June 9, 2009
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State junior right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg was selected by the Washington Nationals as the No. 1 pick in the Major League Baseball Draft held Tuesday at the MLB Network Studios in Secaucus, N.J. He becomes the seventh Aztec ever selected in the opening round and the first to be taken No. 1.
Strasburg compiled a 13-1 record with a 1.32 earned run average this season in 15 starts this season. With only the College World Series games remaining, he leads the nation in earned run average (1.32), strikeouts (195) and strikeouts per nine innings (16.1) as San Diego State advanced to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 1991. He is also second in hits per nine innings (5.37) and third in wins (13).
On the season, the San Diego, Calif., native, was named 2008 USA Baseball Player of the Year, First-Team Louisville Slugger All-American, Louisville Slugger National Player of the Year, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) District IX Player of the Year and 2009 Ping! Baseball First-Team All-American. He is also a finalist for the 2009 Golden Spikes Award and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Player of the Year as well as a semifinalist for the 2009 Dick Howser Trophy.
Strasburg finished his collegiate career as the Mountain West Conference's all-time leader in ERA (1.59), opponent batting average (.171), shutouts (4), strikeouts (375) and strikeouts per nine innings (13.87), while tying for second in career wins (22).
He joins six former Aztecs who were chosen in the first round of the annual MLB draft. That list includes:
Player Team YearBobby Meacham (8th)........ St. Louis Cardinals...1981Chris Gwynn (5th)...........Los Angeles Dodgers...1985Eric Christopherson (19th) San Francisco Giants..1990Benji Grigsby (20th)........Oakland A's...........1992Travis Lee (2nd)............Minnesota Twins.......1996Royce Ring (18th)...........Chicago White Sox.....2002The 2009 draft resumes with rounds 4 through 30 on Wednesday (June 10) at 9:00 a.m. (PT) and continues the following day starting at 9:30 a.m. (PT)