Blue Jay draft pick eager to answer call of the wild
Avid outdoorsman Pentecost ‘can’t wait’ to sign and come play in Great White North
Max Pentecost has never been to Canada, but the 21-year-old Georgia native — and first-round draft pick of the Blue Jays — has heard it on radio and seen it on TV.
“I’ve been to Massachusetts and Maine, that kind of area, and I’ve heard the radio stations talking in French,” Pentecost said this weekend on a conference call with reporters. “Besides that, I really don’t know much about it. I’m a huge outdoorsman, so I’ve always watched hunting videos, and I know Canada’s got good hunting and fishing, and that it’s a beautiful country. So I don’t think I’ll have one problem with it.”
The Jays, who had two first-round picks this year after failing to sign their first-rounder last year, took Pentecost — considered by some to be the best “true” catcher in the draft — with the 11th overall pick. Toronto also had the ninth overall pick and with it they took East Carolina righthander Jeff Hoffman, who was once in the mix to go first overall until he blew out his elbow in April and underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery.
With Major League Baseball’s amateur draft wrapping up on Sunday, the Jays were already being hailed by some experts as the early winners.
Jim Callis, who has covered the draft for 25 years and writes for MLBPipeline.com, ranked the Jays’ draft as the best, not only for the Pentecost and Hoffman picks, but for how they “stole” Florida highschool right-hander Sean Reid-Foley in the second round. Callis ranked Reid-Foley as the 18th-best player in the draft — while Hoffman was ranked 13th and Pentecost 19th — making the Jays the only club to draft three players from the top 20. Callis also praised Toronto’s thirdand fourth-round picks, including high-school catcher Matt Morgan, who, the Jays announced Sunday, has already signed with the team. Pentecost, who grew up idolizing Jason Kendall and now tries to mod- el his game after Buster Posey, is regarded as a highly athletic backstop who hits for a high average and has good speed for a catcher. His stock began to rise last summer when he was named the MVP of the Cape Cod League. “I think that was the whole reason I am where I am today,” he said. He was first drafted out of high school three years ago by the Texas Rangers in the seventh round, but elected instead to go to Kennesaw State University, the alma mater of Jays right-hander Chad Jenkins. The Jays have failed to sign their first-round pick in two of the last three years, but Pentecost said he’s eager to get the paperwork out of the way. “I can’t wait to get up there and go play,” he said. Toronto selected 41 players in all, and once again they loaded up on pitching, selecting 16 right-handers and six left-handers. Among position players, they drafted seven outfielders, five catchers, three second basemen, two shortstops and two first basemen. Twenty-seven of the players the Jays selected were college juniors or seniors, with 14 of their picks coming out of high school.
The Jays drafted two Canadians — both right-handed pitchers from the Greater Toronto Area. Jordan Romano, a Markham native, was selected in the 10th round from Oral Roberts University, while Zachary Pop, a 17-year-old righty from Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School in Brampton, was selected in the 23rd round, 684th overall. Both Romano and Pop pitched for the Ontario Blue Jays summer team.
The Jays have until July 15 to sign their remaining draftees.