Courtesy of GoBonnies.com
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – St. Bonaventure University junior Aaron Phillips turned in one of the finest seasons by any player in Bonnies baseball history this past spring and has continued his amazing year by becoming the highest Major League Baseball draft pick in program history. Phillips was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the ninth round of the MLB Entry Draft with the 276th overall pick on Tuesday evening.
Phillips is the 13th Bonnies player selected in the MLB Draft during the tenure of head coach Larry Sudbrook and the 15th St. Bonaventure draft selection all-time. The highest previous draft selection of any Bonnies player was the 12th round where Brian Pellegrini was taken by the Houston Astros in 2007. The Bonnies have had players chosen in the MLB Draft in three straight years – right-handers Steven Klimek (Baltimore, 2015 33rd round) and Connor Grey (Arizona, 2016 20th round) were picked the past two years.
The 2017 Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year, Phillips finished the season 9-2 overall with a 3.04 ERA. His nine wins tied the program season record while his 90 strikeouts rank second in Bona season history and his 100.2 innings pitched stand third.
His numbers were even better in Atlantic 10 play – Phillips won six of seven decisions with a 2.45 ERA, striking out 60 in 62.1 innings and holding A-10 batters to a .183 batting average. He led the league in wins and fewest hits per nine innings (6.5) while ranking second in strikeouts, fifth in ERA and sixth in WHIP (1.14). One of nine pitchers in the nation to win his first nine decisions, he registered seven or more strikeouts in six of eight A-10 starts while working eight or more innings in conference starts.
Though the Giants declared Phillips as a pitcher with their selection of the Cheektowaga native, he was also important to the Bonnies’ lineup, splitting time between first base and DH when not on the mound. He finished with 26 RBIs and stole 18 bases during the year, earning him a finalist spot for the John Olerud National Two-Way Player of the Year.
The 2017 spring season was a continuation of an incredible year for Phillips. He was named a 2016 Perfect Game/Rawlings Summer Collegiate All-American and one of 10 players nationwide selected to the First Team squad. He went 7-1 with a 1.17 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 54 innings with the Olean Oilers of the New York Collegiate Baseball League, also hitting .395 with a .450 on-base percentage with 54 RBI.
“We took a chance on him after his junior year of high school because we saw good arm action and athleticism,” St. Bonaventure head coach Larry Sudbrook said of Phillips. “He rewarded us by every year getting better exponentially. He jumped three, four or five mph every year. He was throwing 84, 85 mph as a junior in high school and now he touches 93.”
Since 2000, the Bonnies have had seven players picked in the MLB Draft. The last Bonnies player to be picked by the Giants was Vance Cozier in the 17th round of the 1999 draft.
With a year of college eligibility remaining, Phillips will decide this month if he will sign a professional contract or return to St. Bonaventure for his senior season.
“He’s been a good student, a good teammate and a class player for St. Bonaventure,” Sudbrook said. “He will make a decision based on what is best for him.”
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