Phils draft pitching help, and third-base hopefuls
The Phillies spread the wealth Tuesday, so to speak, as they flew through seven more rounds of the MLB Draft.
Starting the day with their third pick, No. 83 overall, the Phils took Connor Seabold, a righthanded pitcher and junior at Cal State Fullerton. Now 21, the native of Newport Beach, Calif. was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 19th round of the 2014 First-Year player draft as he finished up high school. He opted for college and this season averaged nearly a strikeout per inning and will help anchor Cal State as it goes into the College World Series.
Another intriguing pick came in the fourth round, when the Phillies took University of Houston third baseman Jake Scheiner.
Not highly regarded early in the year, the 6-1, 200-pound Scheiner, 21, was not a top-500 prospect by Baseball America, yet the Phillies made him the 113th overall selection after hitting .346 with 18 homers for the Cougars.
So Maikel Franco beware.
From there, the Phils took a high school lefthanded pitcher, Ethan Lindow, in the fifth round; followed in the sixth by Dalton Guthrie, a shortstop from the University of Florida and the son of former major league reliever Mark Guthrie.
It got a big murkier for the Phils after that. Another shortstop in the seventh round, Nick Maton, a stringbean at 6-2, 165 from Lincoln course)
In the eighth round they took a left-handed pitcher named Jhordany Mezquita, who had “no school” listed next to his name. He’s a 19-year-old from Santiago, Dominican Republic.
Still looking at third, the Phils took University of New Mexico senior Jack Zoellner in the ninth round. Then right-handed pitcher Connor Brogdon of Lewis & Clark State.
The draft winds up Wednesday with rounds 11 through 40. Land (Illinois, of Community College.
*** NOTES » The Phillies announced Cesar Hernandez, who had been shaping up as their lone AllStar, would miss the next six weeks with an oblique injury. Howie Kendrick is his momentary replacement there but it’s a fair bet Matt Klentak will opt to promote an infielder out of the minors . ... Joely Rodriguez, DFA’d recently, was traded to Texas Tuesday for a player likely to be named later. Another lefty pitcher bites the dust for the team that simply doesn’t need them.