A’s Select 15 Players on second day of 2012 First-Year Player Draft
OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland A’s selected 15 players on the second day of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft, which completed rounds two through 15 today. Including their three picks from yesterday, the A’s have drafted 11 college players, six high school athletes and one player with no school. The total includes nine pitchers, one catcher, six infielders and two outfielders. The draft concludes tomorrow beginning at 9:00 a.m. PDT with rounds 16 through 40.
The A’s had two second round picks, drafting Birmingham Southern catcher Bruce Maxwell with the Twins second round pick as compensation for the loss of free agent Josh Willingham. Maxwell was named the 2012 American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings National Player of the Year after leading the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference with a .471 batting average, 15 home runs, 25 doubles, 56 runs scored, 59 walks, a .928 slugging percentage and .619 on-base percentage. He was selected with 62nd pick overall.
Right-handed pitcher Nolan Sanburn, a sophomore from the University of Arkansas, was selected with the A’s own second round pick, the 74th overall selection. Sanburn is 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA in 14 games, two starts, with the Razorbacks. In 25.2 innings, he has struck out 30, walked 12 and has not allowed a home run. Sanburn earned Freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball in 2011 after recording a team-leading eight saves.
The A’s drafted two more high school players in the third and fourth rounds, selecting left-handed pitcher Kyle Twomey from El Dorado High School and center fielder B.J. Boyd from Palo Alto High School. Twomey went 8-3 with a 0.76 ERA in 12 games, 11 starts, for the Hawks. He struck out 77 in 73.2 innings and limited the opposition to a .149 batting average. Boyd hit .507 with 25 stolen bases in 28 games and walked 19 times for a .628 on-base percentage.
Baylor first baseman Max Muncy was the A’s fifth round selection. He was an All-Big 12 Selection and is currently batting .313 with seven home runs and 54 RBI in 63 games for the Bears, who face Arkansas in the NCAA Waco Super Regional this weekend. Muncy also earned Big 12 honors in 2011 and was a Freshman All-America selection in 2010 after setting Baylor freshman records with 11 home runs and 53 RBI.
Other selections from the first day include right-handed pitcher Kris Hall from Lee University in the eighth round, center fielder Brett Vertigan from UC Santa Barbara in the 10th round and right-handed pitcher Stuart Pudenz of Dallas Baptist University in the 13th round. Hall was a NAIA All-American after going 12-0 with a 1.71 ERA in 16 starts for the Flames. He logged 122 strikeouts and surrendered one home run in 100.0 innings pitched while holding the opposition to a .191 batting average. Vertigan earned All-Big West honors with a league-leading .381 batting average, nine triples and 17 stolen bases. Pudenz was 5-1 with eight saves, a 1.58 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 40.0 innings for the Patriots.
Oakland Athletics Selections in 2012 First-Year Player Draft
RND PLAYER, POS. YR. SCHOOL / HOMETOWN
1 Addison Russell, SS HS Pace HS / Pace, FL
1s Daniel Robertson, SS HS Upland HS /Upland, CA
1s Matt Olson, 1B HS Parkview HS / Lilburn, GA
2 Bruce Maxwell, C Jr. Birmingham Southern / Harvest, AL
2 Nolan Sanburn, RHP So. Arkansas / Kokomo, IN
3 Kyle Twomey, LHP HS El Dorado HS / Placentia, CA
4 B.J. Boyd, CF HS Palo Alto HS / Palo Alto, CA
5 Max Muncy, 1B Jr. Baylor / Keller, TX
6 Seth Streich, RHP Jr. Ohio / Ridgeway, PA
7 Cody Kurz, RHP JC Oxnard JC / Oxnard, CA
8 Kris Hall, RHP Jr. Lee / Strongsville, OH
9 Dakota Bacus, RHP Jr. Indiana State / Moline, IL
10 Brett Vertigan, CF Jr. UC Santa Barbara / Garden Grove, CA
11 Matthew Gonzalez, SS HS Harrison HS / Acworth, GA
12 John Caputo, 3B -- -- / Toronto, ON (Canada)
13 Stuart Pudenz, RHP Jr. Dallas Baptist / Houston, TX
14 Austin House, RHP Jr. New Mexico / Albuquerque, NM
15 Vincent Voiro, RHP Sr. Penn / Cherry Hill, NJ