Nationals select pitcher Jackson Rutledge with No. 17 pick
By Byron Kerr
The Nationals selected Texas junior college right-hander Jackson Rutledge with the No. 17 selection in the first round of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft. The 6-foot-8, 250-lb. Rutledge is rated as the No. 12 prospect in MLBPipeline.com's Top 200 prospects list.
Rutledge features a 94-97 mph fastball that touches 99 mph, has a wipeout slider and a curveball with the classic 12-to-6 drop.
Rutledge verbally committed to the University of Kentucky for baseball and hails from a suburb of St. Louis, Mo. MLB.com rated him as possibly owning "the best all-around stuff in the draft."
He started his college career at Arkansas. In his first 11 starts at San Jacinto (Texas) College last season, Rutledge recorded a 1.02 ERA with 116 strikeouts in 70 2/3 innings.
General manager Mike Rizzo and assistant general manager Kris Kline will have comments about Rutledge at the end of the first round. Stayed tuned to MASNsports.com for updates as the draft moves along tonight.
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