Stony Brook sophomore pitchers Ryley MacEachern and Daniel Zamora were selected in Wednesday’s portion of the 2015 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.
MacEachern was selected by the Miami Marlins in the 33rd round, while Zamora was picked by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 40th round of the 40-round draft.
MacEachern was 2-2 with a 5.98 ERA this season, while Zamora was 7-2 with a 3.03 ERA. Zamora was the ace of Stony Brook’s rotation in 2015, while MacEachern was typically the number-three starter.
In his America East Championship Game start, MacEachern struggled. He gave up eight runs in just over an inning of work. Despite this, the Seawolves came from behind to win that game, 16-11. On the other hand, Zamora pitched well in his America East tournament appearance, allowing just six hits over eight scoreless innings in a 2-0 win against Hartford.
If either of these pitchers opts to sign a professional contract, which would come later in the week when all of the higher-priority picks are signed, they would likely be assigned to Short Season Class-A ball. The Marlins’ affiliate is the Batavia Muckdogs and the Pirates’ is the West Virginia Black Bears.
Both players were previously drafted by MLB teams out of high school but turned down the offers. MacEachern was selected in the 37th round by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2013 and Zamora was taken in the 27th round by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2012.
This marks the sixth consecutive year that Stony Brook has had at least one player selected in the MLB Amateur Draft. Overall, the Seawolves have had 23 players get drafted since the program’s inception in 1966. Of these 23 players, only Detroit Tigers pitcher Joe Nathan, Marlins pitcher Tom Koehler and Los Angeles Angels pitching prospect Nick Tropeano have played in the big-leagues.
Chris Gaine contributed reporting to this story.