In a stunning turn of events, tonight's Boston Red Sox game against the New York Yankees has been postponed to August 17th due to the recent Covid outbreak on the Yankees that have knocked out Aaron Judge and 5 others. Rather than get the Yankees further sick or someone on the Red Sox infected, MLB gave the Yankees 24 hours to get some semblance of a team together to play the next few games.
On Wednesday the Boston Red Sox completed day three of the MLB Draft with their rounds 11-20 selections. If any of these guys even come close to the big leagues, it'll be a miracle. The Sox kicked off day 3 by taking a 6'1 235 pound tank named Niko Kavadas, the first basemen from Notre Dame University. He's built like current Portland Sea Dogs infielder Tyreque Reed so it will be interesting to see if he too can light up Greenville....if he makes it that far.
Round 12 saw the Red Sox take right handed pitcher Christopher Troye from UC Santa Barbara. Troye struck out 29 batters in 18 innings but also walked 25. If he ever learns control in the Sox system, maybe he can turn into something.
In the lucky 13th round the Sox selected 18 year old Florida prep school shortstop Zach Ehrhard. Ehrhard. Ehrhard is committed to playing for Oklahoma State so the Sox may not even sign him if he gets an education. Oh well, at least he met Wade Boggs once.
In the 14th round the Sox took the hulking 6'5 22 year old right handed pitcher Jacob Webb out of Miami Ohio University. The big guy struck out 59 batters in 39 innings for the Red Hawks this season and throws gas. At best he's the next Steve Crawford, at worst....just another 14th round pick that didn't make it.
In the 15th round, the Sox picked 18 year old high school shortstop Payton Green out of North Carolina. He's committed to playing for the North Carolina State Wolfpack so the Sox may not even sign him either. If he signs, great, if not...oh well.
Boston's 16th round pick turned out to be 18 year old California high school second basemen BJ Vela. Vela has a commitment to play at St. Mary's but rumors are he expects to sign. Lower round picks aren't expected to do anything so this could be the last you hear his name.
In the 17th round, the Sox selected Chipola junior college right handed pitcher Luis Guerrero. Luis was 6-2 with 95 strikeouts in 58 innings for Chipola and as a 17th round pick, its worth taking a look at him to see if he can bring anything to the table. Pitching in front of JuCo crowds isn't the same as packed houses in the minors or majors.
Boston used their 18th round pick on Texas Christian outfielder Phillip Sikes....I have no idea who this is. According to stats he was recruited as a right handed pitcher but stunk so they put him in the outfield where he hit .330 with 11 home runs for TC this season. Its a good thing Bill Veeck or Charles Finley isn't running the team or else he'd have Sikes pitch left-handed to sell some tickets.
With their 19th round pick, Boston took righthanded pitcher Tyler Uberstine out of Northwestern University. Tyler can unfortunately maintain status of a bum as he went 3-3 with a hideous 5.90 ERA. If he couldn't get college batters out, how's he going to get out the elite in the pro's?
Rounding out this group, the Sox took Pennsylvania University infielder Josh Hood in the 20th round. He was the Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 2019, leading the team in home runs and extra base hits. His 2020 season was cut short by Covid so this could be a sneaky good pick by the Sox since Pennsylvania and the Ivy League isn't a hotbed for college baseball. Time will tell.
Josh Hood coming to a ballpark near you
The Sox also signed two undrafted players once the draft was over. They signed 21 year old outfielder Kier Meredith from Clemson University for 20 grand and hometown star Jhonny Felix who was playing for Western Oklahoma State. If either of them develop, wow.
Later round picks rarely do anything noteworthy so it would be unfair to expect these guys to turn into MLB stars. This may be the last time you hear of them so take a good look.
Tomorrow night the Sox are supposed to be back in action against the New York Yankees. Eduardo Rodriguez (6-5) takes on Jordan Montgomery of the Yankees at 7:10 PM at Yankee Stadium.
No comments:
Post a Comment