PHOENIX - Five members of the Sun Devil Baseball program were selected over three days of the 2018 MLB Draft, led by fifth-round pick Gage Canning.
Canning, a junior outfielder, was selected with the 161st pick of the draft by the Washington Nationals in the fifth round, becoming the 15th Sun Devil since 2010 to go in the first five rounds of the MLB Draft.
RHP Fitz Stadler went to the Toronto Blue Jays with the 536th pick of the 18th round and he was followed by LHP Eli Lingos to the Cleveland Indians in Round 22 with the 673rd overall pick. Catcher Lyle Lin was taken by the Houston Astros in the 29th round with the 882nd pick while Connor Higgins rounded out the ASU selection in the 30th round as the Los Angeles Angels selected him with the 901st overall pick.
ASU leads all NCAA schools with 437 total MLB draft picks including the 2018 selections, and at least one Sun Devil has been drafted every year since the draft's inception in 1965. The first-ever MLB draft pick was former Sun Devil Rick Monday.
Sixty-one Sun Devils have been taken in the MLB Draft since 2010, including 20 in the past four seasons.
Canning wrapped the season as one of the elite five-tool players in the country, finishing with a .369 average and a Pac-12 leading 87 hits on the season. Canning was the national leader in triples with 11, and now has 25 in his career at ASU – good for third in school history and the most since Ed Irvine tied the school record of 26 between 1977-79.
Canning reached base in 54 of 55 games for the Sun Devils this season and logged a hit in 47 of those. He led the team with multiple hits in 26 games and had 11 games with three or more hits, becoming the first Sun Devil player to have at least 10 games with 3+ hits since Brett Wallace did so from 2007-08.
With one more home run, Canning would have become the first player in the BBCOR batting era (since 2011) to record double digit numbers in doubles, triples AND home runs. He finished the season with nine homers, 17 doubles and 11 triples, slugging .648 for the season – good for third in the Pac-12 and 38th nationally.
Defensively, Canning was flawless after shifting to center field and logged just one error on the season on 144 chances for a .993 fielding percentage. The lone error came from right field in the opening weekend on play on a fluke play where his throw to second base skipped off a runner sliding into the bag and into the outfield. His spot on the Pac-12 All-Defensive team was the first of his career.
Stadler made 13 appearances with 18 strikeouts for the Sun Devils this season in just over 20 innings pitched. The junior induced a team-best eight double double plans on the season.
Lingos made over 40 career starts for the Sun Devils with over 60 appearances, collecting 17 career wins. He finished his career with over 200 career strikeouts in over 250 career innings pitched.
Lingos lowered his ERA in each of his four seasons at ASU while he increased his win and strikeout totals each year as well. He finished his senior season with a career-low 3.83 ERA with career highs in wins (7), strikeouts (72) and innings pitched (91.2).
Lin earned All-Pac-12 recognition for the second consecutive season and was a warrior behind the plate for ASU, starting all 55 games on the season with 49 of those coming at catcher.
Lin bat .312 on the campaign with 16 doubles and 72 total hits. He helped turn nine double plays on the season and caught 11 runners trying to steal a base on the year.
Higgins was a prominent role player off the bench the past two years, finishing second on the team with 23 appearances during his junior season. He struck out 20 and earned two victories.
Higgins was drafted for the second consecutive season after electing to return to ASU after being selected by the Texas Rangers in the 35th round of the 2017 MLB Draft. Higgins had a breakout sophomore campaign, holding opponents scoreless in 11 out of his 19 appearances and totaling a 3.92 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 39 innings.
Canning, a junior outfielder, was selected with the 161st pick of the draft by the Washington Nationals in the fifth round, becoming the 15th Sun Devil since 2010 to go in the first five rounds of the MLB Draft.
RHP Fitz Stadler went to the Toronto Blue Jays with the 536th pick of the 18th round and he was followed by LHP Eli Lingos to the Cleveland Indians in Round 22 with the 673rd overall pick. Catcher Lyle Lin was taken by the Houston Astros in the 29th round with the 882nd pick while Connor Higgins rounded out the ASU selection in the 30th round as the Los Angeles Angels selected him with the 901st overall pick.
ASU leads all NCAA schools with 437 total MLB draft picks including the 2018 selections, and at least one Sun Devil has been drafted every year since the draft's inception in 1965. The first-ever MLB draft pick was former Sun Devil Rick Monday.
Sixty-one Sun Devils have been taken in the MLB Draft since 2010, including 20 in the past four seasons.
Canning wrapped the season as one of the elite five-tool players in the country, finishing with a .369 average and a Pac-12 leading 87 hits on the season. Canning was the national leader in triples with 11, and now has 25 in his career at ASU – good for third in school history and the most since Ed Irvine tied the school record of 26 between 1977-79.
Canning reached base in 54 of 55 games for the Sun Devils this season and logged a hit in 47 of those. He led the team with multiple hits in 26 games and had 11 games with three or more hits, becoming the first Sun Devil player to have at least 10 games with 3+ hits since Brett Wallace did so from 2007-08.
With one more home run, Canning would have become the first player in the BBCOR batting era (since 2011) to record double digit numbers in doubles, triples AND home runs. He finished the season with nine homers, 17 doubles and 11 triples, slugging .648 for the season – good for third in the Pac-12 and 38th nationally.
Defensively, Canning was flawless after shifting to center field and logged just one error on the season on 144 chances for a .993 fielding percentage. The lone error came from right field in the opening weekend on play on a fluke play where his throw to second base skipped off a runner sliding into the bag and into the outfield. His spot on the Pac-12 All-Defensive team was the first of his career.
Stadler made 13 appearances with 18 strikeouts for the Sun Devils this season in just over 20 innings pitched. The junior induced a team-best eight double double plans on the season.
Lingos made over 40 career starts for the Sun Devils with over 60 appearances, collecting 17 career wins. He finished his career with over 200 career strikeouts in over 250 career innings pitched.
Lingos lowered his ERA in each of his four seasons at ASU while he increased his win and strikeout totals each year as well. He finished his senior season with a career-low 3.83 ERA with career highs in wins (7), strikeouts (72) and innings pitched (91.2).
Lin earned All-Pac-12 recognition for the second consecutive season and was a warrior behind the plate for ASU, starting all 55 games on the season with 49 of those coming at catcher.
Lin bat .312 on the campaign with 16 doubles and 72 total hits. He helped turn nine double plays on the season and caught 11 runners trying to steal a base on the year.
Higgins was a prominent role player off the bench the past two years, finishing second on the team with 23 appearances during his junior season. He struck out 20 and earned two victories.
Higgins was drafted for the second consecutive season after electing to return to ASU after being selected by the Texas Rangers in the 35th round of the 2017 MLB Draft. Higgins had a breakout sophomore campaign, holding opponents scoreless in 11 out of his 19 appearances and totaling a 3.92 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 39 innings.