Baseball's Gruener and Poppen Selected in MLB Draft

The two aces of the Harvard baseball team’s pitching staff were both selected in last week’s Major League Baseball Draft. Sean Poppen ’16 and rising senior Nick Gruener '17, key cogs for the most successful Crimson team in coach Bill Decker’s tenure, combined for eight victories, 96 strikeouts, and a 2.91 earned run average in 18 starts this season.

Poppen was taken by the Minnesota Twins in the 19th round while his teammate was taken by the Baltimore Orioles three rounds later. Poppen, a chemistry and physics double major from Winthrop House, finished his collegiate career with 211 and a third innings pitched and made at least eight starts in each of his four seasons in Cambridge. He was the seventh college pitcher selected by the Twins and was the third Ivy League player taken in the draft, behind Dartmouth right-hander Duncan Robinson, who was taken by the Chicago Cubs in the ninth round, and Columbia second baseman Will Savage, a 16th round pick of the Detroit Tigers.

Gruener will have the opportunity to return to Harvard for his senior season. The Miami native was a second team All-Ivy selection as a junior, led the Crimson in strikeouts, wins, and innings pitched, and was the Ivy League’s leader in complete games, with seven. Gruener was the second Ancient Eight junior selected (behind only Savage) and was the third Ivy right-hander off the board.

Columbia, Dartmouth, and Harvard each had two players selected over the three-day draft. Robinson was joined by rotation mate Michael Danielak while the Lions’ duo consisted of Savage and right-hander George Thanopoulos. Brown lefty Austin French and Yale right-hander Chasen Ford rounded out the conference’s eight selections.

Harvard currently has four players in the minor leagues. Brent Suter ’12 and Frank Herrmann ’06 currently appear the closest to reaching The Show. A left-handed pitcher, Suter has spent the entire season with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. Herrmann is a righty with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the triple-A farm team for the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Crimson’s two most recent draft picks prior to Poppen and Gruener, Tanner Anderson ’15 and Mike Martin ’15, are both playing at the single-A level. Anderson is a right-handed pitcher in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization while Martin is an outfielder in the Oakland A’s system. While it has been almost four years since a Harvard graduate (Herrmann) has thrown a pitch in a Major League game, Harvard baseball may be coming to a big league ballpark near you in the not too distant future.

Ivy League Players Selected in 2016 MLB Draft

Austin French- Brown LHP 27 (821)

Will Savage- Columbia 2B 16 (475) Jr.

George Thanopoulos- Columbia RHP 27 (800)

Duncan Robinson- Dartmouth RHP 9 (284)

Michael Danielak- Dartmouth RHP 28 (855) Jr.

Sean Poppen- Harvard RHP 19 (573)

Nick Gruener- Harvard RHP 22 (661) Jr.

Chasen Ford- Yale RHP 27 (804) Jr.

—Staff writer Stephen J. Gleason can be reached at stephen.gleason@thecrimson.com.