer of 2015, and was rated in May as the fifth-best prospect in the draft by Baseball America.
“Senzel will be a high-average, high-OBP hitter with moderate power, but with some adjustments that could change in favor of additional ISO with the loss of some batting average. The OBP should remain strong at all levels given Senzel’s feel for the zone,” wrote our John Sickels at Minor League Ball in April. “Senzel will be a first round pick and his bat should get him to the majors fairly rapidly.”
Unlike most highly touted college juniors in this draft, Senzel was not drafted out of high school in 2013. He does have the leverage of potentially going back to Tennessee for his senior season, should he not sign.
The No. 2 pick has an allotted bonus value of $7,762,900.
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