STANFORD, Calif. – Juniors Nico Hoerner and Kris Bubic were each selected on the first day of the Major League Baseball Draft on Monday.
Hoerner was picked 24th overall in the first round by the Chicago Cubs and Bubic was drafted 40th overall in the Competitive Balance Round-A by the Kansas City Royals. Hoerner and Bubic are the first pair since Mark Appel (1st overall) and Austin Wilson (49th overall) in 2013 to be drafted in the first two rounds.
Nico Hoerner
Hoerner, a native of Oakland, was an All-Pac-12 selection for the second straight season after batting .345 with 17 doubles, 40 RBI and a team-high 45 runs. He is the first Cardinal to be picked in the first round since Cal Quantrill in 2016.
Ready for this, @Cubs? @nico_hoerner ?? #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/NzAXEGhiN9
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) June 5, 2018
Hoerner ranked second on the team with 115 total bases, starting all 57 games he appeared in. Hoerner is Stanford's first middle infielder drafted since Drew Jackson was picked in the fifth round of the 2015 draft.
Kris Bubic
Bubic, who hails from nearby San Jose, led the team in strikeouts (101) and was named All-Pac-12 for the second consecutive season. He finished 8-1 with a 2.62 ERA in 86.0 innings, holding opposing hitters to a .199 batting average.
Kris Bubic is headed to the @kcroyals with the 40th pick! #GoStanford
A post shared by Stanford Baseball?? (@stanfordbsb) on Jun 4, 2018 at 7:50pm PDT
Bubic was named a preseason All-American by D1 Baseball, Baseball America, NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, and was a member of the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list.
Rounds 3-10 continue Tuesday at 10 a.m. PT on MLB Network, followed by Rounds 11-40 at 9 a.m. PT on Wednesday.