D-backs select Stryker Trahan with first pick in 2012 First-Year Player Draft

The Arizona Diamondbacks today selected catcher Stryker Trahan out of Acadiana High School (Lafayette, La.) with their first pick (26th overall) in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, according to D-backs’ Director, Scouting Ray Montgomery.

Trahan, 18, batted .460 with 5 home runs, 31 RBI and 39 runs scored as a senior with the Rams in 2012.  As a junior in 2011, the University of Mississippi recruit earned Louisiana All-State accolades, was selected to participate in the Area Code Games and USA Baseball Tournament of Stars while also being named to the Under Armour All-American Team.

“Stryker's offensive profile for behind the dish is certainly a commodity,” said Montgomery. “He is a kid we've watched for two years, and we feel he has a chance to be an impactful offensive player. He's a good athlete, he can run, he can throw and he played football. With the bat profile where it is and the position he plays and the fact that he hits left-handed, it's a pretty good package. We're very, very happy to get it at 26.”

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound left-handed hitter was rated by ESPN.com as the nation’s top high school catcher and eighth-best high school prospect and tabbed by Baseball America as the No. 27 Prospect in today’s draft.

“If you look at his body type, he's big, strong, physical, a lot to his swing like (Brian) McCann does and we'd be elated if he became what McCann is,” said D-backs Executive Vice President & General Manager, Kevin Towers. “We felt Trahan was one of the top two catchers on the entire board.”

Trahan is the 18th first-round selection for the D-backs and ninth taken from the high school ranks. The D-backs had two first-round selections in 2003, 2009 and 2011.

The draft will continue tomorrow with rounds 2-15 and Wednesday with rounds 16-40.