MANHATTAN, Kan. (Kansas State Athletics) – K-State’s Blake Adams and Dominic Johnson were taken with consecutive picks in the 13th round of the 2022 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft Tuesday, as Adams was selected by the Colorado Rockies (No. 386 overall) and Johnson was chosen by the Detroit Tigers (No. 387 overall).
Adams and Johnson are the second and third selections from K-State in this year’s MLB Draft, as Dylan Phillips was taken in the eighth round by the Los Angeles Angels on Monday.
In one season at K-State, Adams made 17 appearances with 13 weekend starts. He went 6-6 with a 5.07 ERA (49 ER, 87 IP) and led the team with 90 strikeouts. He finished sixth in the Big 12 in innings and ninth in strikeouts.
He logged six quality starts, with four straight quality outings from February 25 to March 8. The Springdale, Arkansas, product was tabbed both Big 12 Pitcher of the Week and Newcomer of the Week on April 18 after posting seven innings of one-run ball against Texas on April 15. In the win over the seventh-ranked Longhorns, he scattered three hits while striking out six.
Adams logged season highs with 7 2/3 innings and 12 strikeouts in a start at CSU Bakersfield on February 25, allowing two earned runs on four hits. It marked a single-game high by any Wildcat in both innings and punchouts. During the Cats’ semifinal run at the Big 12 Championship, the right-hander struck out nine over 6 2/3 innings to earn the win against West Virginia in an elimination game.
Johnson, an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection, started 57 games in the outfield and led the Wildcats in all three slash categories, batting .345 with a .419 on-base percentage and a .593 slugging percentage. He was also the team leader in hits (78), doubles (20), runs (45) and stolen bases (12) while ranking second with 12 homers.
His 20 doubles were tied for fourth-most in a single season in K-State history and most since Austin Fisher’s 20 during the 2013 season. Additionally, he became the first Wildcat since 1988 (Jeff Hulse) to homer twice in the same inning when he launched a pair of three-run homers in the seventh inning against UC Irvine on April 22.
The Edmond, Oklahoma, native put together a season-long hitting streak of 16 games from February 27 to March 27 – the program’s longest such streak since 2010 – a stretch that included nine consecutive games with multiple hits. Johnson turned in a team-high 24 multi-hit efforts.
Adams is the sixth player in program history taken by Colorado while Johnson is the eighth selected by Detroit. It marks the second straight Draft in which the Rockies have selected a Wildcat, as outfielder Zach Kokoska was a 10th-round pick last season. Johnson is the first Tigers’ selection since Ross Kivett in 2014.
Head coach Pete Hughes has now overseen 82 draftees in his 25-year head coaching career, with eight coming in four seasons at K-State. K-State has had at least one player taken in 18 of the last 19 MLB Drafts, with multiple players selected in 16 Drafts during that span.
Wildcats in the 2022 MLB Draft
| Player | Round | Pick | Team |
| UTL Dylan Phillips | 8 | 238 | Los Angeles Angels |
| RHP Blake Adams | 13 | 386 | Colorado Rockies |
| OF Dominic Johnson | 13 | 387 | Detroit Tigers |
