MLB Draft's third day finds Lloyd a new home

The third day of the MLB Draft can be a bit of a slog. It’s basically a conference call where rounds 11 through 40 play out over the course of a day.

For one Hoosier it didn’t take long on day three to hear his name called—senior utilityman Matt Lloyd is a Cincinnati Red.

The Reds selected the slugger in the 15th round with the 444th overall pick of the MLB Draft. He was announced as a first baseman so it appears as if Cincinnati will deploy him in the field and as a National League team they believe he can stick there. In the past he had been used solely as a designated hitter and pitcher by the Hoosiers, but worked more in the field over the past two seasons.

As a senior Lloyd led IU offensively. He posted a .280 batting average and tied for the Big Ten lead in home runs with 17. He also drove in 59 runs. On the mound he had a 2.70 earned run average in just under 17 innings and led the team with five saves in his 14 appearances.

The JUCO transfer spent the last three seasons in Bloomington after playing at Iowa Western Community College. During his senior year he was referred to several times as “Batman” or “The Baddest Man Alive” because he consistently made big plays in big moments for the Hoosiers like this solo shot:

Or like a three-run home run to save the series against Minnesota:

As a senior the situation is pretty cut and dry for Lloyd. He’s in the Reds organization. He can’t return to college. Something that should be of interest to Hoosier fans is that the Reds’ Single-A affiliate is located in Dayton, Ohio and their AAA affiliate is in Louisville, Kentucky so there could be a not so distant future in which Lloyd is playing pro ball pretty close to Bloomington.