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2016 MLB draft results: Red Sox picks, rounds 21 to 30

Boston made the kinds of picks you'd expect in these middle rounds, but also nabbed a couple of fascinating high school shortstops.

MLB.com

Rounds 21 through 30 of the 2016 MLB Draft have been completed, so we’ll review the Red Sox 10 picks one at a time to see what’s here. If you missed any of our earlier coverage, you can find it in the conveniently placed links below.

As for the next 10 the Sox picked...

Round 21: Beau Capanna, 628th overall

He’s a high school shortstop listed at just 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, but if you've been paying attention to the Red Sox scouting department since the time of Dustin Pedroia you would know that sort of thing doesn’t bother them. Capanna doesn't turn 18 until the end of June, and while he was drafted as a shortstop, he’s also spent time at third base and on the mound as a right-handed pitcher. Perfect Game lists him as a potential college-worthy prospect, and has a commitment to New Mexico, so the Sox might not necessarily even sign him.

Round 22: Granger Studdard, 658th overall

With a name like Granger Studdard he almost had to be drafted out of Texas, and he was, with the outfielder selected out of Texas State University. He’s 21 and staying that way until next February, and was drafted as an outfielder even though he’s spent some time in the infield, too. He certainly hits more like an infielder, with the lefty bat putting up a .285/.389/.380 line his junior year.

Round 23: Juan Carlos Abreu, 688th overall

A 19-year-old high school prospect, Abreu was drafted as a center fielder. The standout aspect of his game is his speed, but he might work on the rest in college and get himself drafted earlier next time he’s eligible, as he’s committed to Florida International University.

Round 24: Hunter Smith, 718th overall

A college senior and right-handed pitcher out of UNC-Greensboro, Smith struggled both on the mound in 2016, posting a 6.19 ERA over 88 innings. Obviously, the Sox see something in Smith if they’re drafting him at all, but it’s unclear at this time just what it is. He might be someone they think will look significantly different in relief or with a little pro coaching.

Round 25: Francisco Soto, 748th overall

A 6-foot-5, 220 pound 19-year-old right-hander out of Allen County Community College. This is literally all the information I can find on him.

Round 26: Jared Oliver, 778th overall

Oliver is a fifth-year senior and right-handed pitcher. He's already 23, and will be 24 before the 2017 season begins. I promise the Red Sox start picking some players with actual background and scouting reports again soon.

Round 27: Vince Arobio, 808th overall

Arobio is a 6-foot, 185 pound righty out of the University of the Pacific. He’s 21 years old and will be 22 just before the 2017 season begins. He didn’t pitch much in college, but when he did — especially in 2016 — he pitched well. He struck out 27 batters in just 17 innings of work this past season. He’ll need to keep his walks down, though, as somehow, his K/BB was still just over two even with all those whiffs.

Round 28: Jordan Scheftz, 838th overall

Scheftz, picked out of Saddleback Community College, will turn 21 in late-August. He made 19 appearances this season, totaling 31 innings with 24 strikeouts against 14 walks.

Round 29: Cam Shepherd, 868th overall

Shepherd is a high school shortstop, described as one of the "better" bats at the level this year by MLB. He’s in kind of a weird place from an evaluation standpoint, however. Perfect Game sees him as the kind of prospect who should go to college and then find himself drafted in an advantageous position in three years. Baseball America, however, didn’t even rank Shepherd as one of the top-500 prospects in the draft.

So, one wonders if he needs a huge bonus to avoid his commitment to Georgia. He probably does, given Georgia has been chasing him for literally years and offered him a scholarship when he was a junior. That lack of a Baseball America ranking should have you wondering, though.

Round 30: Tyler Fitzgerald, 898th overall

Another high school shortstop, and this one ranking relatively highly on Baseball America’s top-500. Fitzgerald has plus speed, is expected to hit for average thanks to a "simple" swing, and both the arm and range to stick at short so long as his 6-foot-3 frame doesn’t fill out too much as he ages.

All of this got him the 187 rank on BA’s list, but one wonders if he's the kind of player the Sox will only be able to get if Jason Groome doesn’t come to terms with them. The good news is that Fitzgerald will be around again in a few years if there’s no deal this time around.

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We've still got rounds 31 to 40 to cover, and then the 2016 MLB Draft is a wrap. We’ll have a similar wrap-up for those rounds after the draft concludes.