KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Texas Tech pitcher John McMillon signed an undrafted free agent deal with the Kansas City Royals on Sunday, according to Baseball America.
McMillon is the third Texas Tech player to join an MLB team, after Clayton Beeter was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers and Bryce Bonnin was taken by the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday.
McMillon played parts of four seasons for the Red Raiders, playing both ways as a pitcher and hitter as in his first two seasons before focusing solely on pitching in 2019 and 2020.
As a freshman in 2017, McMillon was dominant on the mound, posting a 1.75 ERA in 25.2 innings out of the bullpen. He also hit eight home runs in 70 at-bats at the plate, finishing with a .586 slugging percentage.
He was moved into the starting rotation in 2018, and concluded the campaign with a 4.02 ERA. He struggled as a hitter, batting just .143 with one home run.
McMillon went back into the bullpen in 2019, where he could flash his best asset: his blistering fastball. He worked 47.2 innings in 24 appearances, striking out 67 batters. In 9.1 innings before COVID-19 shut down the 2020 baseball seasons, he walked eight batters, gave up four runs and struck out 20.
Due to COVID-19, the MLB Draft was shorted from 40 rounds to five in 2020, leaving many players undradfted that would have normally been picked. The maximum signing bonus that an undrafted player can get in 2020 is $20,000.
