SAN DIEGO – Former San Diego State baseball standout Cole Carrigg (Turlock, Calif./Turlock HS) was chosen by the Colorado Rockies as a catcher in the Competitive Balance "B" Round with the 65th overall pick of the 2023 MLB First-Year Player Draft on Sunday in Seattle, Washington.
With his selection, Carrigg gives the Aztecs 225 MLB Draft picks since 1965 and 29 in the last nine years. In addition, the Turlock, California, native becomes the highest SDSU player drafted since Casey Schmitt went to the San Francisco Giants with the 49th overall selection in 2020.
Carrigg, who earned consecutive first-team all-Mountain West honors the past two seasons, led the Aztecs with a .303 batting average during the 2023 campaign and topped the squad with 24 stolen bases, which ranked second in the conference. He also smacked a league-leading five triples, which was tied for 26th nationally.
In addition, Carrigg found himself among the team leaders in several categories, occupying the second spot in slugging percentage (.458) while finishing third in RBIs (27) and fourth in hits (47) and runs scored (30). He also ranked fifth on the squad in on-base percentage (.357) and total bases (71), reaching base safely 22 games from March 3-April 30, which marked the longest stretch by an SDSU player during the season.
Carrigg played a key role helping the Aztecs clinch a share of the Mountain West regular-season championship after batting .340 with 20 RBIs and 23 runs scored against conference opponents while adding a league-best 14 stolen bases.
On April 24, Carrigg garnered MW Player of the Week accolades after leading the Scarlet and Black to a 1-0 triumph over crosstown adversary San Diego and a series victory over Nevada. The Aztec outfielder topped the squad in batting average (.455), on-base percentage (.571), slugging percentage (1.091) and RBIs (6) in that span while tying for team lead with five hits, four of which went for extra bases.
Last January, Carrigg was listed 12th among the nation's top 150 outfielders in D1Baseball.com's preseason player rankings before earning a spot on the Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award Preseason Watch List. Upon his selection, he was rated 47th on MLB.com's Top 250 prospects list.
In three seasons at SDSU, Carrigg batted .333 with seven homers, 34 doubles, 90 RBIs, 101 runs scored and 39 stolen bases. His versatility was widely displayed during his collegiate career, featuring 53 starts in center field, 24 at shortstop, 21 at third base, 17 at second, five at catcher, five in left field and two at designated hitter.
In the summer of 2022, Carrigg was named to the Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star team as a member of the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, posting a team-high .329 batting average, which ranked third in the circuit, while finishing among the league leaders in hits (4th, 47), stolen bases (T-4th, 15) and RBIs (T-11th, 19).
The MLB Draft resumes on Monday with rounds 3-10 before continuing Tuesday with rounds 11-20. Selections for both days are set to begin at 11 a.m. PT.