Five FIU baseball players win spots in MLB draft

A day after Austin Shenton became the highest Florida International University’s player drafted since 2014, Javier Valdes, Nick MacDonald, Lorenzo Hampton Jr., and Tyler Myrick all heard their names called on the final day of the 2019 MLB Draft.
Valdes was the first Panther to come off the board when the Atlanta Braves selected him with the 637th pick in the 21st round. Valdes split time between behind the plate and first base while hitting .255 with eight home runs and 30 RBIs in 2019.
One of two pitchers taken off the FIU roster, MacDonald went in the 23rd round with the 688th pick to the New York Mets. The Panther starter went 4-5 in 2019 with a career-best 3.91 ERA over 76 innings pitched while striking out 68 batters.
After finishing his collegiate career in story-book fashion, Hampton gets to write another chapter as the big righty was picked by his hometown team, the Miami Marlins, with the 831st pick in the 28th round. FIU's lone senior for the 2019 campaign started in 45 games and batted .255 with five homers and 21 RBIs that included his walk-off home run against Louisiana Tech in his final collegiate at-bat.
Despite missing the entire 2019 season due to injury, Myrick was picked in the 40th round by the Texas Rangers with the 1,195th overall pick. The righty went 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA in 15 appearances in 2018.  
Shenton was selected 156th overall in the fifth round a day before by the Seattle Mariners becoming FIU's first Panther taken in the 2019 MLB Draft.