Former Belleville East catcher Drew Millas expects to hear his name called in MLB Draft
Drew Millas was one of the region’s best three-sport athletes during his high school days at Belleville East.
But baseball was his first love since his mother, Nel Millas, taught him to switch hit by the age of 4 in their back yard in Swansea.
He was the Lancers’ point guard in basketball and quarterback in football. By 2016, his senior season at East, Millas was a three time all-Southwestern Conference pick and rated the No. 4 catcher and 29th best player in Illinois by Prep Baseball Report.
With three more solid seasons under his belt at Missouri State University, Millas will likely see another door opened to his baseball future. Depending on the source, the technically pure defensive catcher could go anywhere from rounds 2 through 10 in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, which begins Monday.
Baseball America says he’s the 167th-best available prospect.
“I’ve been hearing 2 through 5,” Millas said. “I’ve been playing it by ear. After the season I had, you would have thought my stock would have fallen a little bit, but it hasn’t fallen as bad.
“... It’s like I always tell my dad: it’s not my dream to get drafted, it’s my dream to play in the major leagues. This is just a step.’’
Millas’ grandfather is Larry Patton, who won 545 games as head baseball coach at East and has since been inducted into the Illinois Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame.
The 21-year-old Millas returned to his parents’ Swansea home early last week after completing his junior year at Missouri State. A first team all Missouri Valley Conference player for the second year in a row, Millas hit. .275 with five home runs and 25 RBI for the Bears, who finished a disappointing 20-36 this spring.
Considered one of the of the best defensive catchers available, Millas hit. 321 with seven home runs and a team-leading 61 RBI during the 2018 season when he earned second-team All-America recognition from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
“This year we didn’t have the year we wanted to have. We faced a lot of adversity as a team,” he said. “Personally I had never been on a team which lost to much. It was an eye opening experience for me to try and lead a team that wasn’t there a lot of the season. We had a lot of young talent. a lot of young talented arms, but we just didn’t put all the pieces together.
“But this was a season that I wouldn’t trade for the world and it’s really helped me and it’s going to help me for the long run.’’
Millas plans to remain in Swansea for a few days following the 40-round draft which concludes on Wednesday.
Should Millas be taken as the No. 167 pick — which would be the 10th round — he would land with the Boston Red Sox. The allocated slot value of that pick is $304, 200.
A pick in the second round could land him a signing bonus of between $793,000 and $906,000.
“We haven’t really thought about where and who drafts. me. We’re concerned with what organization is going to develop me the best,’’ Millas said. “Money isn’t the first priority with us right now. We’re just going to see what happens this week and we’ll take if from there.”
As a self-assessment, Millas is confident he can play defense on a professional level, but would like to be more consistent at the plate.
“I feel I’m an excellent defender behind the plate and I f have a lot of confidence in my defensive ability,’’ Millas said. “Offensively I have a lot of adjustments that I have to make in learning to take the ball to all fields and not try to do to much. I think I got caught up in that this year when I had too much of an aggressive approach.”
Millas said he had meetings with all 30 MLB franchises last fall and is continuing to hear from several teams as the draft approaches. The Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros, remain among those showing the most interest.
“The scouts just love my defensive ability and they love my leadership attributes that I can take that to the big-league level,’’ Millas said. “They really believe that and that’s been good to hear from a lot scouts who have confidence in me and to know that they are on my side.
“There are preferences in terms of which teams might develop me the best. But it is what is in terms of when draft day comes. Whoever it is, is going to get my best effort.’’
Millas spent last summer playing in the Cape Cod League, where he batted .274 in 34 games.