MLB
In the first two days of the 2019 MLB draft, the University of Michigan has had 3 players drafted. The program has had at least one player drafted in each of the 7 seasons Erik Bakich has been head coach. Last year the highest draft pick from Michigan was in the 31st round when Jonathan Engelmann was selected by Cleveland.
Tommy Henry
The Arizona Diamondbacks selected right-handed pitcher Tommy Henry 74th overall. The Portage, Michigan native is a junior with an impressive resume. His college ERA is 3.35 with 19 wins and 9 losses. In his 212.1 innings pitched he has given up 79 earned runs and 187 hits. He has given up 62 walks and has an impressive 227 strikeouts. Henry was named Big Ten Conference Pitcher of the Week on February 25, and NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week on February 26. He received these honours after pitching a complete game shutout against The Citadel. He faced the minimum number of batters and struck out 13, a career-high. Henry achieved this feat on only 88 pitches. He was also Big Ten Conference Pitcher of the Week on March 5.
Karl Kaufmann
Right-handed pitcher Karl Kaufmann was selected 77th overall by the Colorado Rockies. The junior from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, has a college career ERA of 2.76. He gave up 162 hits, 61 earned runs and 67 walks in 198.2 innings pitched with 181 strikeouts. He has only surrendered 8 home runs in 3 years. Kaufmann was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week after his April 26 start against Rutgers. He threw 8 innings of 2-hit, shutout ball and allowed only one walk. That day he racked up 5 strikeouts. In his most recent start against Creighton on May 31 Kaufmann threw 8.2 innings. He allowed 6 hits and gave up 2 walks while striking out 7 and giving up no runs.
Jordan Brewer
Jordan Brewer was selected 106th overall by the Houston Astros. The junior outfielder from St. Joseph, Michigan, has had a hell of a season. He began his higher education career at Lincoln Trail Community College where he completed 2 seasons. In those two seasons he posted averages of .368 and .367. As a freshman he had 9 HR, 42 RBI and 45 runs scored. In his sophomore year he hit only 3 homers with 31 RBI and 38 runs scored.
In his career at Michigan he posted a .343 average with 12 HR including 2 grand slams, 52 RBI and 52 runs scored in 204 at bats. On March 15 against Manhattan Brewer hit 2 homers, including a grand slam. His seven RBI that day was a career-high. He was named the Big Ten Conference Player of the Year. Despite missing part of the season and much of the postseason with an injury, Brewer leads the team with 24 multi-hit games.
Henry, Kaufmann, Brewer and their teammates continue their quest for the College World Series title Friday night. After beating Creighton last night 17-6 the Wolverines will face #1 UCLA Friday evening at 9PM EST. The MLB draft continues and concludes tomorrow.
Written by Susannah Schmidt
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Photo credit to peter honeyman via Flickr
