In a praiseworthy incident, Indian-American left-handed pitcher from Yale University Rohan Handa has been chosen in the Major League Baseball draft at pick No. 146 by the San Francisco Giants. Rohan Handa was the second Indian-American pitcher who has been taken in the draft. He was chosen in the fifth round on July 12.
The 2019 Freshman of the Year, Vanderbilt’s Kumar Rocker was taken in the first round a day earlier at pick No. 10 by the New York Mets.
21-year-old Handa stands at 210 pounds and is 6-foot-3. He was selected by the Giants even though he threw a mere 22 since the year 2019.
Before the college season had to be shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Rohan Handa pitched as many as five innings for Yale in 2020, allowing eight hits, one walk, four runs, one earned run, and one earned run, recording one strikeout.
Handa pitched in the New England Collegiate Baseball League after the Ivy League cancelled their 2021 season due to the deadly pandemic’s effects.
Handa, in the NECBL, pitched 17 innings and allowed nine hits, eight walks, two runs and one earned run, and struck out 25.
A charity to promote child literacy was started by Handa, who speaks three languages, namely Hindi, English and Chinese. Before his 2021 performance, he was preparing for a career outside of baseball.
Handa went back home when the pandemic halted his sophomore season at Yale. He wanted to focus on reinventing himself.
He joined Tread Athletics, which is an online pitching development company. He also worked with Houston-based Dynamic Sports Training.
The Giants eventually selected him.
“It was unbelievable, especially to be drafted by such a class organization like the Giants,” Handa was quoted as saying. “I couldn’t be happier.”
“Obviously, the jump has been made now, but we’re here to get a lot better. There’s a lot of things I still need to work on, and I think the Giants will be the best team for me to really pursue those goals. I’m really looking forward to working with them,” he added.
