Rice junior shortstop Trei Cruz was selected in the third round of the Major League Baseball amateur draft Thursday by the Detroit Tigers.
Cruz was the 73rd overall pick in the draft. He had previously been drafted by the Houston Astros out of high school in 2017, when he opted to attend Rice instead of turning pro, and by the Washington Nationals in 2019, when he decided to stay with the Owls.
Cruz was batting .328 when Rice's 2020 season came to an early end because of COVID-19. He led the Owls in RBIs (eight), on-base percentage (.487), doubles (seven) and runs scored (nine).
Cruz is part of a baseball family legacy with deep Rice roots. He and his younger brother Antonio, a current member of the Owls' baseball team, are the sons of former major league player and Rice first-round draft pick Jose Cruz Jr., the nephews of 2003 national champion team member Enrique Cruz and the grandsons Jose Cruz, a longtime major league player who starred with the Astros for more than a decade.
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