Ian Seymour drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays

Photo: Virginia Tech Athletics

Virginia Tech junior Ian Seymour was drafted in the second round, 57th overall, by the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday evening. Seymour was ranked 115th on MLB's Top 200 Draft Prospects list. 

Seymour made an immediate impact at Virginia Tech, making it onto the 2018 ACC All-Freshman Team. He was the first freshman for the Hokies to win a Game 1 ACC start and the first to strike out 10 batters in an ACC game.

Seymour improved each year in Blacksburg, culminating in a senior year in which he struck out 40 batters in 20.1 innings and finished with a 2.21 ERA. Since Virginia Tech joined the ACC in 2005, Seymour holds the record for most strikeouts per inning at 10.77.

The Westborough, Mass. native spent the summer of 2019 with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod Baseball League, where he went 2-2 with a 2.48 ERA and 39 strikeouts. According to an article by Norm Wood of the Daily Press, during his time in the Cape League, Seymour developed his four-seam fastball, which helped generate attention from professional scouts. 

At 57th overall, Seymour becomes the seventh-highest MLB Draft pick in Virginia Tech history and the first player picked in the second round since Chad Pinder went to the A's in 2013. 

Seymour will join the Rays' farm system, which is ranked first overall in MLB. Of note, the Rays General Manager is Virginia Tech alum Erik Neander.