Four Big West Conference players were selected on the first day of the 2014 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, which marks the league’s highest total selections prior to the third round since 2005.

Cal State Fullerton’s Matt Chapman, picked 25th overall by the Oakland A’s, becomes the league’s first first-round draft pick since 2010 when Titans Christian Colon and Gary Brown were taken as the 4th (Kansas CIty) and 24th (San Francisco) overall picks. 

Cal Poly’s Matt Imhof was nabbed in the second round by the Philadelphia Phillies as the 47th overall choice and UC Irvine’s Taylor Sparks went 58th to the Cincinnati Reds.  Andrew Morales rounded out the quartet as the 71st selection in the competitive B round by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Chapman, a 2014 All-Big West First Team member, hit .312 this season to rank second on the Titans’ squad, while blasting a .498 slugging percentage to rank fourth in the Big West.  The third baseman from Trabuco Canyon, Calif., also placed second in the league in RBI (48) and doubles (16), third in  home runs (6) and ninth in runs scored (37).  Chapman was named to the Louisville Slugger All-America Third Team by Collegiate Baseball last week.

Imhof posted a 10-4 record and 2.45 ERA as Cal Poly’s Friday night starter.  After leading the country most of the season in strikeouts, the All-Big West First Teamer finished the year second in the league and currently ranks sixth in the country with 124 strikeouts.  He also held his opponents to an impressive .195 batting average, third-best in the conference.

Sparks currently ranks in the Big West’s top 10 in multiple categories, including fifth in runs scored (42), sixth in slugging percentage (.491) and 10th in hits (69).  Earlier this season, the Long Beach Calif., native earned Big West Player of the Week honors after hitting .600 and sporting a 1.000 slugging percentage to guide the ‘Eaters to a 3-0 week.

Morales owns a near perfect 20-2 record during his two-year stint with the Anteaters.  This season the 2014 First Team All-American ranks fourth in the league with a 1.64 ERA  while tying for fifth in the country with a conference-high 128 strikeouts.  The senior from Covina, Calif., can add to his strikeout total this week as he leads UC Irvine to its first Super Regional since 2011.

Rounds 3-10 of the MLB First-Year Player Draft will be announced on Friday beginning at 9:30 a.m. (Pacific).

     

Big West Players Selected
Player (School)                                           Round     Pick   Club                               
Matt Chapman, INF (Cal State Fullerton)    1st            25th    Oakland A’s
Matt Imhof, P  (Cal Poly)                              2nd          47th    Philadelphia Phillies
Taylor Sparks, INF (UC Irvine)                     2nd           58th   Cincinnati Reds
Andrew Morales, P (UC Irvine)                   Comp B     71st    St. Louis Cardinals