Familiar names expected to go among the top three rounds of the Major League Baseball draft were snatched up early during the second day of selections as teams made their picks in rounds four through 30 Wednesday.
Among the first to go in the fourth round was Yuba City, Calif., catcher Max Stassi, chosen with the 123rd pick by the Oakland A’s. Stassi was projected to be a first round selection and was graded as the most complete catcher among all high school seniors. However signability issues dropped Stassi, who has signed with UCLA, out of the first day of selections and into the Wednesday’s fourth round.
Max Stassi and his father Jim monitor the MLB draft on their home computer.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
Another catcher, Lucas Bailey of Troup County, Ga., also dropped to the fourth round, but for different reasons. Bailey had Tommy John surgery on his elbow during the season and that likely played a role in his dropping from the first round to the fourth. Bailey was graded above Stassi by some services and played in the Aflac All-American game along with Stassi last August. The Tampa Bay Rays took Bailey with pick 139 in the fourth round.
While Coppell was expected to be the first school with three players chosen, the Cowboys only had two selections on the second day. Jonathan Walsh went to the San Francisco Giants with pick 537 while Chad Kettler went to the Los Angeles Dodgers with pick No. 727. Jacob Morris went undrafted, but could be selected today in the final 20 rounds.
Norco was the first high school in the country to have two selections. Matt Hobgood went to the Baltimore Orioles with the fifth pick and his teammate Wes Hatton went to the Los Angeles Angels with the final pick (141) of the fourth round.
However El Toro was the first school with three players chosen as Nolan Arenado went to the Colorado Rockies with pick 59, Aaron Wirsch went to the Orioles with pick 206 and Chad Thompson went to the New York Yankees with pick 525. Thompson was a possible first round pick at the beginning of the year, but Tommy John surgery in April resulted in his drop to the second day.
High school players were rarely picked during the final 20 rounds of the day as many teams chose instead of go with college players and foreign players from Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Among the other notables chosen on Wednesday included two-time Nevada state player of the year Jeff Malm of Bishop Gorman, fifth round (169th pick) to the Tampa Bay Rays, four-time state champion Zachary Von Rosenberg of Zachary, sixth round (175) to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Kris Hobson of Stockdale, the son of former Boston Red Sox third baseman Butch Hobson, sixth round (190) to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Patrick Schuster of Mitchell High School in New Port Richey, Fla., went to the Arizona Diamondbacks with pick 396 in the 13th round. Schuster caught the nation’s attention earlier this year when he threw four straight no-hitters.
Among the top players in the MaxPreps 100 still available for selection today include Austin Maddox, a catcher from Eagle’s View Academy in Fla., Ethan Carter, a pitcher from Menchville, Va., and Cohl Walla, outfielder from Lake Travis, Texas.
The draft concludes today with rounds 31 through 50.
