Tallahassee Community College’s D.J. McKnight goes in 12th round to Toronto Blue Jays
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (June 11, 2015) – Tallahassee Community College baseball standout D.J. McKnight received the phone call he’d been waiting for on Wednesday when the Toronto Blue Jays selected him in the 12th round of Major League Baseball’s 2015 First-Year Player Draft.
McKnight, a native of nearby Madison, Fla., was the 17th pick of the 12th round and 362nd player taken overall. He is expected to report to Toronto later this week, where he will sign with the Blue Jays and officially forego a scholarship opportunity at Valdosta State University.
Hear McKnight talk about being selected by the Blue Jays.
The sophomore outfielder recently completed an impressive two-year run with the Eagles in which he posted a career .344 batting average with six home runs and 69 RBIs over 97 games from 2014-15.
While with the Eagles, McKnight earned a pair of All-Panhandle Conference honors, including first-team accolades in 2015 after batting .322 with one homer and 32 RBIs in 46 games.
McKnight is the first Eagle drafted by Toronto since 1996 when the Blue Jays selected Stan Baston in the 11th round. The previous year, Toronto drafted the late Ryan Freel in round 10.
He will also join former Eagle Michael Saunders in the Blue Jays organization. Saunders, drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 2004, was traded to Toronto this past off-season.