Baseball Campus Report

OA Grad MacKinnon Records First MLB Hit, RBI

David MacKinnon
@Angels/Twitter

By HockomockSports.com Staff

Oliver Ames grad and former Hockomock League MVP David MacKinnon record his first career hit and first career RBI for the Los Angeles Angels in a win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.

MacKinnon, who was the league MVP in both soccer and baseball during his senior year, made his MLB debut over the weekend in Seattle after the Angels purchased his contract earlier in the day. He started in the game, and then made an appearance in the first two games against the Royals as a pinch hitter in the following two games.

He started at first base on Wednesday evening and his first career RBI gave the Angels the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. With the bases loaded, MacKinnon hit one deep enough to right field for a sacrifice fly to score Taylor Ward to make it 1-0.

“It’s so awesome to help the team and get two RBIs,” MacKinnon told the LA Times’ Mike DiGiovanna. “It’s wild that I’m in the Show. It’s just crazy to me. I’ll probably be awestruck for the rest of my career that I’m here, because I’ve dreamed about this forever.”

MacKinnon got his first career hit in the bottom of the seventh, coming through two outs and a runner on second. On a 2-2 count, he got just enough of a 95.3 fastball from Royals reliever Amir Garrett, sneaking a ground ball through the right side to bring the run in for a 3-0 lead. The Angels won the game, 5-0, behind a career-high 13 strikeouts from star pitcher Shohei Ohtani.

He was a 32nd round pick in the 2017 draft (955 overall) out of the University of Hartford and went on to play for a handful of teams in the minor leagues, including the Rocket City Pandas last year and the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate the Salt Lake Bees this season. He was named the Pacific Coast League Player of the Month for May after hitting .344 with 33 hits, 25 RBI, seven home runs, and 16 walks. He was also selected as the PCL Player of the Week on May 23.

Ryan Lanigan
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