Hajjar Selected by Minnesota Twins in Second Round of MLB Draft
7/12/2021 2:55:00 PM | Baseball
• MLB Draft Tracker
• Michigan Players Selected in MLB Draft
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan pitcher Steven Hajjar was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the second round (61st overall) in the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft on Monday (July 12).
Hailing from Andover, Mass., Hajjar led the Big Ten Conference with 110 strikeouts, which ranked sixth on the program's single-season list. An All-Big Ten first-teamer and ABCA All-Region selection, he recorded double-digit strikeout totals in three games, with a high of 13 against Michigan State -- a game in which he allowed just one hit over six innings. The lefty started 14 games, posting a 4-2 record and a 3.09 earned-run average against just 66 hits in 81.2 innings. Opposing teams batted just .214 against Hajjar.
Michigan has now had at least one player chosen in the MLB Draft in each of the last nine years under head coach Erik Bakich.
Michigan is one of just seven collegiate programs to have at least one player selected in the first two rounds in each of the last three drafts, with Hajjar joined by Tommy Henry (Arizona Diamondbacks) and Karl Kauffmann (Colorado Rockies), who were selected in the Competitive Balance round, and Jeff Criswell (Oakland Athletics, second round in 2020).
The 2021 MLB Draft is 20 rounds, plus compensation picks and two competitive balance rounds, an increase of 15 rounds from the COVID-shortened 2020 draft, which was just five rounds, but down from the 40-round draft of 2019.
