Draft day for Arizonans
Collegiate talent goes beyond Torkelson
For Arizona collegiate baseball players, the major league draft Wednesday and Thursday is not all about Spencer Torkelson.
The Arizona State first baseman, widely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick by Detroit, naturally has been the draft focus locally and beyond since the college season abruptly ended March 12.
But New Mexico State’s Nick Gonzales of Vail, near Tucson, also is projected to be a top-10 overall pick. Arizona catcher Austin Wells and ASU shortstop Alika Williams could be first-round selections in a draft reduced to five rounds, from the usual 40, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Even with greatly reduced opportunity — 160 total picks instead of 1,217 last year — ASU could equal or exceed its draft total from each of the past four years (5 high, 1 low). At least two Sun Devil high school signees are expected to be drafted.
That night in February
ASU was a consensus national top-10 team when the season ended, winning 11 of 12 games after a 2-3 start (13-4 overall).
The Sun Devils never had a chance to face rival Arizona (10-5). Their non-conference game March 10, in what would have been the season finale for both due to COVID, was rained out.
But ASU did play New Mexico State on Feb. 25 with plenty of scouts at Phoenix Muni to watch Torkelson, Gonzales and Williams on the field at the same time along with other ASU position player draft prospects such as Gage Workman and Trevor Hauver.
Gonzales went hitless (0-3) for the first time as a junior. Torkelson walked a school record-tying five times (three intentional) including once in the 10th inning of a 6-5 ASU win. Both committed an error. Williams was 2-of-6 and Hauver 2-4, combining for five RBIs hitting on either side of Torkelson. Workman was 1-5 with four strikeouts.
The takeaway was that Torkelson likely would have led the nation in walks, total and intentional, over a full season (he had 31/15 in 17 games), making it imperative that others not only offer protection but reward his plate discipline.
Williams: 32nd round to maybe 1st
Williams’ offense was coming around going into the start of Pac-12 play with his average up to .250 after six multi-hit games out of nine from New
Mexico State through the end of the season. He hit .333 as a sophomore, batting mostly clean-up behind Hauver, Torkelson and 2019 first-round draft pick Hunter Bishop, helping Williams produce 53 RBI.
“Everyone started to swing it,” Williams said. “Everything was falling into place pretty nicely. This team was special. I really think we had a shot at winning the national championship with the arms we had and depth all around the field. It’s frustrating and it’s sad. I don’t think I’ll ever be over it. It’s one of the best teams I ever played on.”
That coming off a stellar summer 2019 with the USA Baseball collegiate national team when Williams hit .364 with a team-high 10 RBI and .545 slugging percentage (Torkelson hit just .260/.440 slugging in his second year with Team USA).
A plus fielder, Williams is rated fifth among draftable middle infielders and No. 31 overall by Baseball America, a far cry from being a 32nd-round 2017 draft pick out of Rancho Bernardo (California) High School.
“If you told me I’d be in this position when I was a freshman, I totally wouldn’t believe you,” Williams said. “It’s an honor. We dream about getting drafted and playing in the bigs one day. This dream is starting to become a reality. It’s cool to see the process and how everything works itself out in the end.
“I haven’t been sweating about it. At this point, it’s in the hands of the scouts and those organizations. You can’t stress about it. Just do your thing and control what you can control.”
Gonzales rises from walk-on
Gonzales is at the top of Baseball
America’s middle infield list and No. 5 overall in its top 500 draft prospects. That’s based primarily on his hitting prowess since his fielding and arm have room for improvement.
“I really want to polish my defense and get that at an elite level,” said Gonzales, who projects as a second baseman, where he played in 2019. “I’m excited to see some professional coaching and learn from everybody.”
Torkelson was undrafted out of high school but had the credentials to be considered an important piece of ASU’s 2017 recruiting class.
Gonzales hit .543 as a senior at Vail Cienega High School but with no scholarship offers in the west decided his best option was to walk on at New Mexico State, where he became an instantaneous success.
After a freshman All-America season in 2018, Gonzales led the nation in batting average (.432) as a sophomore, was a Golden Spikes Award (national Player of the Year) semifinalist and unanimous All-America.
Gonzales led the nation in home runs (12), RBI (36), runs (28) and total bases (67) when this season ended while hitting .448, enough to earn Collegiate
Baseball national Player of the Year. He remained in Las Cruces through most of May before returning to Arizona to await the draft.
“I was a little under the radar and people didn’t see the work I’d been putting in and the kind of character I have and work ethic,” Gonzales said of college recruiting. “No hard feelings against anybody. I just didn’t have the really loud tools, and I wasn’t seen a lot. I just had to put my head down and go to New Mexico State.
“Once I got the opportunities and the coaching and getting stronger and doing everything college offers, that was how things took off for me.”
Gonzales is positioned to become the highest draftee in New Mexico State history by a lot. His friend Joey Ortiz, a fourth-round pick last year (No. 108 overall), is the program’s previous best with Kyle Bradish also going in the fourth round (No. 121) in 2018.
Gonzales credits his father and former major leaguer George Arias for developing him as a hitter, and the New Mexico State staff now headed by Mike Kirby, who replaced Brian Green after he left for Washington State.
The Aggies were 12-4 when the curtain came down and were perhaps on their way to a second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years.
“It’s such an empty feeling when you train for eight months and think you’re going to play 60 games and you only play 16,” Gonzales said. “I felt really bad for our seniors. We had a really good team, and we were just coming together. At the beginning of the year, you’re trying to see what will fit and what will work. We were just getting there so I had a really good feeling about us.”
Arizona collegiate draft prospects
❚ Spencer Torkelson, ASU, 1B
❚ Nick Gonzales, New Mexico State (from Vail, Arizona), IF
❚ Austin Wells, Arizona, C
❚ Alika Wililams, ASU, SS
❚ Gage Workman, ASU, 3B
❚ RJ Dabovich, ASU, P
❚ Trevor Hauver, ASU, OF
❚ Justin Fall, ASU, P