Michigan State junior LHP Joseph Dzierwa (16) throws a pitch at Ray Fisher Stadium on April 26, 2025. The Spartans lost to the Wolverines in the second game 9-2.
After a history-making junior year, Joseph Dzierwa has been drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the second round of the MLB Draft on Sunday.
The 39th draft pick under Head Coach Jake Boss Jr, Dzierwa becomes the first Spartan Pitcher to be taken since Mason Erla was taken in 2021 with the 501st pick.
Dzierwa became the second Big Ten Pitcher of the year this season after a dominant season featuring a 2.36 ERA with 104 strikeouts, ranking first and second in the conference, respectively.
Dzierwa’s 255 career strikeouts in the Spartan threads land him third all-time, while his triple-digit punch out total ranks fourth.
A trio of MSU players were drafted in 2023 with Mitch Jebb (42), Brock Vradenburg (78) and Bryan Broecker (393).
Dzierwa will become the second Spartan pitcher with dreams of making it to the show since 2020 and the first LHP since Mitchell Tyranski was drafted in 2019.
Top performances for the six-foot-eight southpaw came against Oregon and USC late in the season. An 11-strikeout shutout complete game came against Oregon in a 2-0 win. In Los Angeles, Dzierwa rang up eight with two hits and zero runs in a 5-0 win over the No. 25 Trojans.
"He stays off the barrel," Boss said after the Spartans' win over Oregon. "His breaking ball is coming. It's getting better, change up is really good. The fastball, his command is outstanding to both sides of the plate. He just continues to get better and better and better as his career has gone on here."
"He’s been fun for us to watch," Boss said. "I think he proved tonight to a really good offensive team that he's one of the best left-handed arms in the country."
The Dzierwa family trophy case became a little more crowded after the season came to a close. Along with Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors, he was named unanimously to the first-team All-Big Ten, honored as a Golden Spikes semi-finalist and was named to the Perfect Game second-team All-American team.
Dzierwa, a Haskins, Ohio native, will be remembered as one of MSU’s all-time great aces. He posted multiple top-10 single-season strikeout totals, and his 20 career wins rank ninth in program history.
The Orioles rank 15th in the MLB’s farm system rankings after multiple top prospects graduated to the big leagues. Dzierwas's large lefty frame fills a hole in the Orioles system with only one southpaw in their top-30 prospects.
The Athletic's Jim Bowden tagged the Orioles as the biggest winners of night one of the draft. Bowden said taking Dzierwa at No. 58 and JT Quinn at No. 69 was "an impressive haul to say the least."
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