The Angels drafted pitchers with six of their eight selections on the second day of the MLB draft on Monday, including five college pitchers.
Their third-round pick was Texas A&M left-hander Ryan Prager, who was the best starting pitcher on a team that was the runner-up in the College World Series. He had a 2.95 ERA in 97⅔ innings, with 124 strikeouts and 20 walks. The Angels took his college teammate, reliever Chris Cortez, in the second round.
The Angels took Clemson right-hander Austin Gordon in the fourth round. Gordon began the season as a starter, but became the Clemson closer by the end of the season. He had a 4.61 ERA with 76 strikeouts in 84 innings.
In the fifth round, the Angels selected their only high school pick of the day, right-hander Dylan Jordan of Viera, Florida. Jordan has a scholarship to Florida State. He struck out 103 hitters in 58⅓ innings, with a 1.32 ERA this season.
Sixth-round pick Peyton Olejnik, of Miami University in Ohio, is 6-foot-11, which would equal the tallest pitcher in major league history.
Oregon State right-handed reliever Bridger Holmes was the Angels’ seventh-round pick.
With their final three picks, the Angels took two college seniors and one graduate student, because those players have no leverage to sign for the full slot value. Teams typically take those types of players late on the second day of the draft in order to preserve space in their bonus pool to give larger bonuses to players taken in the 11th round and beyond.
The Angels took Alabama State shortstop Randy Flores in the eighth round, West Virginia left-hander Derek Clark in the ninth round and Kentucky first baseman Ryan Nicholson in the 10th round.
The draft concludes on Tuesday with rounds 11-20.
Leave a Reply