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CEDAR RAPIDS — Not the easiest path to professional baseball. Kind of a tough one, actually.
A few obstacles along the way for Owen Puk.
But the Marion High School grad is on to professional baseball, and that’s the only thing that matters. The right-handed pitcher from
Florida International University
was selected Monday by the
Washington Nationals
in the 18th round of the
2025 Major League Baseball Draft
and will sign a contract with them, he said Monday night.
Puk recently completed his redshirt junior season at the Miami school.
“Going through the process, it’s impossible to predict what’s going to happen,” Puk said. “I was kind of just sitting there waiting around all day, waiting for a call. Just super grateful for the opportunity once I got that call.”
The 6-foot-5 Puk had a 7.43 earned run average in 12 appearances for FIU as a true freshman in 2022, then sat out the entire 2023 season after undergoing Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery.
His ERA grew to 9.69 upon his return last season, but things fell into place this past season. Puk went 4-1 with a 4.84 ERA in 13 appearances, 10 starts, for the Golden Panthers, allowing less hits than innings pitched, cutting down his walks and increasing his strikeout rate.
He said he was pitching at 93 to 97 miles per hour with his fastball and bumped 98 at points.
“Just to use the whole year (2023) to get bigger, stronger and more athletic was important,” he said. “It was useful because I put on some good weight, got a lot stronger and kind of had a whole new body. I was figuring out how to pitch again and using that new strength and everything. Then going into this year, I just felt like I took a big jump in my game.”
Puk’s older brother, A.J., was the
sixth-overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft
by the Oakland Athletics. He has spent parts of six seasons in the major leagues with Oakland, Miami and Arizona and had season-ending surgery last month to insert an internal brace in his left throwing elbow.
Having an up-close view of his pro ball journey will be a benefit, Owen said.
“Seeing everything he’s been through, I talk to him every day,” Owen Puk said. “He’s been a great mentor, a great brother for me. Having him as a brother, learning the game from him and everything, it’s incredible.”
Puk was one of five guys from Eastern Iowa or the University of Iowa to be selected in the 20-round MLB Draft. Pitcher Cade Obermueller, an Iowa City High grad from the U of I, was the highest-drafted player, going to the Philadelphia Phillies in the second round.
Hawkeyes teammate Daniel Wright, a relief pitcher, was taken by the Chicago White Sox in the 10th round. Iowa starting pitcher Aaron Savary (a Dubuque Wahlert grad) went to the Cleveland Guardians in the 13th round and reliever Anthony Watts in the 14th.
Catcher Daniel Rogers has agreed to sign a free-agent contract with the San Francisco Giants, Iowa announced Tuesday. He began his career with Loras College.
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