Strasburg No. 1 in MLB Draft

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 is the seventh Aztec ever selected in the opening round and the first to be taken No. 1.

Formidable record

Strasburg compiled a 13-1 record with a 1.32 earned run average this season in 15 starts.

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).

Awards and accolades

During 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
• 2009 Ping! Baseball First-Team All-American

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).

In good company

He joins six former Aztecs who were chosen in the first round of the annual MLB draft. That list includes:

• Bobby Meacham (8th), drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1981
• Chris Gwynn (5th), drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1985
• Eric Christopherson (19th) drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 1990
• Benji Grigsby (20th) drafted by the Oakland Atheletics in 1992
• Travis Lee (2nd) drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1996
• Royce Ring (18th) drafted by the Chicago White Sox in 2002

The 2009 draft resumes with rounds 4 through 30 at 9 a.m. PT today and continues at 9:30 a.m. PT tomorrow.