Arizona State's Alika Williams Selected in the First Round of the MLB Draft
Arizona State University had two athletes selected in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft on June 10th. First, was Sun Devil first baseman, Spencer Torkelson, who was taken first overall by the Detroit Tigers as a third baseman. Torkelson made history by being the first Sun Devil taken first overall since way back in 1978. According to ASU Athletics, Torkelson being selected first overall marked the first third baseman to go that high since 1998 with Pat Burrell, this also marked the highest pick of any Arizona State sports since 2009 when James Harden was taken in the 3rd round of the NBA Draft by Oklahoma City and ASU now holds 22 first round picks which is the second in NCAA History.
Not only was Torkelson and ASU athletics making history, but also dreams were coming true for one other Sun Devil.
With the 37th pick in the first round of the MLB draft the Tampa Bay Rays selected ASU shortstop, Alika Williams. Jim Callis with MLB Pipeline had this to say about the shortstop,
“His defense really stands out with Alika. You know he can play shortstop … He might be the best college shortstop in the country in terms of defense … He hits for decent average. There’s not a lot of power.”
In 129 games as a Sun Devil Williams had 139 hits. In 2019 he received All Pac-12 honorable mention due to him posting career highs in batting average with a .333 and RBIs with 53.
The Sun Devils were able to lead off the MLB Draft and closed it out too. ASU is quickly showing why they are the place to be to develop talent for the next level.
