Burleson Selected In Second Round Of 2020 MLB Draft

Complete ECU MLB Draft History

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina junior Alec Burleson was selected in the second round on Day 2 of the 2020 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals (pick 70 overall). He becomes the fourth player to be drafted in the second round or higher and is also the fourth All-American at ECU to be picked by the Cardinals joining Seth Maness (2011), Evan Kruczynski (2017) and Chris Holba (2018).

Also taken in this year's MLB Draft was 2020 signee Koen Moreno (Panther Creek HS) in the fifth round (pick 147 overall) by the Chicago Cubs.

Alec Burleson – 2020 Biographical Sketch
Named First-Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball (utility player) ... Earned CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-America honors … One of five players to start all 17 games during the shortened COVID-19 pandemic season … Member of a squad that posted a 13-4 record and finished ranked nationally in a pair of polls … Named American Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Week (March 9) and AAC Honor Roll (Feb. 24) … Listed by D1Baseball as the 14th-best outfielder and 60th-best starting pitcher in their final player rankings … Stood second on the team (among full-time starters) with a .375 batting average (24-for-64) … Registered five extra base hits (three home runs, two doubles) … Drove in 12 runs while scoring 17 times … Drew eight walks while striking out just three times (multiple walks in a game three times) standing 11th nationally in toughest to strikeout (fanning once every 21.3 at-bats) … Tallied a pair of sac hits … Was 2-for-3 in stolen base attempts … Did not commit an error in 71 chances registering 62 putouts and nine assists playing 3 different positions (LF, 1B and DH) … Hit at a .667 clip (8-for-12) when leading off an inning … Tallied 12 2-out and seven 2-out RBI … Advanced runners at a 50.0 percent rate (18-for-36) … Stood among the team leaders (top five) in nine offensive categories and led the club with 17 runs scored … Registered seven multi-hit and three multi-RBI games … Had season-long eight-game hitting streak (Feb. 28-March 10) batting .516 with 3 HRs, 8 RBI and 9 runs scored … Hit home runs against High Point, Charlotte and Elon … Scored at least one run in 10 of 17 games played (multiple four times) … Stole a pair of bases at Charlotte (March 6) … Reached base in 12-straight games from Feb. 22 to March 10 … Ranked third in The American in batting average (.375) … Drove in sixth career game-winning run against Georgia Southern (Feb. 22) with an RBI double … On the mound, posted a 2-1 record in four starts with a 4.24 ERA … Combined on one shutout (Georgia Southern) where he tossed a career-high eight scoreless frames with seven strikeouts … Surrendered 11 runs (all earned) on 24 hits with 22 strikeouts to just four walks in 23.1 innings … Held opposing hitters to a .267 composite batting average … Induced 22 fly ball and 22 ground outs … Opening Day starter for second-straight year … Worked into the sixth inning in 3 of 4 contests … Tallied six or more strikeouts in 3 of 4 contests with season-best seven twice (Georgia Southern, Charlotte) … Surrendered one or less walks in 3 of 4 outings … Ranked fourth in The American in innings pitched (23.1) and tied for third in fewest walks (4) … Earned inclusion on five preseason All-America teams as a utility player (all first-team) … Preseason national player-of-the-year, John Olerud (two-way) National Player-of-the-Year, Golden Spikes Award and NCBWA Stopper-of-the-Year candidate … Named AAC Preseason Player-of-the-Year by the leagues head coaches.

Career Notes: Selected in the second round of the 2020 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals (pick 70 overall) … Started 107 of 116 playing four different positions (1B, DH, LF, RF) … Following sophomore season (2019) was named to five All-America teams (first-team: ABCA, Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball, NCBWA and Perfect Game) … Earned 2020 First-Team All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball as a utility player ... Two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America selection (third-team/2019, first-team/2020) … Finalist for 2019 John Olerud National Player-of-the-Year Award … First-Team All-South Region selection by ABCA (2019) … Greenville All-Regional Team selection (2019) … Earned First-Team All-AAC honors as an outfielder and was a second-team selection as a utility player (2019) … Named 2019 Offensive Jungle MVP … Earned First-Team Freshman All-America honors (Collegiate Baseball) in 2018 … Named American Athletic Conference Rookie Pitcher-of-the-Year (2018) … Four-time AAC Hitter-of-the-Week and five-time honor roll selection (career) … Named Perfect Game National Player-of-the-Week (Feb. 25, 2018) … Earned Midseason All-America honors from D1Baseball and Perfect Game (2018) … Earned ECU Student-Athlete-of-the-Month accolades in February 2019 … Posted a .341 career batting average (141-for-413) which stands 11th on ECU's all-time career charts … Hit 12 home runs, drove in 91 and scored 68 times … Laced 28 doubles and tallied 205 total bases … Walked 33 times and struck out just 40 in his career (once every 10.3 at-bats) … Tallied 19 sacrifices (seven sac hits, 12 sac flies) … Swiped 8 of 10 bases … Fielded at a .994 clip with 416 putouts, 49 assists, while committing just three errors … Registered 43 multi-hit and 23 multi-RBI games … Recorded six career game-winning RBI … Seven of 12 career home runs came against AAC opponents … On the mound, posted a 13-5 record with nine saves (10th all-time at ECU) … Combined on three shutouts … Appeared in 47 contests making 21 starts … Allowed 61 runs (53 earned) on 130 hits in 137.2 innings for a 3.46 ERA … Struck out 139 batters while walking just 46 … Held opposing hitters to a .249 career composite average … Helped ECU to 104 wins over his two-plus years … Won a pair of American Athletic Conference Championships (2018 tournament, 2019 regular season) … Part of a club that won an AAC-best 20 league games in 2019 … The Pirates hosted back-to-back NCAA Regionals in Greenville earning national seeds (No. 12 in 2018, No. 10 in 2019) … Member of the 2019 Regional Championship club that advanced to the Louisville Super Regional … Helped the Pirates finish first in the nation in total sacrifices (2018 and 2019) as well as leading the country in fielding percentage in 2020 before season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Players Mentioned

Alec Burleson

Chris Holba

Evan Kruczynski

Footer