University of Richmond Athletics
Photo by: University of Richmond Athletics
Schmidt and Lee Taken on the Final Day of the MLB Draft
06/05/2019 | Baseball
RICHMOND, Va. – On the final day of the 2019 MLB Draft, a pair of Richmond Spiders heard their called to continue their baseball careers at the professional level. Senior Kyle Schmidt (Smithville, Texas) and redshirt senior D.J. Lee (Frankfort, Ill.) were taken in the 33rd and 39th rounds, respectively of this year's draft. This marks the fifth-straight season that a Spider was selected in the MLB Draft, and the second-straight season with two draft picks.
Schmidt was drafted by the Minnesota Twins at pick 989. The senior catcher finished his career with a .303 batting average and was second on the team with a .347 average during his senior campaign. This season, Schmidt played in 47 games with 45 starts, 42 behind the plate. He was named Second Team All-Atlantic 10 for his efforts this season where he drove in 37 runs, scored 34, hit 12 doubles and a career-best four home runs. Defensively, he threw out 11 attempted base stealers and committed just two errors in 371 chances, good for a .995 fielding percentage.
Lee, a three-time team captain, was taken with the 1,184th pick by the Oakland Athletics. Lee finishes his career with 193 games played as a Spider and logged 183 starts, as an outfielder and designated hitter. This season, Lee played in 39 games, making 37 starts and bounced back from what was thought to be a season-ending injury to play in the Atlantic 10 Tournament in the Bronx. Lee etched his name into the Spider record books after stealing 56 bases in his career, and leading the Spiders in stolen bases during the 2016, 2017 and 2018 seasons. He drove in a career-high 32 runs this season with five home runs. He tied an NCAA record after hitting two home runs in the same inning against George Mason at Pitt Field in March.
Schmidt and Lee will be assigned to minor league clubs later this summer. For a full look at Spiders in the professional ranks, view the Spiders in the Pros page here.
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Schmidt was drafted by the Minnesota Twins at pick 989. The senior catcher finished his career with a .303 batting average and was second on the team with a .347 average during his senior campaign. This season, Schmidt played in 47 games with 45 starts, 42 behind the plate. He was named Second Team All-Atlantic 10 for his efforts this season where he drove in 37 runs, scored 34, hit 12 doubles and a career-best four home runs. Defensively, he threw out 11 attempted base stealers and committed just two errors in 371 chances, good for a .995 fielding percentage.
Lee, a three-time team captain, was taken with the 1,184th pick by the Oakland Athletics. Lee finishes his career with 193 games played as a Spider and logged 183 starts, as an outfielder and designated hitter. This season, Lee played in 39 games, making 37 starts and bounced back from what was thought to be a season-ending injury to play in the Atlantic 10 Tournament in the Bronx. Lee etched his name into the Spider record books after stealing 56 bases in his career, and leading the Spiders in stolen bases during the 2016, 2017 and 2018 seasons. He drove in a career-high 32 runs this season with five home runs. He tied an NCAA record after hitting two home runs in the same inning against George Mason at Pitt Field in March.
Schmidt and Lee will be assigned to minor league clubs later this summer. For a full look at Spiders in the professional ranks, view the Spiders in the Pros page here.
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Players Mentioned
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