The Kansas City Royals selected TCU pitcher Brandon Finnegan with the 17th pick in the 2014 MLB Draft Thursday evening.
The Fort Worth native has a team-high 122 strikeouts this season to go along with a 2.07 earned run average.
Although slightly undersized at 5-foot-11, Finnegan has struck out 264 batters in his TCU career, which almost puts him in the top-five in school history.
The Texas Rangers selected Finnegan coming out of high school in the 45th round of the 2011 draft. The former star of Southwest High School instead elected to take his talents to TCU.
Finnegan, a junior criminal justice major, earned Honorable Mention All-Big 12 honors as well a spot on the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team in 2013. He also earned a spot on the All-Regional team as a starting pitcher over the weekend.
After the announcement of his being selected by Kansas City, Finnegan tweeted out a message of gratitude.
Thank you so much everyone couldn’t have done it without the support
— Brandon Finnegan (@bfinny29) June 6, 2014
Even if Finnegan chooses to sign with the Royals, which is likely, his journey at TCU is not yet over. The Frogs play a three-game series against Pepperdine this weekend with a spot in the College World Series on the line.
“I’m hoping [the journey ends] with us winning a national championship,” Finnegan said after Wednesday’s practice. “I don’t wanna stop playing yet. I love TCU and I love being here. I don’t want to leave here without a ring.”
Finnegan will make the start in the series opener Saturday against the Waves. First pitch is at 3 p.m. from Lupton Stadium.
