Red Sox select Brock Bell with their seventh round pick

The Red Sox moved out of the four-year university realm with their seventh round pick on Tuesday, but they still opted for a college pitcher who is the same age as college juniors being drafted. They took a right-handed pitcher named Brock Bell out of the State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota. It’s a junior college, and he was in his third year there. Bell was not listed among Baseball America’s top 500 draft prospects, but was named as Fangraphs’ number 55 college pitcher among those with a future value grade of 35 or lower.

There’s not a whole lot of information on Bell, who came out of high school as a two-way player with more people focused on his ability as a third baseman. He was announced as a pitcher for the Red Sox, though, so presumably that’s where they’ll be playing him. On the mound he was a pure reliever this year, striking out 20 in 22 innings with a 2.38 ERA and six saves. He also hit, but managed just a .627 OPS, so expect to see him in some minor-league bullpen for the remainder of this summer.