Adrian, MI – In day three of the MLB draft, Mo Hanley from the Adrian College baseball team was drafted 381st overall in the 13th round by the Los Angeles Angels.
Hanley spent his time at Adrian as a left-handed pitcher for the Bulldogs where he developed a mid-90s fastball with a mid-80s slider. In his career, Hanley made 33 appearances for Adrian while making 17 starts on the mound. He compiled a 10-3 record with one save and a complete game in 113.0 innings. Hanley finished his college career with 159 strikeouts including 27 in 14 innings in 2021 to result in a K/9 of 16.57.
“The Adrian College baseball team is very excited for Mo Hanley, and the next step in his professional MLB career with the Angels,” head coach Craig Rainey said. “Mo has worked extremely hard to overcome some setbacks this year to get to this moment. So happy to see his dream come true of being drafted by an MLB team. This is another tremendous day for our baseball family and program.”
The largest setback the Hanley faced was tearing his UCL forcing his 2021 season to end early and result in Tommy John surgery. During the season, Hanley traveled to Alabama to see Dr. James Andrews for his surgery. Dr. Andrews performed Tommy John surgery to multiple professional athletes such as Roger Clemens, Drew Brees, and John Smoltz.
Hanley grew up in the Virgin Islands before moving to Tampa, Florida at the age of 13. Mo didn’t have a plan to play college baseball until he got a call from Coach Rainey to play for the Bulldogs. Hanley is now the first Virgin Islands native to be drafted since Jharel Cotton in 20th round of the 2011 draft and Midre Cummings in the 29th round of the 1990 draft according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com.
Hanley was the first 2021 NCAA Division III player to get drafted this year. Hanley will join Tommy Parsons, Dugan Darnell, and Ryan Dorow as Adrian College baseball alums playing professional baseball for an MLB team. Parsons and Darnell signed as undrafted free agents with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Colorado Rockies, while Dorow was selected in the 30th round of the 2017 draft by the Texas Rangers.
612 baseball players in college and high school were selected in the 2021 MLB Draft.
*Media courtesy of Adrian College*