The Astros select 6'0" 205lb lefty OF Jake Goebbert from Northwestern University.
Goebbert missed the last bit of the season with a lacerated kidney (jeesh) after crashing headlong into the outfield wall at the Metrodome.
Goebbert:
"It’s a FieldTurf field and a white ceiling, so you really have to watch the ball in the air. I didn’t feel the warning track and ran into the outfield wall at a dead sprint."
It gets better. He only thought he cracked a rib, so he stayed in the game, came up to bat next inning, and hit a double off the outfield wall. But then...
"When I got to second base, I knew something else was wrong. I couldn’t catch my breath."
That's hardcore.
He was a 2nd Team All-Big Ten selection in 2008, and his 2009 line in 30 game was...
30x107 (.280/.403/.486), 14XBH-23RBI, 15K:18BB.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith