After many months of anticipation, the wait is finally over. Coming into the 2024 season, it seemed certain that junior center fielder Mike Sirota would find a place in the majors — it was just a question of where. On July 15, that question was answered when Sirota was picked by the Cincinnati Reds in the third round of the 2024 MLB Draft. But he wasn’t the only Northeastern athlete selected, as the previously unranked junior pitcher Dennis Colleran was grabbed by the Kansas City Royals in the seventh round.
Sirota was drafted 87th overall, the third-highest pick in Northeastern program history behind Carlos Pena (10th overall, 1998) and Adam Ottavino (30th overall, 2006). Meanwhile, Colleran’s place at 197th overall rings in higher than any other pitcher since 2016 (Aaron Civale, 92nd overall).
The 2024 season wasn’t the first time Sirota was on the MLB’s radar. Straight out of high school, he was drafted 492nd overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers, but turned down their offer in order to continue his development. At the college level, Sirota became a star for the Huskies early on, leading the team in batting average as a freshman with a .326 and earning himself a spot on the starting lineup. On top of his batting skills, Sirota’s fielding abilities — deep in center field — have made him an all-around strong athlete and a coveted asset in the draft.
Sirota’s collegiate history has come with its struggles as well. Sirota entered the 2024 season projected to go in the first round of the draft, but a junior-season slump dropped him down to a later spot. He managed to inch his way back up in the latter half of the season. Despite experiencing his first collegiate sub-.300 year in the batting average category landing him with a .298, Sirota found other ways to get on base, setting a program record for walks in a single season with 59. By the end of the season, he was ranked 50th on MLB.com’s Top 250 Draft Prospects List.
Sirota leaves Northeastern with a career batting average of .324, on-base percentage of .457 and slugging percentage of .576 over three years.
Colleran came into the 2024 season with a far different story. After Tommy John surgery took him off the mound for over a year, the pitcher’s skill flew under the radar leading up to the draft, and he was unranked throughout the season. In his junior campaign, Colleran pitched 46 strikeouts through 40.2 innings, giving up just 36 earned runs. Boasting an inventory of high-speed pitches, Colleran’s arm was packed with power all season long, and an invitation to the MLB Draft Combine in June was his ticket to show that off to the big leagues. On day two of the Combine, Colleran stood out with the quickest and most consistent fastball, clocking in at a high of 99.2 miles per hour.
Sirota and Colleran join 59 previous Huskies draft picks in the history books and continue Northeastern’s streak of consecutive years with athletes in the draft. The Huskies have had a player drafted in every edition of the draft since 2018. The athletes must choose whether to accept their pro ball offers before heading off to their respective teams and beginning the next chapter of their careers.
