Jays play both ways with first-round picks
Whenever the Blue Jays have multiple first-round selections in the MLB entry draft for amateur free agents, they tend to take an opportunity to roll the dice on one of them. Such was the case again on Monday night.
The Jays had their own draft pick at No. 22 overall and then a compensation pick at No. 28, awarded to them for losing Edwin Encarnacion as a free agent to the Indians. The Jays first picked 20-year-old shortstop Logan Warmoth from the University of North Carolina, then took a chance on a hard-throwing 20-year-old junior college righthander, Nate Pearson from the College of Central Florida.
Pearson had been projected — by MLB.com and Baseball America — to be a third- or fourth-round pick, but in a recent showcase in Florida he was hitting triple digits on the radar gun with his fastball. At sixfoot-six and 240 pounds, and with a screw permanently embedded in his elbow, the Jays took a chance that they can develop him as either a starter, throwing 93 to 96 m.p.h., or a short-burst reliever with a quicker path to the majors. Recall that former Jays reliever Steve Delabar also had a screw in his elbow.
As for Warmoth, his career path in three years with the Tar Heels has been on a steadily upward trajectory, to the point where he was being compared to O’s shortstop J.J. Hardy from a defensive standpoint. His offensive numbers increased up to his junior year, batting .346 with 10 homers and 49 RBIs. Warmoth had played the past two summers in the prospect-heavy Cape Cod League and then with the Orlando Scorpions, near his hometown in Florida.
“I think his success has to do with his testament to his hard work,” said Scorpions head coach Jerry Kennedy. “He’s just a baseball junkie. He was always asking for extra BP before our Scorpion games, even after. Between games I would throw to him constantly. Even in the offseason he would come back. He was always in the Scorpion facility, hitting. So . . . I’m not too shocked.”
As soon as he signs with the Jays, Warmoth will be on an organizational depth chart at shortstop behind Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Goins, Richard Urena, Bo Bichette and Lourdes Gurriel.
The Jays also had selection No. 61 on day one, before starting out with No. 99 on Tuesday in the third round, then through the rest of the 40 rounds, ending Wednesday.
In a surprising move, perhaps worried about their ability to sign the No. 1 overall pick, the Twins chose 17-year-old shortstop Royce Lewis from Jserra High School in California with the first selection. Lewis, who can also play centre field, was ranked as the fifth-best player available. The MLB bonus slot for the first pick is $7.8 million.
“My body went numb,” Lewis told MLB Network from his California home. “It was an unbelievable feel- ing. I have faith in my ability, but it was amazing.”
The Reds, at No. 2, were left with a golden opportunity to pick what was always considered the top player in the draft: 17-year-old pitcher Hunter Greene from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, Calif. Greene, recently featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated and touted as the future of the game, has touched 102 m.p.h. on the radar gun and was also an outstanding hitter.
“It was awesome,” a beaming Greene told MLB Network of being chosen second by the Reds. “I’ve been blessed to have great people around me — my family, my friends. It’s been my dream since I was 7.”
The Padres, selecting third, chose left-hander MacKenzie Gore from a North Carolina high school. The first three draftees were all high school players, the first time that had happened since June 1990.
The fourth pick broke the prep school streak, with the Tampa Bay Rays selecting left-hander Brendan McKay from the University of Louisville. McKay’s Cardinals will be participating in the College World Series in Omaha later in the week. He is also a first baseman, but the Rays announced him as a pitcher.
Greene and McKay continue a long tradition of versatile draft- eligible players considered as both pitchers and position players. The most successful was hall of fame outfielder Dave Winfield, still the only Minnesota native with 15 wins as a pitcher and 20 homers in the same college season. Another twoposition prospect was Jays first baseman John Olerud, a teammate of Winfield’s on the ’92 World Series champs. Others include British Columbia’s Adam Loewen, plus Nick Markakis, Rick Ankiel, Aaron Hicks, Josh Hamilton and George Brett’s older brother Ken.
The eternal question is whether it’s better to go with high school players and their raw talent, or collegians who are closer to ready. An examination of the past four drafts, prior to 2017, offers up some staggering numbers when it comes to the time it takes to reach the major leagues.
Dating back to 2013, 107 of those players (as of Sunday) had made it through farm systems to reach the major leagues. Only three of them were chosen out of high school. Any unsigned prep school prospects from the 2013 draft would have been eligible again as college juniors in this week’s entry process.
The Jays have a total bonus pool of $8,231,000, with a slotting of $2,795,200 for Warmoth and $2,302,900 for Pearson.