With his selection in today’s Major League Baseball Draft, Texas Southern University junior outfielder Johnathon Thomas becomes the first Historically Black College and University (HBCU) baseball player taken in the 2022 MLB First-Year Player Draft. He was selected in the 19th round (No. 561 overall pick), by the Washington Nationals.
This past season, Thomas batted .345, with 16 doubles, 5 triples, belted 9 home runs, with 42 runs batted in. During the 2022 season, he had a .610 slugging percentage to go along with a .442 on base percentage. Thomas led the NCAA Division I in stolen bases with 62 this past season.
The junior outfielder recorded 128 putouts with a .978 fielding percentage. Thomas made Black College Nines’ HBCU Baseball All-Elite team in 2022.
Thomas is the second player from Texas Southern taken in the annual MLB draft in the past two year.. Last year Cam Fields was drafted by the Tampa Rays.