Draft Day 3
11/321. OF Maxton Martin (Age 18.1, Southridge HS [WA], 6’1″, 205)
12/351. RHP Paul Bonzagni (21.2, Southern Illinois Carbondale, 6’3″, 180)
13/381. RHP William Privette (21.4 College of Charleston, 6’6″, 200)
14/411. LHP Josh Trentadue (21.4, College of Southern Idaho, 6’2″, 185)
15/441. LHP Michael Trausch (19.4,Central Arizona College, 6’2″, 190)
16/471. LHP Jake Brown (18.4, Sulphur HS [LA], 6,2″, 180) —
17/501. RHP Kamdyn Perry (17.9, Bishop Gorman HS [NV], 6’4″, 200)
18/531. RHP Brendan Morse (19.1, Niagara County Community College, 6’3″, 185)
19/561. SS Elijah Ickes (18.4, Kamehameha HS [HI}, 6’0″, 175)
20/591. RHP Laif Palmer (18.2, Age 18.2, Golden HS [CO], 6’6″, 209)
Privette is the #252-ranked draft prospect by Baseball America, a relief prospect with a 92 MPH fastball that plays up and misses bats. The secondaries rate weaker.
Brown isn’t this year’s Will Taylor, but the #118 draft prospect per BA and 93rd per MLB.com could conceivably be pried from LSU if the Rangers have extra money available. Brown is polished for his age but light on velocity. Coincidentally, Taylor announced today his intention to forego football in favor of baseball. Taylor had switched from QB to WR (he’s 5’10”) as a sophomore. He batted .362/.489/.523 with five homers and 11 SB in 62 games as an OF for the Tigers this season.
The final pick Palmer is Baseball America’s #219 draft prospect, committed to Oregon State. A fastball in the low 90s with room to improve.
13 of Texas’s 18 picks were pitchers. Of those, five were at four-year colleges, four were at junior colleges, and four came from high school. The other five selections consisted of a college catcher, one high school shortstop, one high school OF, one juco OF, and one Wyatt Langford.
2022 17th-rounder Carson Dorsey, a draft-and-follow from Gulf Coast Community College, did not sign with the Rangers and wasn’t picked in this year’s draft. He’s headed to Florida State.
All the high school picks were born in 2005. I am in pain.
Other News
When I mentioned Matt Bush’s release from Milwaukee, I wrote and then deleted a half-joke that he was already headed south. I need to keep that stuff in. Texas has signed Bush to a minor league deal.
Oakland released RHP Joe Wieland. Minnesota released RHP Connor Sadzeck. Detroit released OF Steele Walker. Cleveland signed catcher Sandy Leon.
Rookie: 7-2 record since last report, 12-13 overall, 3.5 GB
Counting stats are for the last two weeks, ERA and slash stats are for the season.
Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa (Age 22): 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 1.35 ERA
Biembenido Brito (20): 6 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 SO, 13.06 ERA
Bryan Magdaleno (22): 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 SO, 3.38 ERA
Luis Valdez (19): 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 4.50 ERA
OF Marcos Torres (18): 7-28, double, 2 triples, 3 HR (3), 5 BB, 4 SB (10), .272/.400/.556
OF Echedry Vargas (18): 10-27, 4 doubles, 2 HR (5), 4 BB, 3 SB (7), .283/.356/.533
SS Sebastian Walcott (17): 12-30, 2 doubles, 4 HR (5), 2 BB, 3 SB (3), .395/.422/.884
The three hitters listed above have 55% of the team’s extra-base hits since I reported two weeks ago. Catcher Jesus Lopez, who hasn’t played since the 1st, is the only other player with a homer lately. Walcott and Vargas are tied for fourth in the league in homers. Walcott’s .884 slugging percentage ranks third among players with at least 40 plate appearances. (40 is too low for a fair representation, but Walcott has only 45 PA and it’s my list.) Walcott has played only three of ten games in the field. Vargas is bouncing amongst second, short, and third.
Like last year, Torres has played left, first, and right in decreasing frequency. That defensive profile might conjure an image of an unusually beefy young man, but Torres is a fairly economical 185 on a 6’3″ frame, and his ten steals lead the team. Baseball America placed him 25th on their updated top-30 rankings.
Catcher David Garcia is going to need a rehab stint for his rehab stint. He’s been hit five times in his last 16 trips to the plate.
Biembenido Brito has back-to-back fine outings after getting hammered his first three appearances. Valdez has made only four appearances in six weeks since joining the Rangers in exchange for DFA’ed pitcher Ricky Vanasco. Incidentally, the Dodgers successfully ran Vanasco through waivers. He’s pitched twice for AA Tulsa, avoiding walks but allowing two homers and three runs in 2.2 innings.
The Cubs have used 26 pitchers. 16 have more combined walks and hit batters than innings pitched. As a team, they’ve walked or hit 236 in 211 innings. Yuck.