UVA shortstop Daniel Pinero (Jr., Toronto, Ontario) was selected in the ninth round (265th overall) of the 2016 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Detroit Tigers on Friday. Pinero joins teammates Matt Thaiss (Jr., Jackson, N.J.) and Connor Jones (Jr., Chesapeake, Va.) as 2016 draftees. Thaiss was a first-round pick (No. 16 overall) by the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, while Jones was selected in the second round (70th overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Pinero was drafted for the third time. He was a 20th-round pick by the Houston Astros coming out of high school in 2013 and last year was picked in the 36th round, also by the Tigers. He is the 54th Cavalier to be selected in the top 10 rounds of the MLB Draft, with 38 coming since 2004, including 13 over the last three years.
Pinero batted .340 with a team-high 20 doubles, four home runs and 39 RBI in 59 games at shortstop in 2016. His .441 on-base percentage ranked second on the team. A .302 career hitter, Pinero has started and played in 194 of UVA’s 197 games over the last three seasons with 213 hits and 149 runs.
Pinero played some of his best baseball late in the 2016 season and was named to the ACC All-Tournament Team as well as the Charlottesville Regional All-Tournament Team. Over his final 18 games of the season, he batted .414 (29-for-70).
The draft concludes Saturday with the final 30 rounds (11 through 40).
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Chris Graham
