Four Cowboys Drafted By MLB
Oklahoma State had four players selected in the 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft Tuesday as pitchers Chris Marlowe and Mike Strong and infielders Mark Ginther and Zach Johnson each heard their names called during the draft proceedings.
The 2011 Draft is through the first 30 rounds after today’s selections and will conclude on Wednesday with rounds 31-50. has had at least seven draft picks in each of the previous five years and is averaging eight draftees per year during that span.
Of the four players drafted Tuesday, each had previously been a Major League Baseball Draft pick.
The first Cowboy to hear his name called was pitcher Chris Marlowe, who was taken in the fifth round with the 177th overall pick, besting his status as a 21st-round pick of Toronto a year ago.
A right-handed reliever, Marlowe made a team-high 24 appearances as a junior last season and was 3-3 with a 5.05 . He led the Cowboys with 71 strikeouts and four saves and was an honorable mention All-Big 12 pick.
For the third-straight year, pitcher Mike Strong was drafted as he was taken today by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 10th round. The southpaw was previously drafted by the Chicago White Sox (25th round in 2009) and the Oakland A’s (22nd round in 2010).
In two seasons with the Cowboys, Strong was 9-4 with a 4.02 in 31 games. He also recorded 136 strikeouts in 136.2 innings. He is coming off a senior season in which he was an honorable mention All-Big 12 performer after going 5-1 with a 3.61 and ranking second on the Cowboys with 70 strikeouts.
Mark Ginther was OSU’s next draft pick as the slugging third baseman went in the 14th round to the Chicago White Sox. As a junior this season Ginther was named honorable mention All-Big 12 after hitting .292 with 10 home runs and 33 s.
In three seasons and 152 games with the Cowboys, Ginther, who was a 48th round pick by Philadelphia in the 2008 Draft after a standout career at Jenks High School, has collected 27 homers and 110 s to go along with a .305 batting average.
Rounding out OSU’s draftees was first baseman Zach Johnson, who was taken by the Houston Astros in the 15th round. In his first season with the Cowboys, Johnson was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and an All-Big 12 Second Team performer after leading in a number of categories, including batting average (.356), homers (13), s (63), doubles (21) and slugging percentage (.631).
Johnson was drafted by Oakland in the 48th round a year ago after two seasons at Ohlone Junior College.
2011 Major League Baseball Draftees
5h round – Chris Marlowe, , San Francisco Giants (177th overall)
10th round – Mike Strong, , Milwaukee Brewers (311th overall)
14th round – Mark Ginther, 3B, Chicago White Sox (441st overall)
15th round – Zach Johnson, 1B, Houston Astros (460th overall)
Updated 06-09-2011
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