Nats select left-hander Seth Romero with 25th selection in First-Year Player Draft

The Washington Nationals selected collegiate left-handed pitcher Seth Romero out of the University of Houston with the No. 25 selection in the 2017 First-Year Player Draft. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, and Assistant General Manager & Vice President of Scouting Operations Kris Kline made the joint announcement. Romero, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound left-handed pitcher is considered one of the top collegiate left-handed pitchers in the 2017 First-Year Player Draft. He struck out 85 batters in 48.2 innings pitched while going 4-5 with a 3.51 ERA in 10 games (seven starts) for the University of Houston in 2017. He was named American Athletic Conference (AAC) Pitcher of the Week on two separate occasions (Feb. 20 and March 6). During his three-year collegiate career, he struck out 290 batters in 226.1 innings pitched (11.53 SO/9.0 IP) and walked just 70 batters (2.78 BB/9.0 IP). He entered the 2017 First-Year Player draft rated by MLB.com as the No. 24 draft prospect, and by Baseball America as the No. 27 prospect. Prior to his 2017 season, Romero was named a preseason second-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America, and a preseason third-team All-American by D1Baseball.com. He was named to the 2017 Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List, given annually to the top amateur baseball player by USA Baseball. His 2017 season was truncated by the University of Houston. In his sophomore season (2016), Romero was named second-team All-AAC after going 6-4 with a 2.29 ERA (24 ER/94.1 IP) in 15 games (13 starts) for the University of Houston. He led the club with 113 strikeouts. As a freshman (2015), he was named a Freshman All-American by D1 Baseball, Baseball America and Louisville Slugger. He was named AAC Rookie of the Year and second Team All-Conference after leading the AAC with a 1.94 ERA (18 ER/83.1 IP), while going 7-4 in 22 games (eight starts). A native of West Columbia, Tx., Romero attended Columbia (TX) High School, where he was a four-year letter winner. He was named First Team All-State as a senior after posting a 1.35 ERA and 131 strikeouts in 62.0 innings pitched.