Waiakea Grad Medeiros Invited to MLB Draft

The opportunity for an athlete to attend a professional sports draft is usually reserved for the top up-and-coming athletes in each sport.

Waiakea High School graduate Kodi Medeiros is considered by many to fit that description.

Major League Baseball announced Thursday that Medeiros will be one of seven prospects to attend the 2014 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, which will originate from MLB Network’s Studio 42 in Seacaucus, NJ. The first day of the draft, which will be broadcast on the network, will happen on June 5. The entire draft runs for three days.

Medeiros, who was in Milwaukee Thursday for an audition with the Brewers, said he received the invite from the league about 2-3 weeks ago. “I kinda made the decision right away, because it’s something I really wanted to attend and it’s exciting to be able to go to that,” Medeiros said.

Many scouts believe that the left-handed pitcher will go in the first round of the draft. Medeiros has been told that he could go anywhere between picks 15-40.

Medeiros faced four batters on Thursday in front of scouts from the Brewers organization. The batters, who are also trying to impress scouts for an opportunity to be drafted, are either out of high school or have played on the collegiate level. Medeiros struck out two and induced two ground ball outs.

Next on the post-high school audition list is the Kansas City Royals, where he will attend a workout on Sunday. Medeiros may not throw at the workout, however, because of the amount of pitches he has thrown recently.

Prior to Milwaukee, he attend a workout hosted by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“I just know the competition is better and it’s good to just go out there and just compete against the better competition,” Medeiros said of facing talent outside of the islands. “I’m really just enjoying it and it’s just more of a challenge as well.”

Joining Medeiros at the MLB Draft will be Michael Chavis (Sprayberry HS), Jacob Gatewood (Clovis HS), Monte Harrison (Lee’s Summit West HS), Derek Hill (Elk Grove HS), Grant Holmes (Conway HS), and Nick Gordon (Olympia HS).