By Bill Center

“Closest to the Major Leagues” is a term used to discuss the potential of selections during every June draft.

When the Padres used their third pick of the first round in June’s draft to select Kent State left-handed pitcher Eric Lauer, observers immediately identified the 21-year-old as one of the “closest to the Major Leagues” picks in this year’s draft.

And Lauer has done nothing to change those assessments in his first six professional outings.

After two starts in the Arizona Rookie League, Lauer was promoted to short-season Single-A Tri-City.

Thursday night, in his fourth start in the Northwest League, Lauer allowed three hits and a walk with seven strikeouts over four scoreless innings. It was his longest outing as a professional and his most strikeouts.

Lauer has yet to allow a run over 13 innings at Tri-City. He has allowed eight hits and three walks with 17 strikeouts. Overall, he has a 1.59 earned run average as a professional. He has allowed 15 hits and four walks with 24 strikeouts in 17 innings.

Lauer was the 25th overall pick in June as the Padres’ third selection in the first round after having a record-setting junior season at Kent State University.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound was a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award as the best player in college baseball this season while posting the lowest ERA for a NCAA starting pitcher since 1979.

Lauer posted a 10–2 win-loss record with Kent State this season with a 0.69 ERA in 104 innings. His 4.2 hits allowed per nine innings was the second-best mark in the NCAA and his 125 strikeouts ranked fifth.