Red Sox select Jaxx Groshans with their fifth round pick

With their third selection on Tuesday the Red Sox made their second pick from the University of Kansas, picking Ryan Zeferjahn’s teammate Jaxx Groshans in the fifth round. Groshans was Zeferjahn’s battery mate behind the plate, playing for three years with the Jayhawks. The brother of 2018 first rounder Jordan Groshans, Jaxx was ranked 204th on Baseball America’s top-500 and was the number 49 college bat among those with a future value grade of 35 or lower on Fangraphs’ list.

Groshans is coming off a breakout year with Kansas, playing in 57 games and hitting .340/.475/.604 with 12 homers. His power isn’t really a huge carrying tool, with his most likely future being one that relies more on doubles than homers, though who knows how that will actually develop given the major-league balls in recent years. Along with the power, Groshans has a great understanding of the strike zone that could help him move quickly through the minors against more raw competition on the mound. Defensively, he’s relativley new to catching, spending time at third base previously in his career. Baseball America thinks he has a chance to stick there, though it’s certainly not a sure thing.