Missouri State’s Jake McCutcheon and Nick Rodriguez were drafted back-to-back by the Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Angels in the 10th round of the MLB draft on Monday.
MCCUTCHEON DRAFTED BY MIAMI MARLINS
Missouri State’s Jake McCutcheon was the first Bear taken in the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft on Monday when the Miami Marlins took him in the 10th round with the 288th overall pick.
McCutcheon started every game for the Bears this season with 19 multi-RBI games in addition to 24 multi-hit outings. He batted .358 and slugged .647 with a .444 on-base percentage, hitting 15 homers, 14 doubles and driving in 54 runs.
A junior from Defiance, Mo., McCutcheon collected first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference honors and posted a pair of four-hit games on the year, with 11 total bases on March 22 versus Bradley. He twice had double-digit hitting streaks and reached safely in the final 24 games of the season.
He is the 121st Missouri State player selected in the MLB draft.
RODRIGUEZ DRAFTED BY LOS ANGELES ANGELS
Missouri State’s Nick Rodriguez was selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the 10th round (289th overall) of the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft on Monday. He was chosen one spot after teammate Jake McCutcheon went off the board to the Miami Marlins.
Rodriguez put together a record-breaking senior season for the Bears in 2025 on the way to becoming the school’s seventh Joe Carter Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year recipient First Team All-America selection by the America Baseball Coaches Association.
The Tampa, Fla., native batted .368 with 22 doubles, 18 home runs and 56 RBIs, collecting 40 extra-base hits to rank fifth on MoState’s single-season list in that category. He slugged .702 with a .444 on-base percentage and 65 runs scored.
Missouri State’s A.E. “Ted Willis” Team MVP for the second consecutive season, Rodriguez put together a school-record 40-game hitting streak from March 9-May 23, tying for the 12th-longest in NCAA Division I history. The streak also included 15 consecutive games with an extra-base hit from March 23-April 18. While no NCAA record exists for extra-base hit streak, the MLB record is 14 games. Lastly, the senior fielded a stellar .976 in nearly 250 chances while starting all 55 games at second base.
He is the 122nd Missouri State player selected in the MLB draft.
