Towson Baseball’s Ethan Pecko drafted by Houston Astros in MLB Draft
By Maritza Falchetti, contributing writer
On July 10, the Houston Astros selected Towson University’s pitcher, Ethan Pecko with the 194th overall pick in the sixth round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft.
Pecko played two seasons with the Tigers after transferring from La Salle University. Within those two seasons, he pitched a total of 21 games for the Tigers.
When Pecko transferred to Towson, he was recovering from a common injury among baseball pitchers.
“We first found out that we had an opportunity to recruit Ethan when he was a player at La Salle University and La Salle was eliminating their men’s baseball program,” said Head Coach Matt Tyner. “At that time, Ethan was recovering from an Ulnar Collateral Ligament replacement, he was coming in a rehab mode.”
Although still battling his injury during his first season as a Tiger, Pecko played in 10 games with seven starts and had 16 strikeouts in 17 innings.
“We were careful we didn’t over pitch him, and by the end of the season he was a major contributor, a guy that when he went out to take the mound we knew we had a chance to win,” Tyner said.
Pecko ended his 2023 season with a 2-2 record, 3.21 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 42 innings. Pecko pitched 759 pitches throughout the season with his career-high 107 pitches against Delaware.
“I’ve told this to many of the scouts that have called me prior to the draft and asked to give them the background or the character… he is the guy on your roster that you want on the mound because he’s a fierce competitor,” Tyner said.
Pecko is the 19th Towson player drafted in MLB since 2018 and is the fourth-highest draftee from Towson.
