Nationals use first-round pick on Maryland native Hacopian
With the 11th pick in the MLB Draft, the new-look Nats selected Texas A&M second baseman Chris Hacopian, a Montgomery County native
With their first draft pick since taking over the organization, a new Nationals front office with roots in Boston, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay found their guy right here in the DMV.
The club selected Montgomery County native, former Maryland second baseman and lifelong Nats fan Chris Hacopian with the 11th overall pick, trusting his massive offensive skills will outweigh his less-impressive defensive profile after posting big numbers this season upon transferring to Texas A&M.
A Nationals front office led by new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni and assistant general manager for acquisitions Justin Horowitz was linked to a number of college bats in the days leading up to today’s MLB Draft. They wound up choosing one of them in Hacopian, the 21-year-old local product who went to Churchill High School in Potomac and then followed his father, Derek, and his brother, Eddie, to College Park.
“I’m so stoked to get to work,” he said during a Zoom call with reporters. “At the end of the day, I get to play more baseball, I get to play at a higher level and I get to do it with an organization that has had so much success and I grew up rooting for. I don’t even know how to say this, but it’s just such a blessing.”
