O’s select Texas high school RHP Rodriguez
Rising prospect taken No. 11 overall; Shortstop Grenier picked 37th
The Orioles predicted an early run on position players in this year’s Major League Baseball first-year player draft, and that’s the way the first 10 picks played out Monday night, giving the Orioles a deep list of talented starting-pitching options to choose from with the No. 11 overall pick.
With their highest selection in six years, the Orioles continued their trend of taking pitchers early, drafting Texas high school right-hander Grayson Rodriguez. They also selected Oregon State shortstop Cadyn Grenier at No. 37 overall, their only other first-day pick.
The Orioles have now drafted a pitcher with their first-round pick in six of their past seven opportunities: Dylan Bundy (2011), Kevin Gausman (2012), Hunter Harvey (2013), Cody Sedlock (2016), DL Hall (2017) and Rodriguez. The Orioles didn’t have a first-round pick in 2014 and took outfielder DJ Stewart in 2015. For the second straight year, the Orioles used their first pick on drafting a high Tonight, 7:10 TV: MASN
school pitcher.
“Grayson Rodriguez is a future power pitcher with an advanced delivery and feel for all of his pitches,” Orioles scouting director Gary Rajsich said. “He has command of four above-average pitches, can shape two distinct breaking balls and attacks the strike zone.”
The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Rodriguez made dramatic strides over the past year, and Baseball America called him the biggest “pop-up” player in this year’s draft. He finished his senior season at Central Heights High School in Nacogdoches, Texas, as the top draft prospect in the state.
Over the summer, Rodriguez’s fastball was in the low 90s, but he reportedly trained to get into better shape over the winter, and his fastball hit 97 to 98 mph regularly, with late life. His fourpitch arsenal includes two breaking balls that can miss bats — a slider and a curveball — and a still-developing changeup that he didn’t have to use much at the high school level.
Rodriguez was the third high school pitcher to come off the board.
Seven of the first 10 selections Monday were position players, leaving a number of top pitching prospects on the board for the Orioles, including top-10 players like Florida right-hander Brady Singer, Arizona high school lefthander Matthew Liberatore and California high school righthander Cole Winn.
Rodriguez was rated the 24thbest draft prospect by Baseball America. The outlet’s final mock draft had Rodriguez going to the Tampa Bay Rays at No. 31 overall.
Rodriguez is committed to play at Texas A&M — he signed his Oregon State’s Cadyn Grenier, a 5-foot-11, 188-pound junior shortstop, was the Pac-12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year after making just six errors and posting a .971 fielding percentage through the start of the NCAA tournament. He’s hitting .328/.415/.478. through 58 games. letter of intent to pitch for the Aggies in the fall — but as the 11th pick, he is slotted a bonus value of $4.3751 million.
Rajsich said Sunday that the club would select the best available player. They’d spent recent days attempting to predict the constantly changing trajectory of the top 10 picks. Rajsich said the Orioles believed they knew how the top five picks would play out, but picking the next five weren’t as clear.
The Orioles selected the defensive-minded Grenier with their second pick of the night, a competitive-balance Round A selec- tion that comes after the first round and the compensation round. Grenier, a 5-foot-11, 188pound junior, was the Pac-12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year after making just six errors and posting a .971 fielding percentage through the start of the NCAA tournament.
Grenier is hitting .328/.415/.478 with 23 extra-base hits (16 doubles, two triples, five homers) in 58 games for an Oregon State team ranked the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA tournament and set to play in the super regionals this week. He was the third Oregon State player to be drafted Monday, and his pick is slotted a bonus value of $1.9235 million.
The next eight rounds will take place today, and the draft will conclude with round Nos. 11-40 on Wednesday.
NOTE: The Orioles added to their already stocked left-handed relief depth Monday, claiming reliever D.J. Snelten off waivers from the San Francisco Giants. Snelten, a 6-foot-6 ground ball pitcher, made his major league debut in April but was designated for assignment by the Giants last week. The 27-year-old has allowed five earned runs on nine hits in 41⁄ major-league innings this year, but had a 3.14 ERA in his minor-league career. He joins a Triple-A Norfolk bullpen that already features lefthanders Donnie Hart, Andrew Faulkner and Joely Rodriguez.