Alex Wimmers has already distinguished himself on the playing field as an Ohio State Buckeye by becoming the first-ever back-to-back Big Ten Pitcher of the Year.
Wimmers, a draft-eligible junior from Cincinnati and Archbishop Moeller High School, became only the sixth first-round draft pick in Ohio State history when the Minnesota Twins chose him with the 21st pick of the first round in the 2010 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft. He joins an exclusive list of Ohio State first-rounders that includes current New York Yankee Nick Swisher, the 16th overall pick of the 2002 first-year player draft.
Ohio State First-Round Draft Selections
Alex Wimmers 2010ย ย ย Minnesota Twinsย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย 21st pick (MLB First Year Player Draft)
*Cory Luebkeย 2007ย ย ย San Diego Padresย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย 63rd (MLB First Year Player Draft)
Nick Swisherย ย 2002ย ย ย Oakland Athleticsย ย ย ย ย ย ย 16th (MLB First Year Player Draft)
Barry Bonnellย 1975ย ย ย Philadelphia Philliesย ย ย ย 1st (January Secondary Draft)
Roger Sextonย ย 1967ย ย ย Cleveland Indiansย ย ย ย ย ย ย 12th (January Draft)
Steve Arlinย ย ย ย ย ย 1966ย ย ย Philadelphia Philliesย ย ย ย 13th (June Secondary Draft)
*Supplemental first-round pick
โIt is such a huge relief to hear your name called,โ Wimmers said Monday night after hearing his name called while at a gathering of friends, family and teammates just off the Ohio State campus. โThis week has been pretty crazy. Iโm glad to be a Minnesota Twin.โ
Actually, Wimmers never really got to hear his last name called by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig during the draft telecast on the MLB Network. After getting a phone call from his advisor at 8:39 p.m. alerting him that that Twins were deciding between Wimmers and one other player, the crowd exploded in a roar about 15 minutes later once Selig said the โMinnesota Twins select Alexโฆโ
In his three seasons at Ohio State, two of them as a starter, Wimmers ranks among Ohio Stateโs all-time Top 5 in four key statistical areas and he is sixth in another. He is fourth at Ohio State in fewest runs allowed (81) and he is fifth in strikeouts (273), fewest earned runs allowed (71) and fewest hits (173). He is also sixth in earned run average (2.94). He is 23rd all-time with 18 career victories.
This past season Wimmers posted a 9-0 record for the Buckeyes โ the most wins in an undefeated season for a Buckeye hurler โ while leading the Big Ten in ERA (1.60) and opposing batting average (.218). He struck out 86 batters in 73.0 innings to climb into a tie for 16th-place all-time in the Big Ten Conference with his 273 strikeouts. He repeated as the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year.
Also this season Wimmers, who missed four weeks and three starts late in the year with a hamstring injury, has been named a first-team All-America by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. He is a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the College Baseball Foundationโs Pitcher of the Year Award, and he is one of 25 finalists for the Dick Howser Trophy.
Wimmers was 9-2 with a 3.27 ERA in 2009 when he was named first-team All-America by PING! Baseball and second- or third-team All-America by five other awarding publications. He was co-Pitcher of the Year in the Big Ten Conference.
