2017 Red Sox draft recap: Rounds 21-30

The picks have come fast and furious on the third day of the draft, and rather than do 30 individual posts for each player, we’ll just do quick write-ups on each draftee, with ten per post.

21st Round: Lukas Young, RHP, University of Mobile

Young was not among Baseball America’s top-500 2017 draftees. The righty stands at 6’2”, 190 pounds and pitched two years at Bishop State Community College before transferring to Mobile. I cannot find stats on how his season went, but I can tell you he was named to the All-Southern States Atlantic Conference first team. The SSAC is a conference in the NAIA, which is a step below the NCAA.

22nd Round: Hunter Haworth, RHP, Cal State Chico

Haworth was not among Baseball America’s top-500 2017 draftees. The college junior is a big kid, standing at 6’4”, 210 pounds. Pitching for his Division II team, the righty made 12 starts in 2017 and amassed 74 ¹⁄₃ innings. He finished the season with a 2.54 ERA with 73 strikeouts to 24 walks while holding opponents to a .208 batting average.

23rd Round: Donny Diaz, RHP, San Jacinto College North

Diaz was not among Baseball America’s top-500 2017 draftees. Diaz just finished up his sophomore year at San Jacinto, a junior college. Strangely, he had committed to play at the University of Texas prior to this season, but he never ended up going there for this spring. Perhaps that transfer takes place for next season, as I can not find anything about why he didn’t pitch for the Longhorns this year. He pitched out of the bullpen this season, racking up a whopping 60 strikeouts in just 30 innings of work.

24th Round: Charlie Madden, C, Mercer College

Madden was not among Baseball America’s top-500 2017 draftees. A college senior, the catcher will turn 22 in September and stands at 6’3”, 200 pounds. He is coming off a fantastic senior season in which he it .278/.389/.594 with 17 home runs in 56 games. Clearly, the power is the best part of his offensive game. He is reportedly a strong defensive catcher, too, with strong athleticism and does well controlling the running game.

25th Round: Kory Behenna, LHP, Wingate University

Behenna was not among Baseball America’s top-500 2017 draftees. The southpaw is listed at 6’2”, 175 pounds and just finished up his junior season. He has pitched both in the rotation and out of the bullpen in his career, and had a rough sophomore season in 2016. His ERA in 2017 still wasn’t spectacular in the high-3’s, but the southpaw did strike out 31 batters in 20 innings of work.

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26th Round: Trenton Denholm, RHP, Oak Ridge HS, Texas

Denholm was ranked as Baseball America’s number 404 draft prospect this year. The righty is a bit smaller at 5’11”, 180 pounds. Unsurprisingly, given his stature, he doesn’t provide a ton in the way of velocity, maxing out in the low-90s and generally sitting around an even 90 mph. He makes up for that with a fine breaking ball and changeup to give him a solid three-pitch mix. He also is projected for potential plus command, which makes him extremely intriguing this late in the draft. He is committed to UC-Irvine.

27th Round: Xavier LeGrant, 2B, Spartanburg Methodist College

LeGrant was not ranked among Baseball America’s top-500 2017 draftees. The right-handed bat actually went to N.C. State University out of high school, but after a solid but unspectacular season he transferred to SMC. Coming out of high school, he was seen as a very good defensive player with good range, but an arm that was best suited for second base.

28th Round: Oraj Anu, RF, Home School-Orlando

Anu was ranked as Baseball America’s 472nd best prospect in this draft. He is probably the most interesting player the Red Sox will draft this week, as he is home schooled and doesn’t even play for a local high school team. Instead, he shows off for his summer league team and in various showcases. The switch-hitter showed off big power in a major showcase last spring, but then went to the Bahamas with his family. When he resurfaced this spring, the tools that made him so appealing were no longer there. He’s still an extremely intriguing player, but there’s obviously a ton of risk associated him, even more than your typical high school draftee. Anu is committed to Florida International next season.

29th Round: Tyler Dearden, CF, Rancocas Valley Regional HS, New Jersey

Dearden was ranked as Baseball America’s 449th best prospect in this draft. The lefty has big-time bat speed and makes loud contact when he connects. He is still raw with his overall approach at the plate, but the potential for a strong bat is here. Defensively, things aren’t quite as bright as his future likely lies either at first base or in left field. Dearden is also 19, which means he could go to school and be eligible for the draft again after his sophomore season. He is committed to Penn State next season.

30th Round: Andrew Carber, RHP, Chipola College

Carber was not ranked among Baseball America’s top-500 2017 draftees. The righty is an interesting player for sure, even without being able to find out much information on him. First of all, he is huge, standing at 6’9” and 232 pounds. Second of all, although he just finished his sophomore year at junior college he is already 22 years old. This is because he was originally a collegiate golfer at Clemson University before deciding to focus his attention on baseball. He doesn’t have huge velocity for his size, but he’s still pretty raw considering that he took some time off from his baseball career.