COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M standout Michael Wacha is headed to Cincinnati as a member of the National League squad for Tuesday’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
If called on to pitch in Tuesday’s game, Wacha would be the first Aggie to take the mound in an MLB All-Star Game and the first Texas A&M player to play in the game since Chuck Knoblauch in 1997.
In his third season with the St. Louis Cardinals, Wacha has made 17 starts in 2015, registering a 10-3 record with a 2.93 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 107.1 innings of work.
For his career, Wacha is 19-10 in 51 games, including 45 starts. He owns a 3.00 ERA with 245 strikeouts in 279.0 innings.
As a rookie in 2013, Wacha earned National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player honors, going 2-0, working 13.2 scoreless innings, scattering seven hits and two walks while striking out 13.
Prior to Wacha’s appointment, four Aggies earned spots on a total of 12 All-Star Game rosters, paced by Knoblauch and Davey Johnson with four apiece. Knoblauch was selected as a reserve on four occasions, all with the Minnesota Twins (1992, ’94, ’96, ’97). Johnson earned spots on the American League team on three occasions (1968-70), including being named the starting second baseman in 1970, and the NL squad in 1973. He did not play in the 1969 game. Johnson was also the winning manager of the 1987 All-Star game as the National League posted a 2-0 victory in 13 innings.
Wally Moon made three All-Star Game appearances, including starting both the July 1959 and August 1959 games in leftfield for the National League. Beau Bell was selected as a reserve for the 1937 All-Star Game, but all eight American League position starters played the entire game.
In his three-year Aggie career, the 6-foot-6 hurler posted a 27-7 record with a 2.40 ERA and 336 strikeouts, the fourth most all-time at Texas A&M. His 27 victories are tied for seventh all-time with Aggie legend Casey Fossum.
Wacha went 9-1 with a 2.06 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 113.1 innings for the Aggies as a junior in 2012. He was named All-America Second Team by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball and Third Team by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
In 2011, he helped guide the Aggies to the College World Series, registering a 9-4 record with a 2.29 ERA and 123 strikeouts in 129.2 innings. Wacha garnered Baseball America All-America Third Team recognition for his work.
As a freshman, Wacha was 9-2 with a 2.90 ERA, one save and 97 strikeouts in 105.2 innings.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics