Rangers sign six players selected in 2022 MLB Draft
Arlington, Texas — The Texas Rangers today announced the signings of six additional players selected in last week’s 2022 Major League Baseball Draft.
Agreeing to terms are right-handed pitcher Matt Brosky (8th round), shortstop Griffin Cheney (9th round), outfielder Josh Hatcher (10th round), left-handed pitcher Kohl Drake (11th round), right-handed pitcher Jackson Kelley (12th round), and left-handed pitcher Justin Sanchez (18th round). With these signings and the announcement from earlier today that the club has signed its first round selection (third overall pick), right-handed pitcher Kumar Rocker, Texas has seven of its 18 selections in the 2022 MLB Draft under contract. The deadline for signing 2022 draft picks is Monday, August 1.
Additionally, the Rangers have announced the signing of two undrafted free agents: left-handed pitcher Seth Clark from Georgia State University and right-handed pitcher Jacob Maton from Coastal Carolina University.
RHP MATT BROSKY (8th round, 229th overall) – The 5-foot-10, 190-pound Brosky was named Horizon League Pitcher of the Year and was a First Team All-Horizon League selection this season as a junior at Youngstown State University. The right-hander became the 5th player in program history to earn conference Pitcher of the Year honors, going 6-7 with a 2.65 ERA (29 ER/98.2 IP), 102 strikeouts, and a .231 opponent batting average over a school record-tying 15 starts this spring. He tossed a conference-leading 5 complete games, including a 10-strikeout shutout on May 25 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne in the opening round of the Horizon League Conference Tournament, his final outing of the year. The 22-year-old Ohio native began his collegiate career at Ohio University, making 11 relief appearances for the Bobcats in 2019 before transferring to Youngstown State.
SS GRIFFIN CHENEY (9th round, 259th overall) – Cheney was a five-year letter winner at Georgia State University and posted a career .301 batting average and 22 home runs, with 21 of those coming in his final two seasons. The versatile infielder was a four-year starter at shortstop (2019 and 2022), third base (2020), and second base (2021), ranking among all-time program leaders in runs (5th, 143) and walks (T6th, 90). This past season, he hit .350 and ranked T4th in the Sun Belt Conference with 16 home runs, including 5 against opponents from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Cheney tied the Georgia State and Sun Belt record with 3 home runs on March 15 against 15th-ranked Clemson.
OF JOSH HATCHER (10th round, 289th overall) – Hatcher, 23, played four seasons at Mississippi State University (2018-21) before transferring to Kennesaw State University, where he batted .391 (109-279) with 15 home runs, 59 RBI, and a school-record 25 doubles this spring. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound senior earned Atlantic Sun Conference First Team honors and was named ASUN Conference Tournament MVP after leading the Owls to their first Conference championship since 2014. A left-handed batter and thrower, Hatcher hit for the cycle twice over a three-game span (March 23 at no. 12 Georgia Tech and March 26 vs. North Florida), becoming the 3rd player in NCAA Division I history to hit for two cycles in the same season. The Georgia native was a member of Mississippi State’s 2021 National Championship team, appearing in 58 games (39 starts) for the Bulldogs that season. Kennesaw State’s coach staff consists of former Rangers scouts Ryan Coe (Head Coach) and Derrick Tucker (Assistant Coach). Tucker was the area scout for the club’s top pick in 2021, right-handed pitcher Jack Leiter (2nd overall).
LHP KOHL DRAKE (11th round, 319th overall) – Drake, who turned 22 years old on Sunday, went 14-0 with a 1.93 ERA (20 ER/93.1 IP) over 17 starts this season at Walters State Community College in Tennessee and was named NJCAA Division I Pitcher of the Year after recording a school-record 160 strikeouts (15.43 SO/9). The left-hander posted 5 complete games and issued just 17 walks. He also pitched for Mahoning Valley of the MLB Draft League in 2022. Drake is a native of Sachse, Texas in the DFW Metroplex and attended Wylie High School. He comes from the same college program that produced current Texas left-hander Brett Martin.
RHP JACKSON KELLEY (12th round, 349th overall) – The 6-foot, 185-pound Kelley was a four-year letter winner at Mercer University, posting a career 15-5 record, 2.80 ERA (55 ER/176.2 IP), and 193 strikeouts (9.8 SO/9) over 72 appearances/19 starts. As a junior this spring, the right-hander went 7-0 with 6 saves, a 1.35 ERA (9 ER/60.0 IP), and 12.3 strikeouts per 9.0 innings figure over 25 relief outings, earning recognition as one of 10 finalists for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s “Stopper of the Year” Award. The Marietta, Ga. native has been dominant in limited action for the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod League this summer: 2-0, one save, 0.56 ERA (1 ER/16.0 IP), 2 walks/25 strikeouts.
LHP JUSTIN SANCHEZ (18th round, 529th overall) – Sanchez, 18, has split time between the mound and outfield in his prep career at Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School in Queens, N.Y. The 6-foot, 185-pound left-handed batter and thrower is committed to play collegiately at the University of South Florida, and is the 27th-ranked high school prospect from the state of New York according to Perfect Game. Sanchez is a native of Brooklyn, N.Y.
UNDRAFTED FREE AGENT SIGNINGS: Left-handed pitcher Seth Clark, 22 was a four-year letter winner at Georgia State University, posting a career 7-6 record, 6.91 ERA (95 ER/123.2 IP), and 10.6 strikeouts per 9.0 innings figure over 70 appearances/12 starts. The left-hander went 5-2 with a 3.89 ERA (15 ER/34.2 IP) across 23 relief outings as a junior this spring, punching out 44 of the 153 (28.8%) batters he faced. A Georgia native, Clark led Loganville (Ga.) High School to back-to-back Class AAAAA state titles in 2018 and 2017, earning Georgia Dugout Club Class AAAAA Player of the Year honors following his senior campaign in 2018.
Right-handed pitcher Jacob Maton (pronounced MAY-tahn), 22, went 3-4 with a 5.24 ERA (45 ER/77.1 IP) and 75 strikeouts over 40 games/9 starts across two seasons at Coastal Carolina University. After missing the entire 2019 (‘Tommy John’ surgery) and 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic) campaigns, the right-hander appeared in 15 games for the Chanticleers in 2021 before pairing a 1-1 record with a 3.41 ERA (11 ER/29.0 IP) and 30 strikeouts over team-leading 25 relief outings as a redshirt junior this spring. He was a 39th round selection by the Seattle Mariners in the 2018 MLB Draft following a standout prep career at Glenwood High School in Chatham, Ill., where he went 7-1 with a 0.77 ERA as a senior. His older brothers, Phil (Houston Astros) and Nick (Philadelphia Phillies), have both seen Major League action this season.