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The Red Sox made nine picks over the course of the first two days of the 2015 MLB Draft, but now on day three, things are going to add up fast. Boston will make 30 picks on Wednesday, so we'll take them 10 at a time, and pick out the most intriguing of them to discuss at further length.
We'll cover these in three posts over the course of the day, so you won't have to wait until the whole draft is over to see who is who and where.
- Red Sox draft Andrew Benintendi 7th overall
- Red Sox draft results, rounds 3 to 10
- Red Sox draft results, rounds 11 to 20
- Red Sox draft results, rounds 31 to 40
Round 21: Daniel Zandona, 621st overall
He's a senior out of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and the thing that jumps off the page for this right-hander is his strikeout rate. Zandona whiffed over 14 batters per nine as a senior after striking out a combined rate of 7.4 per nine in his previous three seasons. He's a reliever already, and will probably stay in that role.
Round 22: Max Watt, 651st overall
Max Watt sounds more like a corny superhero with control over the flow of electricity than a baseball player, and since he's 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, maybe dude is a superhero with control over the flow of electricity.
You might remember Watt from such events as the 2013 MLB Draft, in which Boston selected the right-hander out of high school in the 37th round. He struck out 85 batters in 69 innings this spring for Lynn University, and he won't turn 21 for a few more months yet, but it's pretty clear the Sox want him in their organization.
Round 23: Kyri Washington, 681st overall
The first sentence in Baseball America's scouting report for Washington states that "his floor is low." It also says his tools are "loud", so he's ranked 149 on their top-500 for a reason -- just not any higher because of those concerns the tools won't translate into anything resembling in-game ability. He's got a whole lot of swing-and-miss in his game, and not just because his swing needs work: his strike zone awareness is also in need.
This might all sound like a problem, but there is a reason the Red Sox drafted him in round 23 instead of much earlier on. If he works out, great! If he doesn't, hey, it was a round-23 pick. Of course, they have to sign him first, so we'll see if he falls within Boston's draft budget or if getting picked this late just doesn't work for him.
Round 24: Bradley Stone, 711th overall
A southpaw out of North Carolina State University, Stone's numbers were a mess this year, with more walks than strikeouts. He also only threw 15-1/3 innings, though, and was much better as a junior, with 34 strikeouts against 23 walks, but better isn't the same as good. There's likely something on the scouting side the Sox see in him, of course. Or hope to see in him going forward.
Round 25: Andrew Noviello 741st overall
He's a Massachusetts' guy, a high school catcher out of Bridgewater-Raynham High School, and he also ranks 207th on Baseball America's top-500. He's new to catching, as he was a second baseman previously, and BA says this has moved him from being a "tweener" to an actual up-the-middle prospect.
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Since he's raw and was drafted in round 25, don't get too attached, as he could always head to college to work on being either a backstop or a pitcher -- he can throw 92 off a mound at age 18. He'll be 19 in October, so he is a little on the old side for high school, but college ball awaits just the same as far as leverage goes. The Sox probably can't get Noviello and all the other overslot guys they've drafted on day three, so with someone like him, who needs so much more time to figure out who he is, there might not be a match here in the budget.
Round 26: Kevin Ginkel, 771st overall
He's a college right-hander from Southwestern College, standing 6-foot-4. He turned 21 back in March, and is in his third year of pitching for a junior college program. He's also a sociology major. Listen, there wasn't a lot of baseball-specific info out there for this one.
Round 27: Saige Jenco, 801st overall
Jenco ranks 211 on Baseball America's list, and like 11th-round pick Nicholas Hamilton, the top tool here is plus-plus speed. The Red Sox are getting him at a time when his arm strength is just now coming back -- he tore the labrum in his throwing shoulder his freshman year -- and the progress he's made might convince him to stick around at Virginia Tech a bit longer. He has two years of eligibility left, so he's not under pressure to go pro right this second unless the Sox make it worth his while.
As we've discussed before, they can't pull that trick off with every one of these interesting late-round picks, so they'll have to do the usual thing and find the balance between the best prospects and the best values. This is a reminder that the draft budget is pure evil.
Round 28: Steven Mangrum, 831st overall
He's a high school third baseman out of Virginia who received a first-team All-American Honorable Mention in the Atlantic region from Perfect Game. He's committed to Virginia Tech, but there is no available word about what kind of bonus he would need to go pro.
Round 29: Will Stillman, 861st overall
Stillman is a righty out of Wofford College in South Carolina, and he also has some Cape Cod League experience. The ERA was nothing to report back on this year, but he did manage to strike out 50 batters in 29 innings, so yeah, you draft that guy in the 29th round for non-budget money and see what happens.
Round 30: Jack Conley, 891st overall
Another high school backstop, except this one isn't a ranked prospect. Conley was a January baby, so he's already 18 and will be 19 for the 2016 season. He was given a second-team honorable mention by Perfect Game for the All-American squad in the Atlantic region, and has a commitment to North Carolina State.