TEMPE, Ariz. - Three Arizona State University baseball student-athletes were selected on the third day of the 2014 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
Drew Stankiewicz was taken in the 11th round (322nd overall) by the Philadelphia Phillies and was the Sun Devils’ highest draft pick. Nate Causey went in the 19th round (563rd overall) to the Colorado Rockies and David Graybill was picked by the New York Yankees in the 33rd round (992nd overall).
Forty-one Sun Devils have been taken in the MLB Draft in head coach Tim Esmay's five seasons at ASU, which is the most of any Div. I school in that time span.
ASU leads all NCAA schools with 399 total MLB draft picks, 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.
Causey and Stankiewicz are both natives of Gilbert, Ariz., and 2011 graduates of Gilbert High School. The duo paced a Sun Devil offense that ranked first in the Pac-12 in the regular season in batting average (.286), slugging percentage (.389), hits (546) and total bases (741), and were second in on-base percentage (.374) and runs scored (325).
Causey started 112 games in his three-year career with the Devils, including 50 this past season. He led the Devils with 65 hits, including 14 doubles and four home runs, as the starting first baseman. He ranked fifth in the conference in the regular season with a .430 on-base percentage and 10th with a .469 slugging percentage, and recorded 31 RBI and scored 32 runs. He drove in 72 runs in his career and tallied more than 125 hits.
Stankiewicz started 124 games in three seasons at ASU, including 87 at shortstop. He made 45 starts in 2014 and was one of four players in the Pac-12 to rank in the top 10 in the regular season in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. He batted a team-high .331 and led the Devils with a .466 slugging percentage, and finished the year with 26 RBI and 34 runs scored. A career .306 hitter, he had more than 140 hits in his career and scored 79 runs.
Stankiewicz and Causey were both selected by the Rockies as high school seniors in 2011, with Stankiewicz going in the 40th round and Causey in the 46th.
Graybill, a product of Brophy Prep and a native of Phoenix, started 11 games in 2014 and appeared in 39 games across his two-year career. He drove in 13 runs and scored 15 behind 25 hits, including seven doubles and a home run. The Los Angeles Dodgers selected him in the 31st round of the 2012 draft.
Four ASU signees in the 2014-15 class were also drafted, including three on the first day and one in the 32nd round.
2014 SUN DEVIL STUDENT-ATHLETES
Drew Stankiewicz, 11th round, 322nd overall, Philadelphia Phillies
Nate Causey, 19th round, 563rd overall, Colorado Rockies
David Graybill, 33rd round, 992nd overall, New York Yankees
2014-15 SUN DEVIL SIGNEES
Ryan Castellani, 2nd round, 48th overall pick, Colorado Rockies
Alex Verdugo, 2nd round, 62nd overall pick, Los Angeles Dodgers
Marcus Wilson, Competitive Balance Round B, 69th overall pick, Arizona Diamondbacks
Tucker Baca, 32nd round, 973rd overall, Atlanta Braves