STANFORD, Calif. – Four Stanford Cardinal heard their names called on day two of the 2026 MLB Draft on Sunday.
Aidan Keenan was first off the board, selected in the seventh round by the New York Mets with the 210th overall pick. Rintaro Sasaki was nabbed by the Miami Marlins with the 235th pick in the eighth round before Eric Jeon was selected 310th overall by the Seattle Mariners in the 10th round. Cort MacDonald rounded out the Cardinal selections, taken with the 554th pick in the 19th round by the Colorado Rockies.
Keenan made seven appearances, including six starts, as a junior this year for the Cardinal. The right-hander compiled a 1-3 record and a 5.82 ERA while striking out 25 batters in 21 2/3 innings and limited opponents to a .259 average against. Though limited due to injury, Keenan impressed at the 2026 MLB Combine ahead of the draft.
Sasaki, a draft-eligible sophomore, started all 54 games this year, batting .262 with 47 runs scored, 11 doubles, 16 home runs and 47 RBIs. The power-hitting first baseman slugged .549 with a .403 on-base percentage and drew a team-best 45 walks while compiling 13 multi-hit games and 12 multi-RBI contests. Sasaki, who hit .273 with 25 runs scored, six doubles, 10 home runs and 33 RBIs in ACC play, was previously selected in the first round of the 2025 Nippon Professional Baseball Draft by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
Jeon appeared in 46 games, starting 40, in his first year on The Farm after transferring into the program from Columbia. The native of Fullerton, Calif. batted .323 with 34 runs scored, eight doubles, nine home runs and 28 RBIs while slugging .540 with a .425 on-base percentage. Settling into the starting second baseman role as the year progressed, Jeon compiled 15 multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games overall this year, and batted .306 with 21 runs scored, six doubles, six home runs and 17 RBIs in ACC play.
MacDonald appeared in 44 games, starting 36, as a senior this year while batting .340 with 19 runs scored, 13 doubles, three home runs and 22 RBIs. The native of Arlington, Texas slugged .496 with a .414 on-base percentage and swiped six bases in nine attempts. MacDonald managed 16 multi-hit games and nine multi-RBI contests overall this season, and batted .327 with 12 runs scored, nine doubles, two home runs and 11 RBIs in ACC play.
With four selections this year, a total of 36 players have been drafted out of Stanford during the David Esquer era, which began with the 2018 season. The four draftees are the most for Stanford since the Cardinal had nine in 2023.