Baseball: J.B. Shuck Chosen in 6th Round of MLB Draft – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
COLUMBUS, Ohio Junior centerfielder/pitcher J.B. Shuck was chosen Thursday in the sixth round of the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft by the Houston Astros. The left-hander from Galion, Ohio and Galion High School was the Astros’ fifth choice in the draft and he was the 182nd player taken overall. The first six rounds of the draft were completed Thursday.
“I got the phone call about 9:45 p.m. last night,” Shuck said Friday, “about two minutes before I saw my name pop up on the internet. I was home in Galion with my family. I was getting pretty nervous toward the end of the night, but it sure was a relief when the call came. It got wild when the call did come through and it was very exciting.”
Shuck, 5-11 and 185 pounds, is coming off a fine junior season in which he was chosen third-team all-Big Ten Conference as both an outfielder and a pitcher. He led the Ohio State pitching staff with 76 strikeouts and an opponents’ batting average of .216 while posting a 5-3 record and a 4.29 ERA.
Offensively, Shuck was second on the team with a .356 average and he led with 47 runs scored and 22 stolen bases (26 attempts).
“A gritty baseball player,” is how Shuck was described by new Astros scouting director Bobby Heck in an article on the Houston Chronicle’s web site.
Shuck, the seventh Big Ten Conference player selected in the draft, is the 18th Buckeye since 1994 to be drafted in the top 10 rounds. The list of Ohio State players that have been drafted in the top 10 rounds since 1990 include:
Year Rnd. Buckeye Team
2002 1st Nick Swisher Oakland A’s
2007 *1st Cory Luebke San Diego Padres
2006 2nd Ronnie Bourquin Detroit Tigers
1991 2nd Mike Durant Minnesota Twins
2004 3rd Scott Lewis Cleveland Indians
1991 3rd Blas sparma Atlanta Braves
1994 4th Matt Beaumont California Angels
1992 5th Scott Klingenbeck Baltimore Orioles
1992 5th Jamie Taylor Cleveland Indians
1991 5th Tim Smith Oakland A’s
2008 6th J.B. Shuck Houston Astros
2003 6th Christian Snavely Toronto Blue Jays
2007 7th Matt Angle Baltimore Orioles
2003 7th Matt Davis Cleveland Indians
2006 8th Jedidiah Stephen Baltimore Orioles
1998 8th Mike Kremblas Toronto Blue Jays
2007 9th Eric Fryer Milwaukee Brewers
2002 9th Doug Deeds Minnesota Twins
*Supplemental selection
###OhioStateBuckeyes.com###
