Jacob Stallings drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates took the first North Carolina baseball player taken in the 2012 Major League Baseball first year player draft as they selected Jacob Stallings.

Stallings was the 226th pick of the draft as he was taken in the 7th round.

The deadline for draft picks to sign with their team is July 13th.

Stallings was picked in the 42nd round, 1,285th overall by the Cincinnati Reds in last year’s draft but obviously didn’t sign to return to the Tar Heels.

Baseball America projects that the 226th pick in this year’s draft is worth a $148,000 slot bonus.

Stallings owns the single season record for caught stealings as he threw out 32 baserunners in his junior year. In 200 career games, Stallings hit .293 and had 112 RBI. As a freshman Stallings made two appearances on the mound and posted a 1-0 record in 2.0 career innings.

UNC third baseman Colin Moran tweeted his congratulations to Stallings just minutes after the selection.

“@CMOran18: Congrats to the newest Pittsburgh Pirate! @jstalls325”