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MLB First-Year Player Draft impacts Blue Raiders

Related Topics: Major League Baseball, Pitcher

@MTAthletics

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The recent MLB First-Year Player Draft did have an impact on the Middle Tennessee pitching staff.

Blue Raider signee Derek Heffel was a 14 round draft selection of the Texas Rangers. Heffel signed a professional contract with the Rangers this week.

Heffel (6-foot-6, 225 pounds) was a sophomore at Madison Junior College in Madison, Wis., last season. The hard-throwing righty was projected to compete for a spot in the Blue Raiders' weekend rotation in 2017 before being drafted and signed by the Rangers.

Former Blue Raider pitcher , who made seven relief appearances in 2015 but sat out 2016 following Tommy Johns surgery, signed a free agent contract with the Kansas City Royals.