“I’m so blessed, and just excited to see all this hard work pay off.”
Those are the words of Trey Sweeney, who was selected by the Yankees with the No. 20 overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft on Sunday night, in a video posted by SNY from the backstage draft room.
Sweeney, a shortstop from Eastern Illinois University, slashed .382/.552/.712 in his final season for the Panthers, becoming the first player in program history to be named an All-American and the fourth ever to be named Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year.
However, he was also one of six finalists for the Brooks Wallace Award, which honors the nation’s top shortstop with equal weight placed on defensive and offensive performance, after posting a .975 fielding percentage, and he’s ready to show what he can do on both sides of the ball.
“I’m going to bring a lot of diversity – I’m a multi-dimensional player and reliable on both sides of the ball,” Sweeney said. “I’m a hard worker and I love the game of baseball, so I’m ready to play.”
Sweeney has never been to New York City, but he’s “excited to get there,” and equally excited to hopefully one day be a successor arguably the greatest Yankee ever, Derek Jeter, at short.
“He’s awesome to watch, one of the greatest ever,” Sweeney said of the soon-to-be “official” Hall of Famer. “I’m excited to try to follow in his footsteps whenever I get the chance.”
And the Yankees, who have now selected a shortstop with their top pick in two of the last three years – following Anthony Volpe in 2019 – are happy to give him the chance.
“We are really excited to have selected Trey Sweeney,” Damon Oppenheimer, the Yankees’ Vice President of Domestic Amateur Scouting, said in the team’s official release about the pick. “He has excellent raw power and contact ability, and he can hit to all fields with strong plate discipline. At shortstop, he has a good clock, doesn’t play rushed and has good field awareness. His timing for both getting to ground balls and getting the ball across the infield is excellent. We also really like Trey’s make-up as he’s smart with good instincts. With his overall tool set, we believe he has the potential to be an impact player.”
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