Royals select pitcher Brandon Finnegan in first round of Draft
KANSAS CITY, MO (June 5, 2014) - The Kansas City Royals have selected Brandon Finnegan, a left-handed pitcher from Texas Christian University, with the 17th overall pick of the June Free Agent Draft.
The 21-year old Finnegan, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound hurler from Fort Worth, Texas, is 8-3 with a 2.07 ERA (21 ER in 91.1 IP) and 122 strikeouts for the Horned Frogs this season. The 2013 member of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team earned All-Big 12 First Team Honors. He was recently named to the Fort Worth Region All-Tournament team, after tossing the first 7.1 innings of TCU's first-round win over Siena (2-1) last Friday. He had five starts this season where he pitched 7.0 innings or more without allowing a run. Finnegan has led the Horned Frogs in strikeouts each of the last two seasons, posting 85 in 2013 to go along with 122 this year. He was tabbed All-Big 12 Honorable Mention following his sophomore year, where he posted a 3.18 ERA in 15 starts.
A 2011 graduate of Southwest High School in Fort Worth, he was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 45th round of the June Free Agent Draft that year, but opted to pitch at TCU. He was a two-time all-district performer in high school and was named all-state as an outfielder following his senior campaign.