Virginia Tech junior pitcher Jesse Hahn was once considered one of the top prospects for the Major League Baseball draft. His stock fell in recent months, likely the effect of arm problems that limited him late in the season.

The 6-foot-5 right-hander, whose fastball routinely reaches the mid 90s, fell all the way to the sixth round Tuesday, where he was picked by the Tampa Bay Rays with the 191st overall pick.

Hahn, a Groton, Conn., native, was sidelined for over a month earlier this season with a sore right forearm. He didn’t make it past the fourth inning in any of his final four starts of the 2010 season.

His last start, against The Citadel in the NCAA Tournament regionals Saturday in Columbia, S.C., was going well until he left the game before the fourth inning with a strained right forearm.

The injury didn’t affect his velocity – he hit 96 on the gun just prior to coming out – but the discomfort kept him from lasting long in any of his starts after April 18.

Here’s what the MLB.com scouting report said about Hahn: “Prior to this season, Hahn had been a classic thrower who impressed with radar gun readings and raw stuff. That hadn’t translated into success on the mound, but 2010 has shown a more mature Hahn on the hill, one who still could crank it up into the mid-90s, but was pitching rather than throwing.

“Command has been an issue in the past and that, along with the lack of a track record of success, leads some to think he’s destined to be a short reliever. If he continues to pitch like he did to start the season, he could change people’s minds about his future role and move quickly up the draft boards.”

Actually, Hahn moved down draft boards. ESPN baseball draft analyst Keith Law rated Hahn 50th on his top 100 draft prospect list.

Hahn, a high school teammate of UNC pitcher Matt Harvey, who went No. 7 overall to the New York Mets, went 5-4 in 2010 with a 3.70 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 73 innings pitched.