Angels draft two-sport star Jordyn Adams

UNC football commit taken 17th overall; Halos add prep SS at No. 37

June 5th, 2018

ANAHEIM -- For the second straight year, the Angels used their first-round Draft pick on a high school outfielder, taking Jordyn Adams with the 17th overall selection on Monday night.
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Adams, 18, is a two-sport standout from Green Hope High School in Cary, N.C., and he's committed to play football and baseball at North Carolina, where his father, Deke, is the defensive line coach. Scouting director Matt Swanson said the Angels don't expect to have any issues signing Adams, who is a four-star wide receiver recruit but has a longer history playing baseball. The slot value for the 17th overall pick is $3,472,900.
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Listed at 6-foot-2, 175 pounds, Adams hit .453 with five doubles, three triples, a home run and 15 RBIs during his senior season at Green Hope.
"The first thing that jumps out is his athleticism," Swanson said. "If you've looked at our last couple Drafts, that's kind of the common thread in what we're trying to do. Jordyn is somebody who is big and fast and strong. Somebody we can just continue to mold."
The Angels have developed an affinity for using their early-round picks on players with high athletic upside, as they also drafted outfielder Jo Adell with the 10th overall pick in 2017. Adell, 19, has already climbed to Class A Advanced Inland Empire and is ranked the club's No. 1 prospect by MLB Pipeline.
Florida right-hander Brady Singer, a polished college arm who was ranked No. 2 among MLB Pipeline's Top 200 Draft prospects, was still on the board when the Angels made their first-round selection, but Swanson said Adams had been their target for months.
"When we feel like we can grab somebody like Jordyn and infuse our organization with talent such as his, that's tremendous upside and tremendous athleticism, you take that," Swanson said. "You take it, and you bring that in. I think it's just another very exciting pick for us."

A right-handed bat, Adams was ranked No. 37 on MLB Pipeline's Top 200 Draft prospects, and he's projected to develop into a solid hitter with the potential to hit 15-20 home runs per year. He also possesses top-of-the-scale speed, which could allow him to become a premier basestealer and defender in center field.
Adams' athletic talents seem to extend beyond football and baseball, as a video of him throwing down an incredible dunk quickly made the rounds on social media after he was drafted.
Watch Angels Draft pick's posterizing dunk
"We stumbled upon that video in about March or April," Swanson said. "I can't even begin to imagine how many times that video has been played by Angels employees, but it's a lot."

The Angels stayed within the high schools ranks for their second-round pick, drafting shortstop Jeremiah Jackson out of St. Luke's Episcopal High School in Mobile, Ala., with the 57th overall selection. Jackson, 18, is the first high school middle infielder from Alabama to be selected within the first three rounds of the Draft since Bo Jackson was taken in the second round by the Yankees in 1982.
The Angels hadn't used their first two picks on high school players since 2010, when they took infielder Kaleb Cowart (18th overall) and right-hander Cam Bedrosian (29th overall).
"Jeremiah was another player that we scouted really heavily," Swanson said. "We were thrilled that he was there when we wrapped around into the second round. J.T. Zink, our area scout, did a phenomenal job staying on him and knowing the family and knowing the kid. Very comfortable with him as a person, but also as a baseball player. I don't think he should get lost in the shuffle of being our second pick, because we felt very passionately about him and what he's going to bring into our organization as well."
The 6-foot-1, 170-pound Jackson batted .644 with nine doubles, four triples, 15 home runs and 49 RBIs during his senior season at St. Luke's. He also made 12 appearances as a pitcher this year, going 3-1 with a 2.55 ERA and 42 strikeouts.
Jackson, a Mississippi State recruit, is an advanced hitter with solid arm strength, but his lack of a quick first step has led some scouts to believe that he'll end up shifting to second base. Swanson, for his part, said the Angels envision him sticking at shortstop.
"Our scouts have valued him there, and we made the pick with the intention of developing him as a shortstop," Swanson said. "He's given us no indication that he shouldn't stay there long term."
The Draft continues on Tuesday with Rounds 3-10. The MLB.com preview show begins at 9:30 a.m. PT, with exclusive coverage beginning at 10 a.m.