June 6, 2014

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou pitchers continue to roll in the MLB draft as junior righty Keaton Steele (St. Joseph, Mo) was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the eighth round of the 2014 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft. Steele joins teammate Brett Graves (St. Charles, Missouri) who was drafted earlier in the third-round at No. 101 overall by the Oakland Athletics.

This past season, Steele ranked fourth in the SEC with nine saves while posting a 3.07 ERA. Steele led the team with a 3.1 strikeout to walk ratio with 56 strikeouts in 67.1 innings. The powerful righty was named SEC Co-Pitcher of the week on March 31st after picking up a pair of saves against Auburn. In 2013 Steele was named All-SEC at the DH/UTIL spot, compiling a .276 average with five homers and a 2.83 ERA on the bump with a 5-3 record in 63.2 innings pitched. He was also the only player in the nation to lead their team in homers, saves and wins.

Selected in the eighth round, Steele has seen his draft stock rise within his time here at Mizzou. The Junior pitcher was drafted in the 29th-round in 2012 by the Tampa Bay Rays and the 40th-round by the Kansas City Royals in 2013.

Several Tigers and Tiger signees will still look to hear their names called in the draft over the next two days. Round 3-10 will conclude on Friday and rounds 10-40 will be chosen on Saturday beginning at noon.

For all the latest on Mizzou baseball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouBaseball.