A fifth Penn State baseball player has been selected in the 2025 MLB Draft.
Third baseman Bryce Molinaro was selected in the 17th round by the Washington Nationals.
Molinaro heard his name called as a redshirt sophomore, playing both years with the Nittany Lions.
The Drums, Pennsylvania, native was the backbone of the middle of the lineup, ranking second all-time for RBI’s by a Penn State hitter in a single season with 61 in 2025.
Molinaro isn’t just an impressive hitter. The redshirt sophomore played lockdown defense at the hot corner with a career .948 fielding percentage.
Despite being a redshirt sophomore, Molinaro was draft eligible and still has two years of collegiate eligibility remaining.
Although the home runs took a jump in 2025, Molinaro’s batting average took a dip. However, he turned things up later in the season for a respectable .267 batting average.
The headlining part of Molinaro’s game is his clutch hitting ability. Most notably, Molinaro hit a clutch grand slam in the 2024 Big Ten Tournament to lead Penn State to the Big Ten Championship Game.
Molinaro puts it all together with plus speed for a third baseman, stealing eight bases in 2025.
The third baseman joins Paxton Kling, Ryan Weingartner, Ryan DeSanto and Chase Renner as 2025 MLB Draft picks, marking the first time five Nittany Lions have been drafted in a single draft since 2007.
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Another Penn State pitcher is off the draft board.
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