By the time Jonathan Engelmann’s name was called in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, the 21-year-old San Mateo native was a nervous wreck.
With the draft being held over three days, the junior outfielder at University of Michigan had designs on being selected inside the first 10 rounds. Come the end of Day 2, and the completion of the 10th round, however, Engelmann was still up for grabs.
It wasn’t until late on Day 3 that Engelmann was selected, as the Cleveland Indians made the toolsy outfielder their 31st round draft pick.
Jonathan Engelmann
“Draft day, it was very stressful,” Engelmann said. “We had hopes in the second day and that didn’t work out. The third day … I ended up getting picked and I was ecstatic.”
After reporting to Cleveland’s extended spring training facility in Goodyear, Arizona last Sunday, Engelmann officially signed his first professional deal Wednesday.
“My objective has always been to play professionally,” Engelmann said. “And my thinking was, signing right away gives me the best chance to do that.”
The Cleveland organization is a familiar destination for San Mateo County draft picks. Left-handed pitcher Chuck Lofgren was a fourth-rounder for the Indians out of Serra in 2004. Two more Serra alumni have since been drafted by Cleveland — right-handed pitcher Julian Merryweather in the fifth round out of Oklahoma Baptist in 2014, and Michael Tinsley in the seventh round out of Kansas in 2016.
Engelmann graduated from Burlingame in 2015, where he was an all-around force. He won the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division batting crown with a .462 average, and led the league in stolen bases with 36.
In three years at Michigan, Engelmann continued to flourish at the plate. As a junior in 2018, he hit .351 with a team-leading 74 hits. He also paced the Wolverines with 44 RBIs and 21 stolen bases, and added six home runs, this while anchoring center field as the only player to start in each of Michigan’s 54 games this season.
“I think I achieved what I wanted to,” Engelmann said. “I hit for some more power … and I wanted to steal some bases, over 20, and was able to do that.”
Engelmann’s batting saw a spike this year after hitting .257 as a freshman, and .259 as a sophomore. The big difference, Engelmann said, was guidance he received from a former Michigan teammate, outfielder Cody Bruder, who graduated in 2016 after leading the Wolverines with a .372 batting average.
Bruder returned to Michigan to attend grad school this year, and Engelmann took the chance to retool his batting approach, starting more upright in his batting stance with a more downward plane to his swing.
“The results were instantaneous,” Engelmann said.
Now Engelmann is settling into life in Arizona, where his professional career figures to start this week. Cleveland’s Arizona League Rookie-class team begins play Monday.
“I can’t really explain it,” Engelmann said. “It’s a blast.”
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