Kohl Stewart of St. Pius X (Houston) was the top high school player taken in the MLB Draft, not much of a surprise. He was taken fourth by the Minnesota Twins, slightly surprising.
Photo by Kenneth Toso
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St. Pius X (Houston) topped a list of 33 high school baseball players chosen in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, held Thursday in New Jersey.
Stewart went No. 4 overall to the Minnesota Twins after collegiate players were chosen with the first three selections. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound right-handed pitcher was one of 15 prep players chosen in the first round - one less than last year's total.
See the MaxPreps Draft Day Report, listing all the prep picks
Phillip Bickford, Oaks Christian
Photo by Vince Pugliese
The top five prep players chosen included Stewart,
Clint Frazier,
Loganville (Ga.) to the Indians at No. 5;
Trey Ball,
New Castle (Ind.) to the Red Sox at No. 7;
Austin Meadows,
Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) to the Pirates at No. 9 and
Phillip Bickford of
Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.) to the Blue Jays at No. 10.
California had the most players chosen with 11. Heading that list was Bickford, followed closely by
Dominic Smith of
Serra (Gardena, Calif.) at No. 11 to the New York Mets. Georgia and Florida each had four selections.
There were a number of surprises in the first two rounds including the selection of
Christian Arroyo of
Hernando (Brooksville, Fla.) by the San Francisco Giants with the No. 25 overall pick. Ranked No. 91 overall by MaxPreps and No. 87 by Perfect Game, Arroyo was the 12th overall prep player chosen.
Other surprises came at No. 48, where the New York Mets chose
Andrew Church of
Basic (Henderson, Nev.) and No. 51, where the Pittsburgh Pirates selected
Blake Taylor of
Dana Hills (Dana Point, Calif.). Church had dropped to No. 58 overall by Perfect Game and No. 86 by MaxPreps after leaving the Palo Verde team this year. Church caught on with Basic and regained his eligibility during the season, then he was able to showcase a fastball that reached the 90s.
Taylor, meanwhile, was not on MaxPreps' preseason Top 100 but was No. 47 on Perfect Game's most updated rankings. He was the 22nd overall selection.
A number of Top 25 players are still available, including
Yukon (Okla.) catcher
Jon Denney, who was ranked as the No. 2 catcher in the prep ranks. Three catchers have already been chosen, including
Santiago (Corona, Calif.) star
Chance Sisco (No. 61 by the Orioles),
Lexington (S.C.) backstop
Nick Ciuffo (No. 21 by the Rays) and
Kentwood (Covington, Wash.) catcher
Reese McGuire (No. 14 by the Pirates).
Others from the top 25 who weren't picked include: No. 8
Jordan Sheffield,
Tullahoma (Tenn.); No. 13
Ryan Boldt,
Red Wing (Minn.); No. 15
Dustin Driver,
Wenatchee (Wash.); No. 17
Aj Puk,
Washington (Cedar Rapids, Iowa); No. 18
Cavan Biggio,
St. Thomas Catholic (Houston); No. 19
Casey Shane,
Centennial (Burleson, Texas); No. 20
Garrett Williams,
Calvary Baptist Academy (Shreveport, La.); No. 21
Stephen Gonsalves,
Cathedral Catholic (San Diego); No. 22
Brett Morales,
King (Tampa, Fla.); No. 24
Ryan Tellez,
Elk Grove (Calif.); No. 25
Zack Collins,
American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.).
Surprisingly, six high school shortstops were scooped up in the first two rounds, even though that position was expected to have less depth than positions such as catcher, right-handed pitcher and outfield.
J.P. Crawford of
Lakewood (Calif.) was the first shortstop chosen, going at No. 16 to the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continues Friday with rounds 3-10 starting at 12:30 p.m. Eastern.
