Yankees select Bronx native Richie Bonomolo Jr. out of Alabama in seventh round of MLB Draft
Alabama outfielder Richie Bonomolo Jr. throws during an NCAA baseball regional on May 30 in Hattiesburg, Miss. Credit: AP/Matthew Hinton
It’s the dream of many kids who grow up in the Bronx swinging a bat or throwing a baseball: to play for the Yankees. Richie Bonomolo Jr. was one of them, and he got one step closer to living out that dream on Monday.
Bonomolo, the starting centerfielder for Alabama this past season, was selected by the Yankees in the seventh round of the MLB Amateur Draft, as the final 17 rounds were completed in Atlanta.
“My team has always been the Yankees,” Bonomolo told Newsday in a phone interview. “I was a bit of a Padres fan as well because Manny Machado is one of my favorite players, but I always grew up going to Yankees games and I just love the Yankees . . . When I heard I was their pick, I just couldn’t stop smiling.”
Bonomolo, 21, grew up in the Morris Park section of the Bronx and attended Cardinal Hayes High School. After graduating, he went the junior college route to Wabash Valley College (Ill.) for two years and then was recruited to play for the Crimson Tide.
During the past season with Alabama, he hit ninth, leadoff and cleanup, and batted .311 with eight home runs, 52 RBIs, 53 runs and 16 stolen bases.
“When I moved to play in the SEC, I was going to play the best competition in college,” Bonomolo said. “Now I am moving to play the best competition there is . . . It does feel very much the same.”
Bonomolo said that scouts told him that his gifts lend themselves to staying in centerfield as a professional.
“They told me that my speed and my instincts kind of lead the way for me,” he said. “And I’m a very team person, so if they need me in any other spot in the outfield, I’ll be doing it.”
In youth baseball, Bonomolo played in games across the street from Yankee Stadium and thought about what it might be like to be a player there. So he was really taken aback with what happened on Monday.
“It was surreal, but I am ready for this next part of the journey,” he said. “This is the next step and I can’t wait to take it.”
These were the Yankees’ other picks in the first 10 rounds, listed in order beginning with the fourth round: Lefthanded pitcher Pico Kohn from Mississippi State; lefty-hitting shortstop Core Jackson from Utah; lefthanded pitcher Rory Fox from Notre Dame; righthanded pitcher Mac Heuer from Texas Tech; righthanded pitcher Blake Gillespie from UNC-Charlotte; and lefty-hitting second baseman Connor McGinnis from Houston.
With their final 10 picks, the Yankees took, in order: lefthanded pitcher Ben Grable from Indiana; lefty-hitting outfielder Camden Troyer from Liberty; lefty-hitting first baseman Kyle West from West Virginia; righthanded pitcher Brennan Stuprich from Southeastern Louisiana; righthanded pitcher Jack Cebert from Texas Tech; shortstop Jackson Lovich from Missouri; righthanded pitcher Ryan Osinski from Virginia; righthanded pitcher Justin West from Louisville; righthanded pitcher Hayden Morris from Blinn College (Tx.); and shortstop Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek from Southern Cal.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
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