Kansas City, MO (June 6, 2013) – The Kansas City Royals completed the first day of the 2013 First-Year Rule 4 Player Draft today, selecting three players today, highlighted by the eighth overall selection, shortstop Hunter Dozier. The Royals also selected left-handed pitcher Sean Manaea from Indiana State with the #34 overall pick and left-handed pitcher Cody Reed from Northwest Mississippi Community College at #46.
The Royals selected the 21-year-old Dozier, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound shortstop from the Stephen F. Austin University with the eighth overall pick on Thursday. Dozier batted .396 with 17 home runs and 52 RBI this season. He led the Southland Conference in batting average, slugging percentage (.755), doubles (25) and home runs, earning Louisville Slugger First Team All-America honors. He was a two-time All-Southland Conference selection, becoming the first shortstop in school history to earn that distinction, and was an All-South Central Region selection in 2012, when he hit .357 with 22 doubles, 10 homers and 37 RBI. A native of Denton, Texas, Dozier was a multi-sport star at Denton High School. He was the shortstop and ace right-handed pitcher on the baseball team and also quarterbacked the football squad. He was a 2008 all-area selection and the district Newcomer of the Year. After suffering a football injury as a junior, he came back to hit .400 during his senior season and earn all-district honors.
Kansas City picked the 21-year-old Manaea, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound left-handed pitcher from Indiana State with the #34 overall selection. Manaea was the second-ranked left-handed pitcher in the draft according to Baseball America. He was 5-4 with a 1.47 ERA in 13 starts for the Sycamores this season. The 6-foot-5 lefty fanned 93 in 73.1 innings pitched, ranking third in the NCAA in strikeouts per 9 innings at 11.4. He was named Second Team All-Missouri Valley this season and to the preseason Golden Spikes Award watch list. He burst onto the national scene last summer in the Cape Cod League. He earned both the B.F.C. Whitehouse Top Pitcher and the Robert A. McNeese Outstanding Pro Prospect awards from the CCBL, totaling a 5-1 record and a 1.22 ERA with a league-leading 85 strikeouts in 57.1 innings pitched.
The Royals drafted 20-year-old Reed, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound left-handed pitcher from Northwest Mississippi Community College with the #46 overall pick. He completed his eligibility at Northwest Mississippi CC this year, going 8-3 with a 2.39 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 73.1 innings pitched. Reed was ninth in the NJCAA in strikeouts, while his 5 complete games were tied for 14th. He was a NJCAA Division II third team All-America selection and was named Mississippi Association of Community & Junior Colleges(MACJC) Pitcher of the Week twice this year.
