Michigan State's Joseph Dzierwa was picked 48th overall by the Baltimore Orioles, the highest for an MSU pitcher since Mark Mulder went No. 2 in 1998.
Michigan State left-hander Joseph Dzierwa became the highest Spartan pitcher selected in the Major League Baseball Draft in 27 years on Sunday night.
The Baltimore Orioles picked Dzierwa in the secound round, 58th overall.
MSU's Mark Mulder was drafted as the No. 2 pick of the first round in the 1998 MLB Draft. Dzierwa is the second Spartan selected in the second round in the past three drafts as shortstop Mitch Jebb was selected in the second round, 41st overall, in 2023.
Dzierwa posted an 8-3 record with a 2.36 ERA this spring as a junior, striking out 104 batters in 91.2 innings in 15 starts. The 104 strikeouts, which were second in the Big Ten and 23rd in the nation, gave him 255 for his career, putting him third on MSU's career strikeout list. Dzierwa threw one complete game shutout and was part of four combined shutouts as he held hitters to a .201 average.
Dzierwa, a native of Haskins, Ohio, recently became just the third-ever MSU baseball player to earn both athletic and academic All-American Honors in the same season.
Dzierwa was named a National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Second-Team All-America honoree, in addition to garnering Perfect Game Second-Team All-American accolades, receiving American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings Third-Team All-America honors and being named to D1Baseball’s Third-Team All-America list.
Dzierwa was a national semifinalist for three major awards, including USA Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award and NCBWA’s Dick Howser Trophy and College Baseball Foundation’s National Pitcher of the Year Award, as presented by the College Baseball Foundation. He was also named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and and was the only unanimous selection to the Big Ten's First Team.
Dzierwa’s selection marks the fourth Spartan drafted in the last three years. A trio of Spartans were drafted in 2023, marking the first time that MSU had three draft selections in the same draft since 2019, with Jebb (2nd round, Pittsburgh Pirates), Brock Vradenburg (3rd round, Miami Marlins) and Bryan Broecker (13th round, Tampa Bay Rays).
Michigan State has now had 39 players selected in the draft in 17 seasons under head coach Jake Boss Jr.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State's Joseph Dzierwa selected in 2nd round of MLB draft
Category: General Sports
