Beeter, Bonnin Taken on Day Two of MLB Draft

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech baseball's Clayton Beeter and Bryce Bonnin were selected on the second day of the 2020 MLB Draft on Thursday.

Beeter was chosen in the Competitive Balance Round B with pick No. 66 by the Los Angeles Dodgers, while Bonnin was taken with pick No. 84 by the Cincinnati Reds in the third round.

Beeter becomes the sixth highest Red Raider ever drafted and the third highest pitcher behind Matt Miller, who went 41st overall in 1996, and Ryan Nye, who went 57th overall in 1994. The Colleyville, Texas, native is the first Red Raider to be chosen by the Dodgers since Chandler Eden in 2016.

Bonnin's selection at No. 84 matches the 10^th highest pick in school history. He is now one of six Tech pitchers to go as high as 84^th. The Reds have taken a Red Raider in consecutive drafts, selecting Cameron Warren in the 22^nd round last year.

Tech was one of two Big 12 schools with multiple players chosen in the shortened five-round draft. It is the 30th consecutive year for Tech to record multiple draft picks, the third longest streak in the country and longest in the conference. Additionally, the 41 Red Raiders that have been drafted since 2015 is the most in the Big 12 and in the state.

This is the sixth year overall a Tech duo have been drafted in the first five rounds. The list includes Little and Steven Gingery (4^th) in 2018, Chad Bettis (2^nd) and Bobby Duran (4^th) in 2010, Roger Kieschnick (3^rd) and Zach Stewart (3^rd) in 2008, Tyler Reeves (4^th) and Dustin Richardson (5^th) in 2006 and Ryan Nye (2^nd) and Eric Newman (5^th)

In the last three years under Tim Tadlock, Tech has now had four players drafted in the first three rounds. Josh Jung was taken at No. 8 overall in 2019, while outfielder Grant Little went at No. 74 overall in 2018.

Tech has turned into a factory for power arms during Tadlock's eight years. Of his 50 draft picks in Lubbock, 32 have been pitchers, including 14 within the first 10 rounds of the draft.

Few saw their stock rise as much as Beeter over the last year. He suffered an early setback as a freshman, undergoing Tommy John surgery in the fall of December 2017. After a grueling rehab process through Tech's 2018 run to Omaha, he returned in 2019 and earned Freshman All-America honors as a closer while helping the Red Raiders finish as national semifinalists.

In 2020, he moved from the bullpen to Friday night starter where he continued to display a dynamic arsenal of pitches. In the shortened season, he went 2-1 overall with a 2.14 ERA, showing major improvement in his command as he struck out 33 and walked just four over 21.0 IP. He limited opponents to .169 hitting and led the Big 12 with 14.14 strikeouts per nine innings.

Not only has Beeter excelled on the diamond, but he has been a star in the classroom as well. A mechanical engineering major, his dominance on the field and 3.94 GPA helped him earn a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team and the Academic All-Big 12 First Team.

Bonnin has been a fixture in the weekend rotation since arriving at Tech from Arkansas prior to the 2019 season. The Red Raiders went 16-1 in his 17 career starts in Lubbock, including 12-1 as the Sunday starter in 2019, helping the Red Raiders make yet another run to the College World Series.

The Mont Belvieu, Texas, native holds a career 4.69 ERA as a Red Raider and performed exceptionally well as the Saturday starter in 2020 before the season came to an abrupt end. Through his first three starts, he was 2-0 with a 4.15 ERA.

Some of Bonnin's most notable performances came on the biggest of stages. At the 2020 Round Rock Classic, he earned a win over No. 15 Stanford with nine strikeouts in 5.0 IP. With the 2019 Big 12 title on the line, he struck out the first six TCU batters he faced to help Tech become conference champions. In the 2019 NCAA Lubbock Regional, he tossed seven shutout frames to lead Tech past DBU to a regional title.

The 2020 MLB Draft was shortened to five rounds as a result of the league's pandemic-prompted negotiations.

For more information on Texas Tech Baseball, follow @TTU_Baseball on Twitter.

LA bound! ?

Beeter goes with the 66th overall pick to the @Dodgers.

??#MLBDraft x #WreckEm?? pic.twitter.com/JXnaLXr7hd
— Texas Tech Baseball (@TTU_Baseball) June 11, 2020

A Red Raider to the @Reds!

Congrats, @bonninbryce!

??#MLBDraft x #WreckEm?? pic.twitter.com/KX2RNT2UCw
— Texas Tech Baseball (@TTU_Baseball) June 11, 2020

Beeter, Bonnin Taken on Day Two of MLB Draft

Players Mentioned

Clayton Beeter

Bryce Bonnin

Josh Jung

Cameron Warren

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