Daniel McElveny will start his professional baseball career as one-of-a-kind.
MLB.com's Ian Browne on Tuesday chose the Boston Red Sox prospect as the club's most-interesting pick in the 2021 MLB Draft. After selecting McElveny in the sixth round with the No. 166 overall pick, Boston tagged him with a rare distinction due to his versatility.
"Of the 612 players taken in this year’s Draft, McElveny is the only one who was designated by the team who drafted him as "utility," Browne wrote. "That's because the Red Sox loved what they saw when McElveny worked out for them at Fenway Park earlier this spring. They put him everywhere from catcher to the outfield to the infield and he looked at home anywhere he had a glove on his hand."
Chances are you might have overlooked McElveny's selection. After all, the Red Sox drafted highly touted shortstop Marcelo Mayer with their highest first-round pick since 1967 and outfielder Jud Fabian in the second round at No. 40 overall in what many describe as a steal of a selection.
However, in picking McElveny on Day 2, the Red Sox are poised to add an 18-year-old who possesses a potentially potent mix of talent and determination to their organization.
"Daniel McElveny is a cool story," Red Sox director of amateur scouting Paul Toboni told Browne. "I think he probably first got on our radar in June of last year at an event called PG National.
We liked his feel to hit. He was kind of a grinder that we thought played the game the right way. We just followed him along the way.
"He played in a couple more events. We saw him in the spring, scouting him and only him, and we also saw him match up with Marcelo, which allowed us to see him a little bit more. We were just drawn to the competitor, the feel to hit, the feel for the stone, and the versatility he had on defense."
McElveny must work his way through the Red Sox minor league system in the coming years, but he might one day show fans in Boston exactly why he intrigued Browne and others in 2021.
