ATLANTA, Ga. --- The 2025 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft saw UC Irvine selections follow in the record-setting footsteps of the 2024 draft with seven 'Eaters' names called, all coming Monday. For a second straight year, four Anteaters went in the first nine rounds, and a record five 'Eaters went in the first 10 rounds here in 2025.
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Riley Kelly was the first Anteater to hear his name called as the second selection of the Day Two of the draft starting in the fourth round. Kelly was a 20th-round selection coming out of high school and improved his draft stock in his three years as an Anteater.
After battling injuries in his first two seasons, Kelly found his groove as Big West play began this year joining the starting rotation and pitching Fridays. He made 12 starts going 4-1 with a 3.78 ERA working up to National Pitcher of the Year watch lists and All-Big West Second Team. He struck out 95 hitters over 87 career innings with a 7-2 mark in 29 appearances as an Anteater.
Kelly is the fifth Anteater to be selected by the Rockies joining his head coach,
Ben Orloff, in 2008 before he returned for his senior season. Others include Christian Bergman (2010) and Christian Koss (2019) who both reached the Major Leagues, and Chris Rabago who is currently a bullpen catcher for their big league club reaching the 40-man roster with Colorado during his extensive career. Anteater alum Keston Hiura is also with the organization signing in the offseason and playing briefly with the big league club as he currently is with Triple-A Albuquerque.
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Soon after Kelly was
Colin Yeaman selected in the fourth round 17 picks after his teammate at No. 124 overall by the Baltimore Orioles.
Yeaman had a stellar first year as an Anteater taking home Big West Field Player of the Year honors and making into consideration for the Dick Howser and Brooks Wallace awards. He hit .336 and slugged .591 behind 13 home runs among his 33 extra-base hits and added 62 runs scored, 56 RBIs, and 21-game hitting streak as the only 'Eater to start and play in all 60 games on his way to All-Big West First Team status.
Most of the Anteaters to be selected by the Orioles have come in recent years like Jerry McClanahan (2015), Cameron Bishop (2017), and currently Oriole Peter Van Loon (2021) pitching in Double-A. Lee Granger was also called back in the 1981 draft.
Yeaman and Kelly are the two highest picked Anteater since the 2019 draft when the duo of Andre Pallante and Brandon Lewis were called in the fourth round. Kelly is the highest pick at 107 since Keston Hiura's selection in the top-10 overall in 2017.
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Jacob McCombs was picked by the Minnesota Twins in the seventh round with the 209th overall selection, the exact same spot as
Myles Smith was taken a year ago.
McCombs was a star in his first year with the Anteaters as well earning All-Big West First Team accolades, and really turned it on in the postseason as the only Anteater to be named to all-tournament teams for both the Big West Championship and Los Angeles Regional. He topped the team with a .352 average and .635 slugging from 13 home runs, 34 extra-base hits, and added 54 RBIs. He played in 58 games starting 57, and set a program single-season record with 28 hit by pitch.
The Twins selected an Anteater for the 13th time, tied for most by one MLB organization, joining
Caden Kendle last season and two Major Leaguers, Calvin Faucher, now a Marlin, in 2017, and No. 1 overall pick and UCI commit Royce Lewis that same year.
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Anthony Martinez was picked up in the eighth round by another AL Central squad, the Cleveland Guardians, going No. 252 overall.
Martinez has been the model of consistency in his three Anteater seasons missing just eight games to start 2025, but hitting .342 in 166 career starts climbing up the charts at UCI with 240 hits, 51 doubles, 25 home runs, and setting an all-time record in RBIs at 192 topping Jeff Malinoff's mark set back in 1974. Martinez was a three-time All-Big West honoree to go with Freshman All-American honors, multiple Golden Spikes watch lists, and even played for the U.S. Collegiate National Team following his sophomore season.
The first baseman joins Trenton Denholm in the organization, Anteater pitcher that was selected in 2021 and currently sits in Double-A. Martinez is the eighth 'Eater taken by the Guardians joining Anteater legends like Bryce Stowell, Matt Esparza, and Matt Whitehouse, and the first Anteater alum position player since 1980.
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Max Martin completed the quintet for Anteaters selected in the first 10 rounds when he was chosen 308th overall by the Kansas City Royals in round 10.
Martin took over as the Anteater closer in his junior season earning Stopper of the Year watch list notoriety and finishing as an All-Big West Second Team selection. He finished fourth nationally with 14 saves striking out a batter an inning over 27 appearances along with a 3.29 ERA. His three-year career saw him pitch 66 times with a 4-1 overall record and strikeout 83 hitters to go with 19 career saves.
The Royals made their 12th selection of an Anteater, most behind only the Cardinals and Twins with their 13 each. Most recent selection was Mikey Filia in 2019 with a majority of the Royals selection coming in 1992 and earlier.
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Junior Barajas was another name called in the MLB Draft coming in the 11th round by the San Francisco Giants.
Barajas is an incoming Anteater from nearby Saddleback JC, a catcher and son of former MLB catcher, Rod Barajas. He marks the 15th incoming Anteater all-time to be drafted including one in five of the last seven seasons.
Chase Call got the nod in the 16th round by the Houston Astros at pick No. 486.
Call finishes his UC Irvine career as the all-time home run leader hitting 30 including 11 in his senior season. He was an all-tournament selection in the Los Angeles Regional and All-Big West Second Team honoree capping 2025 where he hit .315 driving in 49 runs, scoring 58 times, and topping the club with a .472 on-base percentage. He finishes his career of 162 games with a .283 average, 140 RBIs, 153 runs, 107 walks, and 62 hit by pitch, and as a conveted outfielder threw out seven baserunners in his career.
The Astors select an Anteater alum for the first time since Andrew Thurman's second-round selection in 2013, and it's the sixth 'Eater all-time to be called by Houston. The only other 16th-rounders onclude Peter Van Loon and
Daniel Bibona in 2009 prior to returning for his senior season.
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All-time, 146Â Anteaters have now been drafted including 43 in the first 10 rounds. Head Coach
Ben Orloff has now produced 32Â pro Anteaters with 28 through the draft in seven seasons at the helm.
UCI had six out of the 15 draftees from The Big West including five of the eight within the first 10 rounds
