Iowa 1B Jake Adams Selected by Houston Astros in 6th Round

Jake Adams might not have worn an Iowa uniform for long, but he made the most of his junior campaign and has officially been drafted by the Houston Astros.

Adams, who transferred to Iowa from Des Moines Area Community College last year, hit .335 and led the nation with 29 home runs in his first year in the Big Ten. He also drove in 72 runs and slugged an absurd .747 in 2017, forcing a lot of pro teams to take notice.

Of course, just because he’s been drafted doesn’t mean he’s officially gone. There’s still a chance that he could return to Iowa for his senior season, but there’s probably a very slim chance he chooses to do so - it would be incredibly difficult to improve his stock after a huge breakout season and he has his best chance to make the most possible money this time around since he can use going back to school as leverage. While it’d be great to see him back in the black and gold next year, he doesn’t have much left to prove at this level.

Having been drafted by the Astros, there is good news for Iowa fans - with the Quad City River Bandits being an affiliate of Houston, there’s a really good chance he’ll be around to watch for folks in Eastern Iowa. If you didn’t get a chance to watch him don a Hawkeye uniform, you’ll probably get a chance in the next year or so.

Adams is the highest drafted Hawkeye since 1999, when the Kansas City Royals drafted Wes Obermueller with the 58th pick in the second round. The Hawkeyes have now had at least one player drafted in every year since 1965 when the first MLB amateur draft took place.