Recapping Red Sox draft picks 11-20

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.

Round 11 (Pick #340): Nicholas Northcutt, RHP/3B, William Mason HS (OH)

With their first pick of Day Three of the MLB Draft, the Red Sox went back to the prep well, taking (potentially) their first high school arm of the draft. They got a good one in Northcutt, who was ranked 69th (nice) on Baseball America’s predraft rankings, 81st on MLB Pipeline’s and as the number two high school bat among those not named on the overall top 130 on Fangraphs’. Interestingly enough, all publications seem to agree that he’s a better hitting prospect than pitching, but he’s listed as a pitcher on the draft tracker. As a pitcher, he throws a low-90s fastball as well as a breaking ball, but it’s his power potential at the plate that has scouts really intrigued. It’ll be interesting to see what the plan is if the Red Sox do sign him, but it’s worth noting that he is a top-100 prospect in this draft and has a commitment to Vanderbilt. Boston will surely have to save money in the first ten rounds to be able to afford Northcutt.

Round 12 (Pick #370): Chase Shugart, RHP, University of Texas

Shugart is an interesting prospect coming out of college as the junior righty got a chance to start for the first time this season after spending his first two college years in the Longhorns’ bullpen. He did end up back in the ‘pen by the end of the year, however. According to Baseball America, who has him ranked as their number 294 prospect, his stuff fell off dramatically in longer outings. The fastball dropped from mid-to-high-90s out of the bullpen to high-80s-to-low-90s in longer stints, and BA indicates that his breaking stuff diminished in this role as well. Shugart is also smaller — listed at 5’10” and 180 pounds — which could point to a bullpen role regardless.

Round 13 (Pick #400): Dylan Hardy, OF, University of South Alabama

Hardy is not a super highly-touted prospect coming out in his junior year, but the right-handed hitter seems like my kind of player. That is to say that he is very fast, an aggressive hitter and one who can hit for a high average. This past year he hit .311/.409/.444 with 19 stolen bases. He was ranked as the number 494 prospect on Baseball America’s rankings, and they say he can handle center field. However, he played left field in college because he played alongside Travis Swaggerty, who was chosen tenth overall by the Pirates in this draft.

Round 14 (Pick #430): Nicholas Lucky, 2B, Cocalico HS (PA)

The Red Sox picked up another high school player with their 14th pick in this draft, and Lucky is an 18 year old (he turns 19 on Christmas) with a commitment to play at Coastal Carolina next season. Unfortunately, there’s not much in the way of scouting reports for Lucky, so let’s just imagine he’s a superstar who won’t take much to sign. (All of that is probably untrue).

Round 15 (Pick #460): Andrew Politi, RHP, Seton Hall

With their 15th pick, the Red Sox took another college junior who has pitched both in the rotation and out of the bullpen. This past spring at Seton Hall, Politi made 17 total appearances, six of which came as a starter. Overall, he pitched to an ugly 5.44 ERA over 48 innings, though he did have 67 strikeouts to go with his 29 walks. He wasn’t ranked on Baseball America’s predraft list, but he was ranked as their number 18 draft prospect from New Jersey (second-round pick Nick Decker was first on that list) and was their number seven draft prospect from the Big East prior to the season.

Round 16 (Pick #490): Christopher Machamer, RHP, University of Kentucky

With Machamer, the Red Sox have another prospect who appears to be a reliever-only prospect. The righty is a draft-eligible sophomore, so he has a little more leverage in negotiations than most college prospects. While most aren’t thrilled about relief prospects, Machamer was impressive as Kentucky’s closer with a good slider and a mid-90s fastball and he also showed the ability to throw multiple innings. Overall he made 23 appearances and tossed 35 ¹⁄₃ innings, pitching to a 3.06 ERA with 38 strikeouts and just 9 walks. Machamer was ranked number 253 on Baseball America’s predraft list. You can see video courtesy of BA below.

Round 17 (Pick #520): Lane Milligan, C, Oklahoma City University

The Red Sox went with a college senior in the 17th round, picking up the catcher Milligan. The left-handed hitter originally went to the University of New Mexico before transferring to Oklahoma City University, a NAIA school. In his senior year, the catcher hit .462 with 15 homers in 59 games.

Round 18 (Pick #550): Eddie Jimenez, RHP, Southeastern University

Boston took another college senior in the eighth round, this time turning to the pitching side of things with Jimenez. Southeastern University is another NAIA school, and at the end of this season Jimenez made the All-Conference second team at the end of the year. The righty appears to be another reliever.

Round 19 (Pick #580): Jonathan Ortega, 2B, Texas State University

In Ortega, the Red Sox went with a college junior this time around, and TSU is a Division 1 school that plays in the Sun Belt conference. Ortega, a right-handed hitter, played in 59 games and got 236 at bats for the Bobcats this season, hitting .280/.361/.403 with 13 stolen bases. It was a bit of a disappointment after he posted a .912 OPS with 22 stolen bases the year before, but at least we know the talent is there.

Round 20 (Pick #610): Kason Howell, OF, Liberty Christian High School (TX)

There’s not a ton of information on the high school switch hitter, but he does seem like a decent athlete. At least, that’s what I deduce as he was apparently a star football player as well, playing free safety and wide receiver. It appears he has chosen baseball as his path, however, and he has a commitment to play at Auburn next spring if he does not sign.