Devils in Detail
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ASU Baseball: Connor Higgins Selected in MLB Draft

By Sam Ficarro

Oct 15, 2016; Boulder, CO, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky during the fourth quarter against the Colorado Buffaloes at Folsom Field. The Buffaloes defeated theSun Devils 40-16. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 15, 2016; Boulder, CO, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky during the fourth quarter against the Colorado Buffaloes at Folsom Field. The Buffaloes defeated theSun Devils 40-16. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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The 42-round MLB Draft concluded Wednesday with ASU baseball pitcher Connor Higgins selected in the 35th round by the Texas Rangers.

ASU baseball endured one of its worst seasons in program history, but some happy news came to the program Wednesday during the final day of the 2017 MLB Draft.

Pitcher Connor Higgins was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 35th round (1,064th overall).

The sophomore lefty was the only Sun Devil selected in this year’s Draft after making 19 appearances this season going 3-2 with a 3.92 ERA in 39 innings.

It was improvement from his freshman season as he made 13 appearances throwing 12 2/3 innings sporting a 4.97 ERA.

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While Higgins was the only current Sun Devil selected, some players from ASU’s 2017 recruiting class was also selected over the three days.

In total, seven of the 12 committed Sun Devils were drafted with pitcher Brendan Murphy the highest selected recruit.

Murphy was selected in the fourth round by the Milwaukee Brewers drafted 114th overall after being ranked 157th by MLBPipeline.com meaning he will likely sign with the Brewers.

In last year’s MLB Draft, only two players selected in the first 10 rounds did not sign so it appears Murphy will be heading to the big leagues.

The next two highest drafted commits were infielders Jake Holmes and Gage Workman.

Holmes was selected in the 11th round (323rd overall) by the Philadelphia Phillies after he was ranked 132nd by MLBPipeline.com.

It was surprise to experts to see him drafted that low and it could be that teams felt they couldn’t sign Holmes so his decision is going be interesting.

Workman was selected in the 14th round by the Brewers so his decision will also be interesting as he could decide to go straight to the pros.

The other four recruits will likely come to Arizona State as infielder Alika Williams was selected in the 32nd round by the New York Yankees, pitcher Boyd Vander Kooi in the 36th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks, infielder Trevor Hauver in the 37th round by the Kansas City Royals and pitcher Drake Davis in the 38th round by the Colorado Rockies.

Next: ASU Baseball: What’s The Future?

While this season was a disappointment, with the core of this season’s team plus the incoming recruiting class, the Sun Devils should bounce back and contend for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

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