D-backs make catcher penultimate Day 2 pick

PHOENIX -- The D-backs took a catcher, Stryker Trahan, with their top pick last year, but it took until the ninth round on Friday for the club to select its first backstop of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft. Arizona took Grant Nelson 270th overall, a senior catcher out of Saint Louis University.

After going undrafted out of high school in California, Nelson began his collegiate career at Skyline College in San Bruno, Calif., where he was a unanimous First-Team All-League selection and earned Northern California All-America honors.

From there, Nelson moved on to Saint Louis in 2012 and started all 59 games, hitting .314. This season, he showed even more improvement at the plate, batting .338 with five homers, eight doubles, three triples and 45 runs scored.

More known for his bat than his arm, Nelson threw out 15 out of 50 basestealers behind the plate in 2013, although he was one of 48 catchers named to the Johnny Bench Award watch list, given to the top backstop in the country.