Mariners' 1st rounder Kyle Lewis makes Mercer history

The Seattle Mariners took highly touted slugger Kyle Lewis, a hulking 6-foot-4 outfielder from Mercer, with the 11th overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft on Thursday.

He's the first athlete out of Mercer in the NBA, MLB, or NFL drafts to be selected in the first round.

Undrafted out of high school, Lewis was among the top offensive threats in the country this season when he slammed 17 homers and batted .367 in 54 games. Evaluators believe the 20-year-old outfielder swings a powerful enough bat from the right side to make up for a high-maintenance approach. From ESPN Insider Keith Law:

Lewis has electric hands - he homered over the batter's eye in the pro park in Greenville, South Carolina, last week, slightly to the opposite side of dead center - and 30-homer potential, but someone is going to have to kill his leg kick and quiet down his approach to get that power to play.

Under MLB draft spending rules, the Mariners can spend up to $3,286,700 of their $7,136,000 allotted bonus pool on the No. 11 pick without being penalized.

(Video courtesy: MLB.com)