Baseball's den Dekker Taken In 5th Round Of MLB Draft
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 | Baseball
University of Florida senior outfielder Matt den Dekker (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) was chosen in the fifth round of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft on Tuesday afternoon by the New York Mets. The second-team All-Southeastern Conference performer was tabbed with the 152nd choice. den dekker was taken in the 16th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates last June before deciding to return to school.
Enjoying a tremendous final campaign in which he also earned a spot on the league's Defensive Team for the third year in a row, the Gators' starting center fielder is hitting a team-best .361, with a team-high 62 runs and 48 RBI. den Dekker has delivered multiple hits in a team-leading 28 games, has a career-high 13 homers, seven doubles and three triples and is 23-for-29 on the basepaths. In league action, he batted .342 with 28 runs, 21 RBI and 14 thefts.
Last weekend, den Dekker was named to the NCAA Gainesville Regional All-Tournament team after going 6-for-13 (.462) with four runs, four RBI and three multiple-hit games. He went 2-for-5 and scored twice in the championship game against Florida Atlantic and led off the fifth inning with a homer and was 2-for-4 with two runs versus Oregon State. In the NCAA opener, den Dekker raked a two-run triple in the sixth inning in the win over Bethune-Cookman and stole two bases.
The lone Gator chosen to the SEC All-Tourney team, den Dekker led UF with four RBI, tied for the top spot with three runs and was 4-for-15 (.267) over the four games. He went 1-for-3 and had a run-scoring grounder in the setback to Alabama and had a single and came across the plate to keep the Orange and Blue alive against No. 17 Vanderbilt. He walked and scored in the win over No. 12 Arkansas and went 2-for-5 and collected three RBI during the Gators' first-round en?counter with LSU. He delivered a two-run double in the fifth and led off the eighth inning with a round-tripper versus the Tigers.
Earlier in the day, junior left-hander Kevin Chapman (Coral Springs, Fla.) was selected in the fourth round by the Kansas City Royals with the 119th pick. Florida has had three of its signees chosen during the MLB Draft, as right-hander Karsten Whitson (Chipley, Fla./Chipley H.S.) was taken in the first round with the ninth pick by the San Diego Padres, right-hander John Barbato (Miami, Fla./Varela, H.S.) was taken in the sixth round by San Diego at number 184 and right-hander Robbie Aviles (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern H.S.) went with the 210th choice in the seventh round to the Cleveland Indians.
The first day consisted of the first 50 picks, including Round One and Compensation Round A. There were five minutes between first-round picks and one minute between all other selections. Rounds 2 through 30 will continue today, with Wednesday containing Rounds 31-50.
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