June 9, 2015
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky junior right-handed pitcher Kyle Cody has been selected in the second round, with the 73rd overall pick, by the Minnesota Twins in the 2015 MLB Draft, it was announced during the first day of coverage on Monday from the MLB Network Studio 42 in Secaucus, N.J.
A native of Chippewa Falls, Wis., Cody is the 10th player in Kentucky baseball history to be picked in the top two rounds. Cody, a 6-foot-7, 245-pounder, has pitched in 47 games in his UK career with 28 starts, sporting an 11-7 record and a 4.40 ERA with five saves. Cody has worked 161.2 innings in his career, allowing only 156 hits and surrendering 50 walks, striking out 130.
As a junior in 2015, Cody appeared in 14 games with 12 starts, owning a 4-4 record and a 4.91 ERA. He worked 66 innings and allowing 63 hits and 17 walks, striking out 63. During his 2014 season, Cody battled minor injury but appeared in 18 games with six starts, owning a 4-0 mark with a 2.84 ERA, saving five games. As a freshman in 2013, Cody had a 3-3 mark with a 4.84 ERA, with 47 strikeouts in 57.2 frames.
With unanimous national player of the year AJ Reed taken with the first pick in the second round of the 2014 MLB Draft and Cody selected in the supplemental phase of the second round, it marks the first time in Kentucky history UK has had consecutive seasons with players selected in the first two rounds.
Kentucky has had a program-record 39 players drafted or sign a professional contract in the seven years of the UK head coach Gary Henderson era, with at least four players drafted in every season. Since Henderson and recruiting coordinator Brad Bohannon arrived on campus in 2004, Kentucky has had 61 players drafted or sign a professional contract. Cody is the 124th player in Kentucky baseball history to be selected in the MLB Draft.
The MLB Draft will continue on Tuesday with rounds 3-10, starting at 1 p.m. ET on MLB.com. The draft will conclude on Wednesday, with rounds 11-40.
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Kyle Cody will be the fourth former Kentucky pitcher to be drafted by the Twins in recent years, with three former UK stars currently pitching for the Twins’ triple-A affiliate in Rochester, N.Y.
Cody will join Logan Darnell (2008-10), Alex Meyer (2009-11) and Taylor Rogers (2010-12) in the Minnesota Twins system. Darnell has a 1-0 record and a 3.93 ERA in 17 games in relief for Rochester in 2015 and made his MLB debut with the Twins in 2014. Meyer, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound righty, has worked 4.2 shutout innings over his last four appearances, all in relief, for Rochester and has a 3-3 record in 12 games in 2015. Rogers, a native of Littleton, Colo., has a 5-3 record and a 3.09 ERA in 11 starts for Rochester, fanning 50 in 70 innings. In 2013, former UK star Andrew Albers (2005-08) made his MLB debut with the Twins, before spending the 2014 season pitching professionally in Korea. Albers is currently in triple-A, and has appeared in the big leagues in 2015, with the Toronto Blue Jays.
