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Despite not having the best 2014 season at A&M, junior RHP Daniel Megnden was the first A&M player selected in this year's MLB Draft. Mengden played his high school ball at Houston's Westside High School, and his hometown Houston Astros selected him in the 4th Round with the 106th overall draft pick.
#Astros select RHP Daniel Mengden out of Texas A&M in the 4th round of the #MLBDraft. He fanned 95 in 103.2 innings for the Aggies in 2014.
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 6, 2014
.@astros take #TAMU RHP Daniel Mengden in the fourth round. Mengden played most of season w/ back issue. Once healthy, SL will be very gd.
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogersPG) June 6, 2014
I wasn't sure what to make of Mengden's MLB Draft stock after this season, but I thought the chances of him coming back for his senior year at A&M were pretty good if he fell in the draft. Being taken in the 4th Round - and especially to the Astros - makes me think there is a very strong chance he'll be signing a pro contract.
Kendall Rogers' tweet is pretty accurate of how this season went for Mengden. He posted a 4-9 record with a 4.08 ERA, but his strikeouts-to-walks ratio - 95 K, which led the team, versus 29 walks - was very impressive. I have a hard time deciding which is his best pitch - his fastball will be in the low-to-mid 90's and can be very good as long as he's locating it consistently, but I think the potential is there for his slider to be his best pitch. There are some mechanical things that the Astros will likely want to clean up, but the Astros are getting an extremely good value pick with Mengden in the 4th round.
If he had been a draft-eligible junior after the 2013 season - in which he went 8-4 with a 2.11 ERA, 94 K, and 24 BB - he very likely would have been taken no later than the second round. I tend to think that Mengden's floor is somewhere around being a late-inning relief guy, and his ceiling probably could have him as high as being a #2 or #3 starter.
Although I would love to have him back in College Station for another year, I'm excited for Mengden to have a chance to start a professional career with the hometown Astros. Congrats, Daniel, and best of luck in the big leagues!