Sutter 2024 pitcher Jagger Beck throws a pitch in his final home start against Hughson in the second round of the 2024 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division V playoffs.

SUTTER, CA (MPG) - Sutter 2024 pitcher Jagger Beck’s big league dream came true as he signed with a Major League Baseball team on Thursday, July 26.

Beck signed with the Houston Astros as an undrafted free agent to a six-year contract.

The 2024 MLB Draft was held July 14 through 16 where 615 baseball players were selected in the 20-round draft across the 30-team league. The draft was previously 40 rounds up until 2021 before the 2022 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) ratified the draft to 20 rounds.

Beck signed his national letter of intent (NLI) to play baseball for the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa in November 2023. 

Although players may not get the call to be drafted, they can still sign with MLB clubs as undrafted for their first professional contract.

Beck told the Dispatch that signing with Houston was the best decision for him to move forward with his baseball career, and he said since he had the opportunity to sign now, he took the opportunity.

He added that he signed with the Astros because they were the most loyal throughout his senior season at Sutter this past spring. 

“They came to all of my starts, and when I got sick, they (Houston) stayed with me the entire time,” Beck said.

Beck had an illness where he missed a couple starts and dropped weight and it took him a while to get back to a full 100 percent.

The Dispatch was the first media outlet to put out Beck’s signing with the Astros as it was finalized on July 26 on multiple social media platforms.

Beck expressed that the process during the week of the signing was fun, great, but hectic due to him traveling through a couple states within a three-day time span. 

Beck told the Dispatch he is going to be with Houston’s player development in Florida for the remainder of the MLB season.

In the next couple of months, Beck said that he wants to get better in the time he is in Florida and build rapport with people in the game because everyone has different opinions and can talk with multiple people for training afterwards.

He added that throughout the developmental process he will be doing a lot of strength and conditioning training as well as trying to add velocity, along with intrasquad.

Sutter baseball head coach Stewart Peterson told the Dispatch that Beck is the first person from the Huskies baseball program to sign with an MLB club since 2014 alumnus Brad Bonnenfant signed with the Kansas City Royals in 2019 as an UDFA from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Peterson expressed his happiness and added that the Astros were consistently present for Beck’s senior season at Sutter.

Peterson told the dispatch that his advice as a mentor/coach for Beck would be to stay in the moment, work hard and not take anything for granted.