Three Former Bees Selected In MLB Draft

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Three former Burlington Bees went in the final rounds of the Major League Baseball draft on Sunday — a sign, Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said, of what has been built in the organization’s six seasons in the Prospect League.

Outfielder Owen Nowak went to the Houston Astros in the 12th round. Outfielder Caleb Klein went in the 15th round to the Atlanta Braves. Infielder Kooper Schulte was selected in the 20th round by the New York Mets.

“It’s really cool,” Oreskovich said after the Bees’ 8-7 win over the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp on Sunday at Community Field. “You know, it’s really exciting, especially for the organization, this town, and you know, for me too a little bit.”

All three players played for Oreskovich last season, with Schulte also playing for the Bees in 2023.

“Three unbelievable guys, too,” Oreskovich said. “They’re very talented at baseball, but they’re incredible human beings too. It means a lot for this organization, and I think it’s really cool that all three of them were on the team last year (the first Bees team to qualify for the Prospect League playoffs).”

Nowak hit .364 with the Bees last season with three home runs and 28 runs batted in. He batted .318 this season at Middle Tennessee State this season, with eight home runs and 37 runs batted in.

Klein batted .307 with two home runs and 23 RBIs last season for the Bees. He hit .316 with eight home runs and 40 RBIs for Southeast Missouri State this season.

Schulte, a local product from nearby New London, Iowa, hit .373 with the Bees in 2023, then hit .341 with four home runs and 48 RBIs last season. He played two seasons at Iowa, hitting .268 last season and .274 this season.

Oreskovich said putting players into professional baseball can be a selling point to recruiting players to join the Bees in the college summer league.

“You can tell guys who you want to come here, ‘Hey, look at what we’ve done,’” Oreskovich said. “I’ve used that in the past but yeah, you can use that as a selling point for sure. Hopefully we get a couple more drafted here in the next couple years, and I think we can.”

Photo: Kooper Schulte was one of three former Burlington Bees selected in the Major League Baseball Draft on Sunday. (Photo by Steve Cirinna)

Cardinals Draft Rice In 20th Round

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Owen Rice became the second former Burlington Bees player selected in this year’s Major League Baseball draft when the St. Louis Cardinals picked the left-hander in the 20th round on Tuesday.

Rice went with the 591st overall pick.

Rice, who played with the Bees in 2022, played at Wisconsin-Milwaukee the last two seasons. He struck out 65 in 44 1/3 innings in his two seasons with the Panthers, including 51 this season. Rice was 1-2 with a 6.27 earned run average in 10 starts this season, allowing 30 hits in 33 innings.

Rice played in four games with the Bees in 2022, going 1-1 with a 5.19 ERA in four appearances. He struck out 18 in 8 2/3 innings.

Rice is the third former Bees player to be selected in the draft since the organization moved to the Prospect League in 2021. Outfielder Spencer Nivens was selected by the Kansas City Royals in last season’s draft, and infielder Zane Zielinski was drafted by the San Francisco Giants on Monday.

Photo: Former Burlington Bees pitcher Owen Rice was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 20th round of Tuesday’s MLB draft. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

Zielinski Drafted By Giants

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Infielder Zane Zielinski became the second former Burlington Bees player in the Prospect League era to go in the Major League Baseball draft when he was selected in the ninth round by the San Francisco Giants on Monday.

Zielinski, who played for the Bees in their inaugural Prospect League season in 2021, was the 268th overall pick.

Zielinski batted .363 at Illinois-Chicago this season, starting all 55 games. He hit eight home runs and drove in 42 runs on his way to being an All-Missouri Valley Conference first-team pick.

Zielinski stole 20 bases in 24 attempts. He finished the season with a 1.032 OPS.

Zielinski was the Bees’ leading hitter in 2021, batting .317 with two home runs and 26 runs batted in. He had two doubles and 13 stolen bases.

Spencer Nivens, also a member of the 2021 team, was the first Bees player to be drafted, going to the Kansas City Royals in the fifth round last year. Nivens is playing with the Royals’ High-A affiliate in the Quad Cities, and is batting .158 with four home runs. Nivens also spent two games on a rehabilitation assignment with the Royals’ Rookie League team in Arizona, hitting .625.

Photo: Zane Zielinski takes a swing during a 2021 game with the Burlington Bees. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)

Nivens Becomes Bees’ First Draft Pick

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Spencer Nivens played in just 13 games with the Burlington Bees last season, but the outfielder from Missouri State became a part of the franchise’s long history on Monday.

Nivens was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the fifth round of the Major League Baseball draft, becoming the first former Bee to be drafted in the three years the team has been in the Prospect League since losing its minor-league affiliation with MLB.

“That’s really awesome,” said Bees manager Owen Oreskovich, who managed Nivens last season. “Especially for the Bees and the Prospect League. You have a kid come in here and do what he did — he did a fantastic job when he was here — it puts a little name on this league and the talent that can come from it.”

Nivens, an outfielder, hit .315 in 61 plate appearances with the Bees last season, with seven doubles, two home runs and 11 runs batted in. He was 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts.

Nivens was the Missouri Valley Conference’s player of the year this season, hitting .341 with 14 home runs and 45 RBIs. He reached base safely in 53 of 56 games and ranked among the top 10 in almost every offensive category in the conference.

“It’s all on that kid,” Oreskovich said. “That kid is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met in my life. Phenomenal human being. You can’t say too many good things about that kid, because you’ll talk for hours. He’s incredible on the baseball field, as you can see.”

Among the other players with Prospect League connections selected in the draft was Clinton pitcher Jared Simpson, a left-hander from Iowa who went in the eighth round to the Washington Nationals. Simpson is 1-1 with a 1.29 earned run average with the LumberKings this season after going 4-3 with Iowa.

Photo: Bees outfielder Spencer Nivens hits a home run in a game against Illinois Valley last season. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)