San José, Calif. – Ruben Ibarra - a junior from Watsonville, Calif. - was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the fourth round of the 2021 MLB Draft on Monday.
This marks the highest selection by a Spartan baseball player since Matt Durkin went 44th overall in the 2004 MLB Draft to the New York Mets.
San José State's highest draft pick in 1?7? years is headed to the @Reds!
— San José State Baseball (@SanJoseStateBSB) July 12, 2021
congratulations, @salty_rube ??
??: https://t.co/C2yhODOuqS pic.twitter.com/Go5EBydGAE
Ibarra was taken with the 119th pick after having a career year with the Spartans. Receiving All-Mountain West recognition at the completion of the 2021 season, the junior led San José State in batting average (.381), OPS (1.353), runs (30), hits (43), doubles (9), home runs (14), RBI (32), total bases (96), slugging percentage (.850), walks (28), on-base percentage (.503), sacrifice flies (4) and fielding percentage (.996).
The Watsonville product ranked among the best in all of Division I in many categories, most notably finishing as the national runner-up in slugging percentage. His 14 home runs this season moved Ibarra to No. 2 on the program's single-season home run leaderboard, finishing just one shy of tying the school record despite playing in 25 fewer games.
Ibarra did set a new program record with .40 home runs per game, toppling the previous high of .25 (a record that stood for 31 years).
Picking up right where he left off in his shortened sensational sophomore season, Ibarra was also named All-Mountain West after the COVID-19 impacted 2020 campaign. He hit .344 with three home runs and eight RBI in just 17 games before the rest of the slate was canceled.
Ibarra is the first Spartan to be selected in the MLB Draft since Kellen Strahm and Andrew Mitchel were taken in 2019. He is the third member of the program to go to the Reds, joining Junior Ruiz (9th round, 2001) and Don Gemmell (12th round, 2002).
With the 119th pick, the @Reds select @SanJoseStateBSB 1B Ruben Ibarra.
— MLB Draft (@MLBDraft) July 12, 2021
Watch live: https://t.co/oDjcuCzH7G pic.twitter.com/09jS5A6iRX
The program has now had nine products in total selected in the top-10 rounds of the draft.