Article: MLB Draft Day 3 Thread

[Andrew Thares]

After taking a high upside high school third baseman in Keoni Cavaco with their first round pick, the Twins stuck to a strategy of picking only college players with their remaining 10 picks in the first two days of the draft. As a result, it is expected that the Twins might have some left over bonus pool money to try and make another splash or two in the early rounds of day three.Some notable recent Twins picks from these later rounds include Jason Kubel (12th round, 2000), Zack Granite (14th round, 2013), Danny Valencia (19th round, 2006) and Trevor Hildenberger (22nd round, 2014). Going back a little further you can find one of the greatest players in Twins history, as Kent Hrbek was drafted in the 17th round of the 1978 draft. Also, Eddie Guardado was a 21st rounder in 1990 and Corey Koskie was a 26th-round pick in 1994. The draft was scaled back to “only” 40 rounds in 2012.

 

Get caught up on all the action from the first two days here

 

MLB Draft Day 1 Thread

MLB Draft Day 2 Thread

 

Twins Picks From Day 1

 

Round 1: Keoni Cavaco

Comp Balance Round A: Matt Wallner

Round 2: Matt Canterino

 

Twins Picks From Day 2

 

3rd Round: Spencer Steer

4th Round: Seth Gray

5th Round: Will Holland

6th Round: Sawyer Gipson

7th Round: Anthony Prato

8th Round: Casey Legumina

9th Round: Brent Headrick

10th Round: Ben Gross

 

As we wait for Day 3 of the draft to start, here is a 3 1/2 minute press conference with Twins top pick Keoni Cavaco. In it, he said "I'm going pro, for sure" and that "my goal is to get there in three years or less."

 

 

Day 3 Selections

 

11th Round: RHP Tanner Brubaker - UC-Irvine

 

Tanner Brubaker bounce around quite a bit in his college career. He started at California Baptist, where he had a 12.00 ERA in six relief appearances. He then transferred to Saddleback College, where he transitioned well to a starting role. Brubaker then transferred again, this time to California-Irvine. In 12 starts this year for the Anteaters, Brubaker had a 2.99 ERA, with 50 strikeouts and 17 walks in 72 and 1/3 innings pitched.

 

12th Round: RHP Sean Mooney - St. Johns (NY)

 

Sean Mooney was quite the accomplished pitcher in his career at St. Johns. In his freshman season he was named both Freshman of the Year and Big East Pitcher of the year. In his sophomore season Mooney was named a Second Team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association. This year Mooney made just nine starts before his season ended after having Tommy John surgery. In his career at St. Johns, Mooney pitch 244 and 2/3 innings with a 2.13 ERA and a 249 to 72 strikeout to walk ratio.

 

13th Round: RHP Dylan Thomas - U of Hawaii

 

With their 13th round pick, the Twins took Dylan Thomas, who has been a dominate closer for the University of Hawaii over the past three seasons. Thomas was the 2017 Big West Conference Freshman Pitcher of the Year, and was named to an All-Big West team in each of his three year’s at Hawaii. In his career, Thomas has pitched 115 innings across 60 relief appearances and 3 starts, to the tune of a 1.96 ERA, with a 27.1% strikeout rate and just a 4.9% walk rate.

 

14th Round: RHP Cody Laweryson - U of Maine-Orono

 

After working as a reliever in his first two seasons at Maine, Cody Lawyerson became a regular in the weekend starting rotation this spring. Lawyerson was very effective in this role as he had a 2.85 ERA across 14 starts, with 79 strikeouts and 23 walks.

 

15th Round: RHP Louie Varland - Concordia University St. Paul

 

The Twins stayed home for their 15th round pick by taking Maplewood, MN native Louie Varland. Varland has pitched the last three years at Concordia St. Paul, and was quite the effective starter over the last two years for the Golden Bears. Overall, Varland had a 2.73 ERA with 131 strikeouts and 45 walks over 115 and 1/3 career innings.

 

16th Round: RHP Ryan Shreve - U of Pacific

 

Ryan Shreve struggled as a starter to begin his college career at Pacific. He then transition to the bullpen where he found more success in his sophomore season. As a junior this spring, Shreve moved back into the rotation and had a great season, mostly because he found control of his pitches as he walked just 3.8% of the batters he faced.

 

17th Round: LHP Antoine Jean - Edouard Montpetit HS

 

While still a pitcher, the Twins finally broke their trend of picking college pitchers, which had been the case for each of their previous nine selections, as they took a Canadian high school pitcher Antoine Jean in the 17th round. Jean is a commit to the University of Alabama, and it is a possibility that he will choose to go the college route to continue developing with an SEC school before he becomes draft eligible again in 2022.

 

18th Round: 2B Edouard Julien - Auburn

 

The Twins first position player taken on Day 3 is the other half of Auburn’s double play duo Edouard Julien. Much like Will Holland, Julien has big tools that flash potentially great upside. Julien also saw his performance drop off a bit this spring after a great 2018 season. Last year, Julien had a .275/.398/.556 slash line with 17 home runs and seven stolen bases. This year, those numbers dropped to a .239/.371/.422 with eight home runs and three stolen bases.

 

19th Round: LHP Niall Windeler - U of British Columbia

 

Niall Windeler is the third straight Canadian player that the Twins have taken. Windeler has been a very good starting pitcher over the last three years at UBC. For his career Windeler has a 3.37 ERA with 247 strikeouts and 86 walks across 251 innings pitched.

 

20th Round: RHP Owen Griffith - Clemson

 

After a break for a few picks, the Twins are back on their train of picking college right handed pitchers by taking Clemson righty Owen Griffith. Griffith is strictly a reliever with some potential high upside as a strikeout pitcher. However, Griffith will need to gain better control of the strike zone if he is going to have success at the next level.

 

21st Round: RHP Bradley Hanner - Patrick Henry CC

 

Bradley Hanner was one of the top recruits coming out of the state of Virginia in the 2017 high school class. Hanner choose to bypass the four-year college route and went to Patrick Henry Community College, making him eligible in this year’s draft. This spring for Patrick Henry, Hanner made 12 starts with a 4.04 ERA while striking out 69 batters in 69 innings.

 

22nd Round: RHP Rogelio Reyes - U of California

 

After struggling in his freshman and sophomore years working as both a starter and a reliever for the Cal Bears, Rogelio Reyes found much more success in his junior year as a long relief option. I got the chance to watch Reyes pitch this spring, but it wasn’t the best of outings for him as he gave up two home runs in three plus innings of work in that outing against LSU.

 

23rd Round: RHP Matthew Swain - Georgia Gwinnett College

 

Matthew Swain is a tall and projectable reliever who has the potential to strike a lot of hitters out, but struggles with his control at times. In two seasons pitching at Georgia Gwinnett, Swain has an ERA of 3.32 across 33 relief appearances.

 

24th Round: 1B Trevor Jensen - Tulane

 

Trevor Jensen began his collegiate career playing at St. Petersburg College for two years before transferring to Tulane before the 2018 season. In his two years at Tulane, Jensen showed that he could hit for both average and power as he hit .317 with 16 home runs in 108 games.

 

25th Round: RHP Nate Hadley - UCLA

 

Former Duluth Huskie Nathan Hadley has been a great asset out of the bullpen this season for the #1 ranked UCLA Bruins. Like many college relievers taken at this point in the draft, Hadley has high strikeout upside, but needs to refine his mechanics if we to gain the control necessary to play at the professional level.

 

26th Round: 3B Blake Robertson - Edmond Santa Fe HS

 

At 6’5”, Blake Robertson is a tall third baseman with a big power bat and a strong arm. The Oklahoma native is committed to Oklahoma State, and it is likely that he with forgo signing with the Twins and be on campus in Stillwater this fall to pitch for the Cowboys.

 

27th Round: 1B Parker Phillips - Austin Peay

 

Parker Phillips has absolutely raked in his three years at Austin Peay. Phillips was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American in 2017 after hitting .328 with 12 home runs. He followed that up in his sophomore year by hitting .313 and increasing his home run total to 19. This spring Phillips increased his power numbers even more has he hit .316 with 25 home runs, which was the second most in Division 1 baseball this year.

 

28th Round: RHP Travis Phelps - Alvin HS (TX)

 

Travis Phelps has a tall and projectable 6’4” and 195-pound frame that profiles very well to develop as he ages over the next couple of years. It is likely that Phelps won’t sign, but if he does he is just the kind of pitcher that the Twins minor league coaching staff could work with and potentially turn into a solid pitcher.

 

29th Round: C Alex Isola - TCU

 

TCU Alex Isola began his college career as a Utah Ute. After getting very little playing time as a freshman Isola transferred to Yavapai College where he thrived hitting .367 with eight home runs. This earned him a scholarship offer to be the starting catcher for TCU this spring. In 54 games Isola was able to hit .267 with five home runs.

 

30th Round: RHP Tyler Beck - U of Tampa

 

As a freshman Tyler Beck attended Pasco-Hernando State College, where he was effective as a starting pitcher. He then transfer to Tampa where he pitched as reliever the last two seasons. Beck struggled to a 6.35 ERA last year, but was much improved with a 2.17 ERA with 71 strikeouts and 19 walks in 54 innings of work out of the pen.

 

31st Round: OF Max Smith - UNLV

 

Max Smith is a four-year senior right-fielder for the UNLV Rebels. Smith was primarly used as a bench player during his first two years in a Rebel uniform, but saw a lot of actions as the starting right-fielder for the last two years. During those two seasons Smith hit .302 with 19 home runs in 117 games.

 

32nd Round: OF Bryson Gandy - Lurleen B Wallace St JC

 

In the 32nd round the Twins took a speedy outfielder from Lurleen B. Wallace Community College by the name of Bryson Gandy. This year Gandy has hit .364 with nine home runs and 18 stolen bases in 53 games. Gandy is also strikeout prone, having struck out 54 times this year.

 

33rd Round: C Kyle Schmidt - U of Richmond

 

Kyle Schmidt split catching duties in his freshman season at the University of Richmond. However, since then Schmidt has been the primary starting catcher for the Spiders the last three years. As a hitter Schmidt has a high average and low power approach as he has hit .304 with just six home runs in his four collegiate seasons combined.

 

34th Round: RHP Antoine Harris - Chalmette HS (LA)

 

Antoine Harris is yet another tall and projectable high school pitcher taken by the Twins in the later rounds of the draft. Harris is committed to play college ball at the University of New Orleans and it is likely that he will not end up signing with the Twins.

 

35th Round: LHP Drew Gilbert - Stillwater Area HS (MN)

 

The first of two Stillwater Area High School pitchers taken in back-to-back rounds by the Twins this afternoon, Drew Gilbert is committed to pitch at Oregon State next year. Gilbert has a fastball that will sit in the low to mid 90’s. It will be fun to see how he develops over the next few years at Oregon State.

 

36th Round: RHP Will Frisch - Stillwater Area HS (MN)

 

Will Frisch was the second of the two Stillwater Area High School pitchers the Twins took this afternoon. Like Gilbert, Frisch will also be heading to Oregon State to pitch this fall. While its extremely likely neither will end up signing with the Twins this summer it was a (in the words of Joe Mauer) pretty neat gesture by the Twins to recognize two local area players.

 

37th Round: OF Adrian Colon - Dr. Juan J. Osuna (PR)

 

Adrian Colon is a high school outfielder that hails from the Puerto Rico ranks. Colon is a very toolsey player with big potential with both the bat and in the field defensively with his speed. If the Twins were able to get Colon into their system, he has the kind of raw tools that coaches dream about being able to mold into the kind of player they want him to be.

 

38th Round: C Zack Mathis - San Joaquin Delta College

 

At San Joaquin Delta College Zack Mathis primarily played shortstop this past year. Additionally, Mathis played in the outfield for the Northwoods League Willmar Stingers last summer. However, the Twins see Mathis’ future at catcher. This season Mathis hit .351 with 10 home runs and 12 stolen bases over 48 games.

 

39th Round: 3B Jake Hirabayashi - UCLA

 

Jake Hirabayashi has had a very up and down career at UCLA. After struggling for two seasons, Hirabayashi broke onto the scene in 2018 with a .280/.430/.410 slash line in 43 games for the Bruins. However, 2019 was a step back for Hirabayashi as he had just a .190/.296/.310 slash line in 37 games.

 

40th Round: SS Logan Steenstra - Cowley County CC

 

Logan Steenstra is the son of former major league pitcher Kennie Steenstra. As a freashman this season Steenstra hit .306 with two home runs, 28 RBIs and three stolen bases. Steenstra also gave up a couple runs over two innings as a pitcher.

 

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[gunnarthor]

Holland might turn out to be a solid pick. Callis really liked that pick for the Twins - 

 

"Holland entered 2019 as a likely mid-first-rounder before a poor first half torpedoed those chances. He did look more like his old self down the stretch, a potential 20-20 guy who definitely will stay at shortstop."

 

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-draft-favorite-picks-from-day-2?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

 

If the Twins can fix that swing, they might have another solid shortstop prospect to go with their others.

[rdehring]

Must say I have the least excitement from the first two days of any draft I can remember.  Not saying it was a bad draft as I have so little information to base any opinion.  Just nothing that jumped off the page and got my blood running.

 

As you commented above, Andrew, the Twins may have lots of dollars in the bank to make a couple splashes in the high school pond when the draft continues.  Looking back at the last three years, they took Michael Helman, Bailey Ober and Tyler Benninghoff in the 11th or 12th rounds of each of those drafts.  If memory serves, they spent more than $125,000 to sign each, I believe much more for Benninghoff who was headed to TJ surgery..  

 

Let's hope we see something exciting when they go on the clock later this morning.

[Dman]

 

Holland might turn out to be a solid pick. Callis really liked that pick for the Twins - 

 

"Holland entered 2019 as a likely mid-first-rounder before a poor first half torpedoed those chances. He did look more like his old self down the stretch, a potential 20-20 guy who definitely will stay at shortstop."

 

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-draft-favorite-picks-from-day-2?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

 

If the Twins can fix that swing, they might have another solid shortstop prospect to go with their others.

I liked that pick where they got him as well.  It sounded like he was going to need hit tool work even if he had his expected season and was taken in the lower 1st round.  It also looked like he was more power over hit so if he can improve his hit tool he would be a major steal but I still think the odds are long that he hits well enough to make it.  I am guessing that is why he lasted that long in the first place.

[MMMordabito]

9 college players in the first 10 rounds ... Ray Smith is going to be happy!

 

Some 23 yo is probably going to go .400/.500/.700 in the Appy league and get annointed as the next savior.

[AlwaysinModeration]

I predict they only draft pitchers in day 3.

[TheMatt]

30 pitchers. Hedging their bets. I like it

[Roaddog]

More shortstops... I kid. I imagine it'll be a run on pitchers.

[bird]

From here on out, it becomes just as much who they sign as it does who they draft.

[goulik]

Tanner Brubaker, 4th year JR, RHP from Irvine 11th round

 

[rdehring]

Well there goes the idea that they would pick a high school player with a big upside in round 11.  Took a big right handed pitcher out of Cal-Irvine, Tanner Brubaker.

[goulik]

6 picks to go and every pick in the 11th round is a 4 year JR or HS

 

Spoke too soon...There go 2 JuCo's

Edited June 5, 2019 by goulik

[operation mindcrime]

Brubaker 6'5" 220

[DiscGolfer]

Need some catchers today

[rdehring]

Looks like two of the Puerto Rico kids went off the board early in the 12th round before the Twins could get to them.

[rdehring]

Another college pitcher, St. Johns, in the twelfth round.  

[operation mindcrime]

Mooney 6'1" 200

[MMMordabito]

 

Tanner Brubaker, 4th year JR, RHP from Irvine 11th round

 

The Rays took him in the 28th round last year out of JuCo.  The Rays picking someone is usually a plus in my book.  That team is good at finding and developing pitching.

[2wins87]

Starting to wonder how they're going to field a GCL team given the limit on players over the age of 21 or whatever it is.

[operation mindcrime]

Thomas 6'4" 205

[Mike Sixel]

They certainly seem to have a type for pitchers. College and big. It does seem like an older draft, which hopefully means some of the pitchers move quickly on relief roles.

[operation mindcrime]

Laweryson 6'3" 190

[twinsfanstreif]

Cody Laweryson - 6'3" 190 pitcher from Maine

[MMMordabito]

 

Starting to wonder how they're going to field a GCL team given the limit on players over the age of 21 or whatever it is.

 

I thought only the DSL had those age restrictions.  The GCL only has service time restrictions.  Maybe I'm wrong.  Either way, old class so far.  Maybe they'll just go IFA for the youngsters.

[TerwilligerBuntsOne]

A weak spot in this draft overall was though to be college pitching.  My guess is that the boys in the front office may have found that the college pitchers at the top of the draft to be underwhelming, they must have really liked the quality of the draft's depth for college pitchers. So, no to the supposed top-end guys, but grab a bunch of quality depth in later rounds. Or something like that.

[Mike Sixel]

A weak spot in this draft overall was though to be college pitching. My guess is that the boys in the front office may have found that the college pitchers at the top of the draft to be underwhelming, they must have really liked the quality of the draft's depth for college pitchers. So, no to the supposed top-end guys, but grab a bunch of quality depth in later rounds. Or something like that.

That was also Fangraphs thoughts.... Lacking the high end guys, but lots of depth.

[MMMordabito]

Nice! Just took a local kid!

[operation mindcrime]

Varland 6'1" 205

[nicksaviking]

With all these college seniors, how much money has this team banked? 

 

Are they just going to draft one of the HS kids at pick 40 and offer him all of the money?

[Dman]

Seems like he has a decent chance to be a reliever.  Nice article on him here.