Edwardsville’s Riley will sign with Atlanta Braves after being drafted in fifth round

Trey Riley's major league draft value teetered on that thin line between where staying in college at least another year makes as much sense as going forward to live the professional dream.

But by the time his name was called below projections on day two of the 2018 First Year Player Draft, the 2016 Edwardsville High School graduate already knew what he was going to do.

Riley, a right-handed pitcher, was taken by the Atlanta Braves in the fifth round Tuesday with the No. 142 overall pick. With scholarship offer to Missouri State University already in hand, he made his decision.

"I'm all in," he said enthusiastically. "I'm ready to get this pro career started."

Most recently a member of the John A. Logan College baseball team, Riley will report to Atlanta next week to "take care of the business stuff," then be dispatched to the short-season single-A Danville (Va.) Braves of the Appalachian League.

"It's a good opportunity for me at this point," said Riley. "I sat down with my family and my adviser, and we knew what we would do, what the bottom line would be, before they called to tell me I'd be drafted."

Baseball America ranked Riley No. 77 on its top 100 list. MLB.com had him at No. 26. Either spot would have made him a compensation pick at the end of the second round with a potential signing bonus between $775,000 and $800,0000.

His slot value where he was actually drafted is $372,000.

But Riley said he knew enough about the process to not count on anything until it happens.

"It's the craziest thing I've ever been through," he said. "You hear one thing, then another and you don't really know what's going on. That's why it was important to sit down and have a conversation and play out what could happen during the draft."

Riley struggled with knee and hamstring injuries as a senior at Edwardsville, then got limited opportunities as a freshman at Oklahoma State. But with nearly 20 additional pounds on his 6-foot-3 frame, he dominated Great Rivers Conference competition, winning six games with a 1.85 ERA at John A. Logan.

His three-pitch repertoire, which includes a mid-90s fastball, yielded 117 strikeouts in just 77.2 innings.

"The atmosphere at Logan is just unbelievable," Riley said. "If you have a bad outing, you know you're going to be right back out there. The coaching staff — Coach (Kyle) Surprenant — really know what they are doing, and they create an atmosphere where you can relax but still get better. I know I'm a better pitcher today because of them."

Riley had participated in pre-draft workouts for the Kansas City Royals and Chicago Cubs, and has been in contact with several other teams, including the St. Louis Cardinals.

Turning down early draft offers is a strategy that's worked for other metro-east prospects.

Collinsville's Tanner Houck, another right-handed pitcher, was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays at No. 354 overall following his senior season in 2014. He spent three seasons at the University of Missouri instead and was drafted in the first round last spring by the Boston Red Sox. The 24th overall pick earned him a signing bonus of $2.6 million.

Mater Dei's Zach Haake, now at Kentucky, have also each turned down draft offers in the lower rounds.

Haake, a graduate of Mater Dei and another John A. Logan product, had been rated as high as No. 49 by Baseball America, but he saw his value slide to No. 72, then No. 187 with a so-so first season with the University of Kentucky.

He also was drafted Tuesday with the 182nd overall pick by the Kansas City Royals. Waiting probably cost him bonus money, unless he elects to return to Kentucky and try the draft again.

"I was glad to see him taken since we both have Logan blood in us," Riley said. "I met him once, but I know he's a talented pitcher and think he'll do great."

Belleville East graduate Brady Schnabel, currently at the University of Iowa, may yet hear his name called a third time as the draft continues into Wednesday.

This story was originally published June 5, 2018 at 2:10 PM with the headline "Edwardsville’s Riley will sign with Atlanta Braves after being drafted in fifth round."