Janek selected by Astros in first round of MLB draft

FORT WORTH – Sam Houston, junior wide receiver Walker Janek was selected by the Houston Astros with the 28th overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft on Sunday, becoming the third Bearkat ever selected in the first round of the draft.

Janek joins Colton Cowser in 2021 (1st round, 5th pick; Baltimore Orioles) and Glenn Wilson in 1980 (1st round, 18th pick; Detroit Tigers) as Sam Houston’s first-round selections. The Kats have now had 70 all-time MLB draft selections, including 26 drafted since 2014.

A native of Portland, Texas, he was the first catcher and second player from a non-Power 4 school selected in the draft. He is the first Bearkat selected by the Astros since Richard Johnson in 1985.

Additionally, Sam Houston is the only program of the 21 Division I baseball teams in the state of Texas to have multiple first-round selections in the last four years.

Janek entered the 2024 season on the radar as one of the top catchers available for this year’s draft, but has been climbing projections throughout the year after compiling the best college season of his career and entered Sunday projected as a first-round pick by multiple baseball media outlets.

Arguably the most decorated player in Bearkat history, Janek won the Buster Posey Award in June as the nation’s top catcher and was named a first-team All-American by four of the five consensus college baseball media outlets. He was also a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy.

He threw out 16 of 31 stolen base attempts on the year, earning him the CUSA Defensive Player of the Year honors. At the plate, he had his best year as a Bearkat with a .368/.480/.714 batting line and totaled 17 home runs, 15 doubles, five triples and 58 RBIs. In 166 career games as a Kat, he racked up 205 hits, including 36 doubles, six home runs, 37 home runs and 156 RBIs.