Ryne Nelson has taken the next leap in his baseball career as he was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 56th pick in the MLB draft.
Nelson will join a shortlist of Ducks to be drafted in the MLB. Only 49 Oregon players have been selected in the draft since 2009. Additionally, Nelson is the third-highest Oregon player to ever be drafted into professional baseball, surpassed only by Tyler Anderson and David Peterson, who are also both pitchers.
This is the second year that Arizona has drafted a player from Oregon. Matt Mercer was drafted in the fifth round of the 2018 draft.
Nelson acquired many accolades during his three seasons at Oregon. This season he earned first team All-Pac-12 honors. He was first in the conference and fourth in the country in strikeouts per nine innings at 14.4. He also led the Pac-12 with 104 strikeouts this season.
