CLEVELAND -- After spending some time in the United States at 10 years old for baseball, Daniel Espino knew he had to make the permanent move. When he was 15, he came out of his room at his home in Panama, telling his parents that he needed to live in the U.S. to pursue his dreams of playing professional baseball.

Now, that dream has come true.

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With the 24th overall pick, the Indians selected Espino, a right-handed pitcher out of Georgia Premier Academy. In the second round, the Tribe drafted Yordys Valdes, a switch-hitting shortstop from McArthur (Fla.) High School.

Espino was one of four prospects who attended the Draft in Secaucus, N.J., with his parents, siblings and grandmother by his side.

“Oh, it means a lot,” Espino said. “I love this team. The opportunity I had to go to Cleveland and just being able to talk with the scouts and the front office, it felt like home.”

The 18-year-old hurler is known for his heater, owning arguably the best fastball in this year’s draft class. While he averages between 94-97 mph, he has been clocked at 100 mph twice in his young career. In nine starts during his senior year, he posted a 0.32 ERA with 10 walks and 106 strikeouts in 44 innings.

“I came to Georgia Premier Academy and got into the right program of long toss and using my legs and perfection in my mechanics,” Espino said. “It’s a big part of my mechanics. I would say that power comes from my legs. I really get into my legs when I’m pitching. I use my legs a lot.”

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound righty also has two above-average breaking balls, including a low-80s slider and an upper-70s curveball with good depth, according to MLB Pipeline. Espino also mixes in an average changeup, which is the weakest pitch in his arsenal.

“He’s extremely athletic, he’s loose, he’s flexible, he’s got a power arm,” Indians director of amateur scouting Scott Barnsby said. “We’ve seen Daniel throw 100 miles per hour. Pretty special arm strength. ... He’s got two different breaking balls, both slider and the curveball have depth, finish, angle, bite to them. I feel like both of them have a chance to be plus. Developing feel for a changeup. And he’s just a really talented young kid.”

He is currently committed to Louisiana State University and although scouts have projected MLB Pipeline’s No. 23 prospect more as a reliever than a starter, Barnsby doesn’t quite see it the same way.

“We view Daniel as a starter,” Barnsby said. “He’s extremely athletic, he’s loose, he’s got a four-pitch mix and we don’t see any reason why Daniel can’t start. I know he mentioned kind of getting that power in his delivery from his lower half. I think there’s some things that he still needs to work on from a delivery point, but I think we can say that about any high school player. We absolutely see him as a starter in the short-term and the long-term.”

In the off chance that he would become a reliever, he spent his entire childhood idolizing one of the best to ever play the game.

“I used [Mariano Rivera] as a role model,” Espino said. “Just how he was able to be calm and just come into the ninth inning and just throw one pitch and be controlling the game and getting dudes out at the highest level in baseball.”

After his selection, MLB Network showed a clip of Indians starter Trevor Bauer breaking down Espino’s stuff, comparing him to Rays’ hurler Tyler Glasnow. Bauer pointed out some issues with Espino’s posture, saying it reminded him of a younger version of himself.

“If he tightens up that arm action a little bit, solidifies that posture, he’s gonna throw even harder with better command than he has right now,” Bauer said. “And I got to tell you, that’s a very scary thought for all the hitters who are gonna have to face him.”

In the last eight Drafts combined, 16 of the Indians’ 24 top three picks were selected out of high school and the Tribe continued the trend on Monday, selecting Valdes, a high school student from Florida.

One of the best shortstops in this year’s Draft, the 17-year-old is a solid defender with above-average arm strength, but he struggles more offensively. According to MLB Pipeline, he’s more successful from the right side of the plate than the left, and his bat tends to trail through the zone, leading to an opposite-field approach due to a lack of strength.

“This guy has defensive instincts, he’s got hands, he’s got actions, he’s got range to both sides, impressive transfer, he’s got arm strength to stay at shortstop,” Barnsby said. “We see him being a middle of the diamond player for a long time. A switch-hitter, he’s got a feel to hit from both sides of the plate. So a pretty exciting upside with Yordys.”

In his senior year, the Cuba native hit .343 (25-for-73) with eight doubles, one triple, 13 RBIs and 20 runs scored in 23 games. He was coached by former Major Leaguer Oddibe McDowell -- who played in 69 games for the Indians in 1989 -- and his father, Oscar, played outfield for the Cuban national team. Valdes made the move to South Florida at age five and recently committed to Florida State University.

“With Yordys it was fun to get to know him,” Barnsby said. “One of the things that stands out about him is his knowledge of the game and his favorite player is Francisco Lindor, so that works out pretty well.”

The Draft continues on Tuesday with Rounds 3-10. The MLB.com preview show begins at 12:30 p.m. ET, with exclusive coverage beginning at 1 p.m. ET. Go to MLB.com/Draft for complete coverage, including every pick on Draft Tracker, coverage and analysis from MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo, the complete order of selection and more. And follow @MLBDraft and @MLBDraftTracker on Twitter.