Oregon State’s new quarterback was a surprise selection in this week’s Major League Baseball draft.

Surprised to see Oregon State quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei picked by the Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday in the final round of the Major League Baseball draft? 

Yeah, so was his baseball coach. 

“How about this D.J. thing?” St. John Bosco baseball coach Don Barbara asked me over the phone. He’s up in Canada to watch his daughter play for Team Italy in an international softball tournament and didn’t exactly plan on spending time this week talking about an athlete who last pitched for him four years ago. 

It’s not that Uiagalelei wasn’t good enough, it’s just, well, football. 

“Unbelievable,” Barbara said. “But, the guy does have a hell of an arm.” 

How good? Well that’s where things get a little complicated. 

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Tyson Alger covered the Ducks for The Oregonian and The Athletic before branching out on his own to create and run The I-5 Corridor. He brings more than a decade of experience on the University of Oregon sports beat. He has covered everything from Marcus Mariota’s Heisman Trophy-winning season to the Ducks’ first year in the Big 10.