Baseball America's Undrafted Free Agent Tracker
Boston, Mass. – (June 15, 2020) – With the uniqueness of the 2020 MLB Draft being only five rounds, a bevy of qualified draft-eligible players are available to sign with MLB teams or return to their college teams. One player taking advantage of this free agency period is Fordham shortstop
Jake MacKenzie, who has signed with the Boston Red Sox.
MacKenzie played in 133 games over two-plus seasons before the pandemic shutdown the 2020 season. He made his mark on the Fordham baseball program quickly as a freshman, receiving the 2018 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year Award and earning a spot on the
Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American team. He also earned ABCA/Rawlings All-Northeast Region Second Team honors, as well as getting First Team All-Atlantic 10 and ECAC All-Star status.
He led the Rams in most offensive categories in 2018, including runs (46), hits (58), RBI (42), triples (6), home runs (8), slugging percentage (.523), stolen bases (34), multi-hit games (17) and multi-RBI games (11). MacKenzie also ranked fifth in the nation and led the Atlantic 10 in stolen bases.
In 2019, MacKenzie took the next step in helping Fordham capture the Atlantic 10 Championship for the first time since 1998 and earning a trip to the NCAA Championship. He set single season records in games played (62), games started (62) and at bats (246), and became the first Ram with back-to-back 30 stolen base seasons since the early 1990s. He once again led the Atlantic 10 in stolen bases with 43 and ranked fourth in the NCAA.
He batted .305 as a sophomore with 49 runs scored, 15 doubles, three home runs, and 28 RBI, setting personal-bests in average, runs scored, doubles, and stolen bases. MacKenzie also posted a team-best 19 multi-hit games.
His 2020 season was off to a great start before the pandemic, as he was named to the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award Watch List, which is based on performance at the plate, academics and personal integrity. In 16 games, MacKenzie batted .356 with 10 runs scored, six extra-base hits, and nine RBI. He also swiped seven stolen bases, moving into fifth place on the Rams' career leaders list (84), while adding a team-best eight multi-hit games. Following the year, he rated in the top 30 shortstops (#26) in the country as ranked by
D1Baseball.com.
