University of Tennessee third baseman Jordan Rodgers was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the sixth round of the 2017 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
With his selection, Rodgers becomes the 129th overall player drafted out of Tennessee and the first Volunteer to be selected in the 2017 Major League Draft. He becomes the 54th Volunteer to be selected in the top 10 rounds of the draft since 1965 and is now the first UT draftee by the Atlanta organization since Ty’Relle Harris was selected in the 19th round of the 2009 draft.
Named a First Team All-SEC third baseman as a senior, Rodgers hit a career-best .322 with nine home runs and 35 RBIs in 2017. He committed just four errors over 160 total chances with 117 assists at the hot corner, good for a .975 fielding percentage.
Named a First Team All-SEC third baseman this season, Rodgers became the first Volunteer to earn First Team All-SEC honors since former teammate Christin Stewart did so in 2015. He is also the first UT player to earn All-SEC honors since Nick Senzel (Second Team) took home the award in 2016. The last Vol to receive a First Team All-SEC nod as a third baseman was VFL and current New York Yankee Chase Headley in 2005.
Highlighting his final season for the Orange and White, the Bartlett, Tenn., native cranked his first career grand slam as part of a 5-3 UT win over Vanderbilt on April 29in Nashville.
As a junior in 2016, Rodgers led the NCAA in RBIs through the start of SEC play, finishing the year ranking tied for fourth in the SEC with 56 RBIs. On April 1, 2016 vs. Kentucky, he also became the third Volunteer in school history to hit for the cycle and the first since VFL Matt Duffy accomplished the feat on March 9, 2011.
Rodgers completed his four-year UT career with 156 games played, 157 hits, 13 homers and 105 RBIs (2014-17).
-UT Athletics
