Five Huskers Taken in MLB Draft

Lincoln - A total of five Nebraska baseball players were selected in the 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft which was completed Wednesday.

The group includes pitchers Michael Mariot (eighth round), Ryan Hughes (16th round), Mike Nesseth (17th round) and Sean Yost (24th round) along with outfielder Adam Bailey, who was taken in the 23rd round by the Houston Astros. The three pitching selections in the first 20 rounds marked the fourth time in the last five seasons (also 2006-2008) that at least three Husker pitchers have been selected in the first 20 rounds of the draft.

Mariot was the first Husker selected in the draft, as he was an eighth-round pick (No. 239 overall) to the Kansas City Royals. This was the first time that Mariot has been drafted, as the Southlake, Texas, native went 6-6 with a 4.70 ERA in 14 starts this season. He led the Huskers in strikeouts (82) and innings pitched (73.2) last season and ranked among the Big 12 leaders in innings (10th). Mariot averaged 6.83 innings per appearance, a total which was second among Big 12 pitchers, as he pitched into the seventh inning in each of his final 12 starts on the season. He turned in a team-high seven quality starts, including three against ranked foes. He finished his senior year with a flourish, posting a 2-1 record with a 2.25 ERA in his final three starts, striking out 29 and walking only five while holding opponents to a .207 average. In Big 12 action, he ranked among the conference leaders in strikeouts (55, fifth) and innings pitched (62.2) while reaching the eighth inning in six of his nine starts.

  Mariot, Michael Michael Mariot Stats

Year	era	w-l	app	gs	cg	sho	sv	ip	h	r	er	bb	so
2008....	6.75	2-0	8	0	0	0/1	0	13.1	16	11	10	5	5
2009....	7.06	2-2	19	8	0	0/0	0	51.0	67	42	40	28	36
2010....	4.70	6-6	14	14	1	1/0	0	95.2	100	54	50	30	82
TOTAL...	5.62	10-8	41	22	1	1/1	0	160.0	183	107	100	63	123

 

Hughes was the second Husker taken, as he was chosen in the 16th round (No. 485 overall) by the Oakland Athletics. It was the second time Hughes had been drafted, as he was also taken in the 16th round - 13 picks later - after his first year at Chabot College in 2008. This season, Hughes was 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA in 10 appearances working in short and middle relief. He pitched well over the final two months of the year, posting a 3.86 ERA in his final eight outings.

Hughes, Ryan Ryan Hughes Stats

Year	era	w-l	app	gs	cg	sho	sv	ip	h	r	er	bb	so
2010....	5.40	0-0	10	0	0	0/0	0	10.0	11	6	6	11	6
TOTAL...	5.40	0-0	10	0	0	0/0	0	10.0	11	6	6	11	6

Nesseth became the third NU pitchers taken, as he was chosen in the 17th round by the Philadelphia Phillies (No. 531 overall). It marked the second straight year Nesseth was drafted, as he was a 15th-round pick in 2009. He pitched in 10 games this season, going 1-2 with a 6.43 ERA before undergoing Tommy John surgery in April. He was pitching his best before the injury, not allowing a hit in his final 6.1 innings, including 3.1 perfect innings at Texas on March 21. The Huskers' most experienced pitcher, he is 10-7 with six saves in 57 career appearances, striking out 136 over 116.1 career innings.  As a sophomore, he went 5-4 with a 5.01 ERA, fanning a team-high 73 hitters over 64.2 innings as he split time between starting and relieving.

  Nesseth, Mike Mike Nesseth Stats

Year	era	w-l	app	gs	cg	sho	sv	ip	h	r	er	bb	so
2008....	3.58	4-1	27	0	0	0/0	4	37.2	28	19	15	14	53
2009....	5.01	5-4	20	8	1	0/0	2	64.2	62	40	36	35	73
2010....	6.43	1-2	10	1	0	0/0	0	14.0	16	12	10	6	10
TOTAL...	4.72	10-7	57	9	1	0/0	6	116.1	106	71	61	55	136

Bailey became the first Husker position player selected, as he was taken in the 23rd round by the Houston Astros (No. 693 overall). It makes the second straight year Bailey was picked, as he was a 38th-round selection following his junior season. A first-team All-Big 12 performer, he enjoyed a monster senior season, hitting .368 with 18 homers and 69 RBIs. He currently leads the Big 12 in homers and RBIs and is among Big 12 leaders in slugging percentage (.691, second), total bases (154, third), batting average (ninth) and runs (57, 10th). Bailey led Nebraska in both multi-hit (25) and multi-RBI (22) games, becoming the first Husker since Alex Gordon to have more than 20 multi-hit and multi-RBI games in a season. A two-year starter, he was a career .348 hitter with 30 homers and 119 RBIs in just 104 career contests at Nebraska.

 Bailey, Adam Adam Bailey Stats

Year	avg	gp-gs	ab	r	h	2b	3b	hr	rbi	bb	so	sb-att
2009....	.325	50-48	194	35	63	15	1	12	50	14	30	2-3
2010....	.368	54-54	223	57	82	16	1	18	69	25	43	3-5
TOTAL...	.348	104-102	417	92	145	31	2	30	119	39	73	5-8

 

Year	era	w-l	app	gs	cg	sho	sv	ip	h	r	er	bb	so
2009....	9.31	1-0	5	0	0	0/0	1	9.2	11	11	10	15	7
TOTAL...	9.31	1-0	5	0	0	0/0	1	9.2	11	11	10	15	7

A sophomore right-hander, Yost was drafted for the first time in his career, as he was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 24th round (No. 743 overall). He has been a contributor for the Huskers staff during the past two years, going 4-6 in 37 career appearances. This season, he split time between starting and in the bullpen, going 2-1 with a 6.21 ERA in 19 games. Yost, a Lincoln native, was effective after moving to the bullpen, posting a 3.60 ERA in his last 10 outings of 2010, holding foes to a .212 batting average. He worked in the weekend rotation as a freshmen, fanning 48 over 55.1 innings, including a career high six strikeouts in a complete-game win over Baylor to earn Big 12 Pitcher- of-the-Week honors.

Yost, Sean Sean Yost Stats

Year	era	w-l	app	gs	cg	sho	sv	ip	h	r	er	bb	so
2009....	6.02	2-5	18	8	1	1/0	0	55.1	55	41	37	27	48
2010....	6.21	2-1	19	5	0	0/1	0	33.1	42	28	23	17	23
TOTAL...	6.09	4-6	37	13	1	1/1	0	88.2	97	69	60	44	71