The Houston Astros draft four catchers every year in the MLB Draft under Jeff Luhnow. Luhnow no has his second catcher with the team’s ninth-round selection. The Astros selected LSU catcher Michael Papierski with the No. 271 pick in the 2017 MLB Draft.
9 (271): @astros select LSU C Michael Papierski. https://t.co/yYdsaHQE74 #MLBDraft
— MLB Draft Tracker (@MLBDraftTracker) June 13, 2017
Papierski, a junior at LSU, from Lemont, IL. Papierski batted .260 (40x154) with 14 extra-base hits (eight home runs), 34 RBIs, 33 runs scored and four stolen bases. He had a .990 fielding percentage and .651 stolen base against percentage in 2017.
NOLA.com ‘s Jim Kleinpeter profiled Papierski before the draft:
Papierski has done a solid job of polishing his skills since high school and has been on a hitting tear in the past 21 games. He has raised his average 44 points in that span to .255 by batting .322 (19 for 59) with five home runs, 17 RBI and 17 runs scored. He has also shown plate discipline with 39 walks, second-most among the Tigers this season.
His defensive skills have never gone into a slump. He has thrown out 21 of 61 runners attempting to steal in 2017, and caught 19 last season. He had five errors and four passed balls in 485 chances for a fielding average of .990. Last year, he was even better with one error and a .997 fielding mark.