MISNER TO MARLINS: Poplar Bluff alum drafted 35th

Poplar Bluff alum Kameron Misner was drafted 35th overall in the first round by the Miami Marlins on Monday after going into the day ranked as the 27th overall prospect by MLB.com.

Misner hit .286 as a 6-foot, 4-inch, 213-pound junior at Missouri this season with a .921 OPS and a .481 slugging percentage. He led the Tigers with 10 home runs, 20 stolen bases, 54 walks, 59 hits and 54 runs scored. He also had 10 doubles and 32 RBIs.

Misner started strong and went 3 for 4 with two home runs and a double in the second game of the season against North Florida. He only had one hitless game in the first 11 games of the season and had multiple hits in five games during that stretch, with seven RBIs and two home runs.

As a senior at Poplar Bluff, Misner hit .422 with eight home runs, nine triples, eight doubles and 35 RBIs. He also stole 29 bases and was named Semo Conference Player of the Year, was a first-team All-State selection as an outfielder and was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 33rd round of the 2016 MLB draft.

Misner, ranked as the No. 3 high school prospect and the top outfield prospect in Missouri in 2016 by perfectgame.com, instead honored his 2015 commitment to Missouri.

He earned freshman All-American honors at Mizzou after hitting .282 with seven home runs, 34 RBIs, 12 doubles, one triple and 39 runs scored. He also stole 17 bases to finish fourth in the SEC.

He led the Tigers with 18 multi-hit games and had seven multi-RBI games. He hit four RBIs in a game twice that year, against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Eastern Kentucky.

His sophomore season was going strong before he suffered a stress fracture in his left foot during the opening weekend of SEC play and eventually missed the final six weeks and 22 games of the season.

In 34 games, Misner was hitting .360 with four home runs, three triples, nine doubles and 34 runs while drawing 23 walks and stealing 13 bases. His batting average peaked at .415 early in the season after he went 3 for 4 with two runs against Mississippi State on March 23. He played his final game of the season just three weeks later against Florida, where he went 2 for 4.

Initially, Misner woke up with a prickling sensation in his foot, likely caused by a foul ball off his foot. What he and the training staff previously gauged as a minor annoyance, revealed itself to be much worse.

As Misner continued to play, each drive into the dirt and grass, every sudden cutting motion, unknowingly placed his foot under more duress. Small cracks along the surface of the bone gave way to a full break.

“I wasn’t very happy,” Misner said in July 2018 about the diagnosis. “It sucked. You play all fall, then work during all of Christmas break, then you get to season and play all of the games that aren’t very important just to get hurt before conference play.”

Instead of preparing for conference play, the Poplar Bluff alum prepped for crutches.

Without his bat in the middle of the lineup, Missouri went 10-9 to finish the season and floundered in the SEC tournament, losing 4-2 to South Carolina.

Misner is the second Missouri player to ever be drafted in the first round and is the highest prospect from Southeast Missouri to be drafted since Malden catcher Tanner Murphy was selected in the fourth round out of high school by the Atlanta Braves in 2013. He is currently playing for the San Jose Giants in the Class A Advanced League as part of the San Franciso Giants organization.

A year later, Kennett’s Kevonte Mitchell was drafted in the 13th round by the Chicago Cubs. He is currently playing for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, also in the Class A Advanced League as part of the Cubs organization.

According to MLB.com, (Misner) has the best all-around tools in the 2019 college crop ... Misner’s bat speed, strength and the leverage in his 6-foot, 4-inch frame give him huge raw power that he’s just beginning to tap into.”