NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State baseball fifth-year senior Colton Johnson has been selected in the 16th round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday.
Johnson was the 488th player selected in the draft and is the 70th player in Redbird history to be drafted.
"I'm grateful I even have this opportunity. [Oakland] tried drafting me in 2019, but I physically wasn't ready to play pro baseball," Johnson said. "The ultimate goal is to make the big leagues, not just play pro ball for a couple years. I wanted to be ready physically. I was ready after last year, but my name wasn't called. [Getting drafted] was the goal this year. I got back to work and here I am today."
Johnson earned Honorable Mention All-MVC honors, leading the Redbirds with a 3.32 ERA, 86.2 innings pitched, and 86 strikeouts. Johnson moved into 7th in ISU history with 245 career strikeouts as he primarily served as the Redbirds' Friday night starter.
Johnson is the sixth player to be drafted in the Steve Holm era, joining 2019 draftees OF John Rave (Kansas Royals, 5th round, 139), LHP Brent Headrick (Minnesota Twins, 9th round, 269), LHP Matt Walker (Detroit Tigers, 13th round, 382), OF Joe Aeilts (Colorado Rockies, 14th round, 429), and RHP Jeff Lindgren (Miami Marlins, 24th round, 711)
This is a developing story and additional information on signing and placement will be available at a later date.
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