California junior Rodney Green Jr. became the second Cal player to be selected in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft when the Golden Bears' three-year starter in center field was picked in the fourth round Monday by the Oakland Athletics with the 104th pick overall. Catcher Caleb Lomavita was previously selected Sunday 39th overall by the Washington Nationals as a competitive balance pick and the final of nine selections between the first and second rounds.

The selections of Lomavita and Green give the Bears two picks in the first four rounds of the MLB Draft for the second time in the last three seasons and fifth time in the last nine campaigns. Cal also accomplished the feat in 2016, 2018 and 2019.

Green was the third-highest and 19th Cal player all time to be selected by the Oakland Athletics, as well as only the second Cal player the A's have drafted since taking Daulton Jefferies in the first round (37th overall) of the 2016 MLB Draft. Five of the last seven players selected by the A's have reached the big leagues.

"I knew today was the day," Green said. "I had a good feeling, and I'm just really excited."

"It was great to see an East Bay native stay home and have so much success collegiately in his hometown," Cal head coach Mike Neu said. "He had a great three-year career at Cal, but he has only begun to scratch the surface on the type of baseball player he can become."

Below are additional notes on Green and Cal baseball in the MLB Draft. An extended bio on Green is available by clicking on his name.

Green Jr. Notes

Rodney Green Jr., OF, 6-3, 190 (Richmond, CA/California/El Cerrito HS)
Collegiate Career (California, 2022-24)
– Ninth all time at Cal with 34 home runs
– Played in 151 games with 143 starts and hit .283 (157-554) with 144 runs scored, 35 doubles, five triples, 105 RBI and 45 stolen bases in addition to his 34 homers, while finishing just outside Cal's all-time top-10 with a .549 slugging percentage
– An honorable mention All-Pac-12 selection and a member of the All-Pac-12 Tournament team as a 2024 junior when he started a career-high 55 games and hit .267 (55-206) with 56 runs scored, 14 doubles, one triple, 14 home runs, 46 RBI and 15 stolen bases, while also drawing 43 walks with his runs scored, doubles, RBI and walks career bests, and his home runs equaling a career high
– A first-team All-Pac-12 pick in 2023 when he started all 52 games and hit .293 (61-208) with 51 runs scored, 11 doubles, one triple, 38 RBI and 29 stolen bases, with his at bats, hits and stolen bases career highs, and his home runs equaling a career high
– Played in 44 games with 36 starts as a 2022 freshman when he hit .293 (41-140) with 37 runs scored, 10 doubles, a career-high three triples, six home runs, 21 RBI and one stolen base

Cal Baseball MLB Draft Notes

– Cal has had 239 selections (209 players) all-time in the MLB Draft with at least one player selected in 57 of the 60 years since the MLB Draft began in 1965.
– The most Cal players ever selected in a single MLB Draft was in 1986 when nine Golden Bears were drafted, while the most Golden Bears ever selected in the first round of a single draft was in 1966 when right-handed pitchers Bill Frost (San Francisco Giants, first overall) and Andy Messersmith (California Angels, 12th overall), as well as shortstop Ted Parks (Baltimore Orioles, 16th overall) were taken.
– Cal has had 24 players drafted since Mike Neu became head coach following the 2017 MLB Draft including seven in 2019 that are tied for the third most in school history.
– RHP Andy Messersmith was the first Cal baseball player to be selected in the MLB Draft when he was taken by the Detroit Tigers in the third round (53rd pick overall) and was one of four Golden Bears taken in the first-ever MLB Amateur Draft in 1965.
– OF Sam Chapman was the first former Cal baseball player to sign a professional baseball contract as an undrafted free agent with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1938.