Former JSerra pitcher Joe Kurrasch was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the eighth round of the 2012 MLB draft. Kurrasch is currently pitching for Penn State as a redshirt junior after transferring from the University of California, Berkeley.
Kurrasch, who lists the Giants as his favorite team on his Penn State website bio, was the 268th overall pick.
As a member of the JSerra team, Coach Brett Kay remembers the big, hard throwing lefty and his talent very well.
“When he came here (as a transfer from Santa Margarita) he immediately became our guy on the mound,” Kay said. “He was a force on both sides of the plate predominantly with his fast ball….He was the guy who wanted the ball. And teams feared him for that.”
Kay went on to say that Kurrasch would consistently throw fastballs upwards of 86 to 89 mph and had two reliable off-speed pitches, a get-me-over curve and a slider that he used as an effective strike out pitch. Kay has not had a chance to see him pitch since he left JSerra.
Kurrasch was solid in his 2011 campaign, which was also his debut season for the Nittany Lions. He went 4-2 with a 2.05 ERA in 16 appearances, 11 of which were starts.
Kurrasch obviously saved his best stuff for when Penn State played other Big Ten schools, as his in-conference ERA dropped to 1.71 and was third in the conference in strikeouts with 78.
Dubbed “Jumbo Joe” by his JSerra teammates, it is unclear whether Kurrasch will accept the offer into the Giants system. If he declines, he will still have two years of college eligibility left, where he can try and improve as a pitcher and possibly improve his draft stock.
