Washington Nationals: Top Five First Round Draft Picks
By Ricky Keeler
Drew Storen – 10th pick, 2009
Due to the Washington Nationals not being able to sign Crow in 2008, they were able to get an extra top ten pick in the 2009 draft. After taking Strasburg with the top pick, they selected a right-handed reliever out of Stanford named Drew Storen with the tenth pick. In his last season with Stanford, he went 7-1 with a 3.80 ERA. had seven saves, and had 66 strikeouts in 42.2 innings.
He would make his Major League debut less than a year later on May 17, 2010 against the Cardinals. Even though Storen is well known for his postseason struggles and his bad second half last year after the team traded for Jonathan Papelbon, he had a strong career in DC.
In his six years with the Nats, Storen went 21-13 with a 3.02 ERA and had 95 saves. During his first full season with the Nats (2011), Storen had 43 saves, which was the fourth most of any reliever in the National League. His 95 saves in 116 chances were the second most saves in Nats’ history. The player who has the most is Chad Cordero (128), who was drafted with the 20th pick by the then Montreal Expos in 2003, where he had 15 saves in 2003-04.
This offseason, Storen was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for center fielder Ben Revere. Even though Storen didn’t shine in the big moments with the Washington Nationals, he has still been the best reliever the organization has drafted.
Next: Number Four