Florida’s Richie Martin was selected 20th overall by the Oakland Athletics in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft on Monday.
Martin, one of the nation’s top collegiate shortstops, hit .292 with a team-high 59 runs this season.
But his best attribute was his defense.
This season, Martin anchored the nation’s No. 1 defense in fielding percentage (.985), and recorded a .974 percentage of his own.
Martin also had only eight errors, one more than No. 1 overall pick shortstop Dansby Swanson (Vanderbilt) and one less than No. 2 pick Alex Bregman (LSU).
After being named to the 2014 Brooks Wallace Award watch list, given to the country’s best shortstop, Martin had a down sophomore year.
He dropped from a .300 batting average his freshman season to .265 his second year, and had 21 errors.
But after a successful summer playing in the Cape Cod Baseball League in 2014, where he recorded 20 RBIs and 17 stolen bases and was named to the CCBL All-Star team, Martin flourished in his junior year at UF.
2016 Florida signee Kyle Tucker was taken fifth by the Houston Astros, joining his brother and former Gator Preston Tucker. It is unclear whether Kyle Tucker will attend UF next year or decide to sign with the Astros.
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UF shortstop Richie Martin catches a ball for a flyout during Florida's 14-3 win against the South Carolina Gamecocks on April 11, 2015 at McKethan Stadium.
