Red Sox select Devlin Granberg with their sixth round pick

The Red Sox continue their run of college players in the second day of the draft, taking outfielder Devlin Granberg with their sixth round selection. The righty is an outfielder who just finished his senior year at Dallas Baptist University and he’s in his age-22 season. A former Junior College star, he has been one of the best hitters in the country in both JuCo and against NCAA competition. This season, he got 253 at bats in 63 games and in that time he hit an incredible .443/.541/.680. Senior draftees are rarely super exciting, but Granberg is widely acknowledged as one of the best senior bats in the country.

It’s also worth noting that the Granberg pick seemingly bucks the trend of Red Sox going for power-first hitters with some question around the hit tool. The right-handed bat has a hit tool that exceeds his raw power, though both can play at the highest level if everything goes right. He won’t have trouble adjusting to velocity in pro ball with his quick hands, and his ability to make loud contact could help his power develop more quickly than some expect. He’s also a strong runner.

Defensively, there are some questions about where Granberg will ultimately play on the diamond. He played both corner outfield spots as well as first base in college. Given the Red Sox draft to this point, one would imagine they didn’t select another guy they expect to land at first base after having already taken Triston Casas and Kole Cottam. Baseball America doesn’t think Granberg’s arm will play in right field, so that leaves left field as the most likely destination for the sixth round pick.

Granberg was ranked as Baseball America’s number 245 prospect heading into the draft. He was not ranked by either MLB Pipeline or Fangraphs.