A&M's AJ Minter invited to USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training

Texas A&M Baseball will have a chance to be represented on the USA Baseball Collegiate National team this summer for the second time in as many seasons. Last year, RHP Daniel Mengden earned a spot on the team's roster, and this year sophomore LHP AJ Minter has been selected to the initial 30-man roster. This will give AJ the opportunity to compete for one of the 24 spots on the final roster, which will be announced on June 29.

Minter put together a strong 2014 season out of the bullpen for the Aggies, tossing 24.1 innings over 26 appearances and allowing just 5 runs on 20 hits. Minter finished the season with a 3-0 record, 2 saves, an ERA of 1.85 and 24 strikeouts compared to 12 walks. The Collegiate National Team camp will begin on June 19, with the team playing against various collegiate summer league teams from June 21-30. After the final 24-man roster is named, the team will play series against Chinese Taipei and Japan here in the states and travel to both Cuba and the Netherlands.

Texas A&M did not have a player selected for the Collegiate National Team in 2012, but 2 Aggies - RF Tyler Naquin and RHP Michael Wacha - made the team in 2011. If you're seeing a pattern among the Aggies who have been selected to that team, you would be correct - all 3 of those Aggies have been drafted within the first 4 rounds of the MLB Draft.

Daniel Mengden was just selected in the 4th round of the 2014 draft by the Houston Astros, while Wacha and Naquin both were taken in the first round of the 2012 draft. Wacha - taken by the Cardinals with the 19th overall pick - has made a very quick transition to the big league roster, helping lead the Cardinals to the 2013 World Series and earning NLCS MVP honors on the way. Naquin, meanwhile, was selected with the 15th overall pick by the Indians and he is currently hitting .316 with a .373 on-base percentage for their AA affiliate team.

Congratulations to AJ and best of luck!