The Astros selected Stanford pitcher Mark Appel with the first overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft on Thursday night.

"I talked to him and told him: 'Welcome home,'" general manager Jeff Luhnow said. "It's a kid's dream to go first in the country, first in the draft and to be taken by your hometown team. It just doesn't get any better than that. It's also really a great opportunity for us."

Appel grew up in Houston before moving to California when he was 12. He was selected by the Pirates with the eighth overall pick last year, but turned down a $3.8 million offer and returned to Stanford for his senior season.

"I don't think I necessarily had an end goal in mind when I turned down the Pirates' offer," said Appel. "My goals were to finish my degree and become a better baseball player and better person and better teammate. As far as that goes, I think I accomplished those things.

"No matter what happened in the draft, I knew I had done everything that was in my control to put myself in the best situation possible."