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Ky Bush, second from right, celebrates with family after getting picked by the Los Angeles Angels in the second round of Monday's MLB Draft on Monday, July 12, 2021 in North Ogden.

PATRICK CARR, Standard-Examiner

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Ky Bush hugs his grandfather after getting picked in the second round of the MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Angels Monday, July 12, 2021 in North Ogden.

PATRICK CARR, Standard-Examiner

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NORTH OGDEN — Ky Bush said his phone started ringing at 8:09 a.m. Monday morning with a call from his advisor, who walked him through what would likely happen in rounds 2-10 of Monday’s MLB Draft.

More phone calls came throughout the morning, and soon it became pretty clear that Bush, a 2018 Fremont High graduate who pitched at St. Mary’s College this year, would be taken early on Monday.

Bush said he slept well after he and his family watched the first round Sunday night with some hope that he’d get drafted then, only for teams to pass on him for the time being.

As soon as the second round started, the nerves, tension and excitement ramped up as Bush and his family waited for the moment they knew was coming.

There was one more phone call, a quick one again from his advisor telling him he was getting picked and soon.

And then there was emotional release and celebration when Bush’s name was called on the MLB Draft telecast as he was picked in the second round with the 45th overall pick by the Los Angeles Angels.

The pick makes Bush the highest MLB Draft pick to ever come out of Weber County, according to Baseball Reference (Bob Kaiser out of Weber High was a third-round pick in 1968 to Cleveland).

“When my name was called, I felt really excited; all the emotions came out of me. But now I kind of am able to reflect and kind of sit down, realize how cool this is,” Bush told the Standard-Examiner.

Bush leaped off the couch and hugged his girlfriend, his mom, his dad, his brother and his grandparents. Then he got a call from an Angels official congratulating him and saying the team was excited for him to be an Angel.

“I couldn’t stop twitching my leg, I was excited for it,” Bush said. “It was kind of like a flashback of everything I’ve gone through to get here, it all worked out.”

The No. 45 pick comes with an assigned slot value of $1,650,200 and should his MLB career progress like the Angels want, then Bush could end up pitching at the Triple-A level for the Salt Lake Bees.

According to Baseball Reference, six of the previous seven second-round picks by the Angels were used on high school players.

The gravity of the moment took a while to set in for Bush and his family. They all gathered around a kitchen island when one person mentioned Shohei Otani and Mike Trout, current Angels players and bona fide baseball superstars, prompting even more excitement.

Bush checked his phone later and estimated he’d received about 100 text messages congratulating him on getting drafted. On social media, the attention was nonstop, including from his new team.

“Whoa, the Angels followed me,” he said, eliciting laughs.

A BREAKOUT 2021

With the Gaels, Ky Bush led the WCC in strikeouts with 112 and posted a 2.99 ERA in 78 1/3 innings. Scouts loved his 90-96 mph fastball, his secondary slider and big, left-handed frame (6-6, 240).

“With the coaching staff there, it was more development and your plan, your routine. I’d bring them ideas, they’d bring me some ideas and we’d kind of just work together and find out what was best for me and kind of took off with it,” Bush said of how things went at St. Mary’s.

He was a late-riser on draft boards this year, but having gone through the draft process as a high school senior — he was picked in the 40th round by Kansas City in 2018 — he knew that pro scouts would watch him warm up in the bullpen, point radar guns at him every pitch and ask him lots of questions.

Bush knew the drill.

“Seeing scouts at my games, having guys talk to me, I was more comfortable and able to be myself around those guys,” Bush said.

At Fremont High, Bush played baseball and basketball and started attracting pro scout interest in January of his senior year at a showcase in Arizona. Pro scouts then showed up by the handful whenever he pitched for the Silverwolves his senior year.

One scout in 2018, who was wearing a black hoodie and shivering in the 60-degree weather, quipped “There’s something there. I don’t know what, but there’s something,” when asked back then what he thought of Bush.

Bush had a turbulent college baseball career. As a freshman, he struggled at Washington State, then transferred to Central Arizona, where the 2020 season was cut short due to COVID-19, before landing at St. Mary’s in the West Coast Conference.

It all culminated on an emotional Monday morning as Bush, wearing a beige plaid suit, learned where his baseball journey will take him next. Having his family around him was the icing on the cake (there was a literal cake in the shape of a baseball on the kitchen table, as well).

“It means the world. I mean, I made sure to have the closest people to me and kind of want to keep the close circle and keep it tight. These are the best people; all of them had an impact of where I’m at right now,” Bush said. 

After he got picked and after everyone rewatched the broadcast to relive the moment again, Bush and his family gathered around the kitchen island for a toast of orange juice and — for some people — champagne.

“I love you guys. Thanks for the support. Go, Angels!” Bush told everyone.

Tears started flowing from his and his parents’ faces when his dad toasted the family.

“Thank you for supporting Ky. Every single one of you has played a part in this,” Jason Bush said.

Now the next part of the baseball journey begins for Ky Bush.

He still has to sign a pro contract and assuming that goes as intended, Bush will most likely start his career in the minor leagues, along with the rest of a large group of college pitchers that the Angels drafted this year.

The Angels’ minor league affiliates are the Bees, the Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas (Madison, Alabama), the High-A Tri-City Dust Devils (Pasco, Washington), the Low-A Inland Empire 66ers (San Bernardino, California) and the rookie Arizona League Angels in Phoenix.

His family was excited about the long-term potential that Bush may pitch for the Bees someday, about 45 minutes from where he grew up in Weber County.

All of that stuff — the high draft pick, the emotion, the future, the present — still hadn’t set in for Bush in the hours after the draft, and likely it’ll be awhile before it does.

DAY NOT PICKED

Layton High right-handed pitcher Cam Day wasn’t picked on the draft’s second day despite some speculation and projections that he would be.

His attention now turns to the draft’s third day and rounds 11-20, but the odds of him getting drafted are slim since teams won’t be inclined to offer the type of signing bonus money that Day wants.

Should he not get drafted Tuesday, Day is still signed with the University of Utah and would be eligible for the draft again when he turns 21 or after his junior year with the Utes, whichever happens first.