Rays select Tulane slugger Grant Witherspoon in 4th round of MLB Draft

NEW ORLEANS – Tulane baseball junior outfielder Grant Witherspoon was selected in the fourth round of the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday.

A native of Lakewood, Colo., Witherspoon was the 120^th overall selection in the draft. He was a first-team All-American Athletic Conference selection this season and led the Green Wave in nearly every offensive category, batting .330 with 12 home runs, 19 doubles, 53 RBI, 40 walks, 13 steals, .587 slugging and .436 on-base percentage.

The center fielder led the Wave with 24 multiple hit games and drove in at least two runs in 15 games, including two multiple-home run games. Among his 12 homers, Witherspoon hit three grand slams this season. He has compiled 200 hits, a .301 batting average, 20 home runs, 35 doubles and 114 RBI in his three-year career.

Witherspoon is the first Tulane player selected in the 2018 draft, and the school’s highest draft pick since Jake Rogers (97^th) and Stephen Alemais (105^th) went in the third round in the 2016 draft.

Witherspoon is the fourth Green Wave player drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays, joining Anthony Scelfo in 2008, Kyle McKenzie in 2014 and Ian Gibaut in 2015.

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