Dodgers pleased with 'unique' Draft haul

L.A. takes majority college players, 20 pitchers over 3 days

June 6th, 2019

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers came away from the MLB Draft on Wednesday sounding better than when they went in.

“We feel great about the outcome,” said scouting director Billy Gasparino. “We feel even better about the amount of quality players we got this year. We really got some unique college players.”

Of 41 picks, the Dodgers took 34 college players, almost the identical breakdown from last year (33 of 40). They took 20 pitchers, seven of them relievers.

At the top end on Monday, they focused on slugging college infielders -- Tulane third baseman Kody Hoese at No. 25 overall and North Carolina second baseman Michael Busch at No. 31, followed by Texas high school pitcher Jimmy Lewis at No. 78.

Day 2 for the Dodgers was all signable college players, five of the eight being pitchers. The concentration on pitching continued for the first part of Wednesday’s session, as the Dodgers took pitchers with eight of their picks between rounds 11-20. At one point they took five left-handed college pitchers in an eight-round span.

“We thought the left-handed college pitching group on Day 3 was a really strong group and we ended up taking five of them,” Gasparino said. “That was the demographic we thought was the strongest, so it was a huge score for us.”

Then came the shift to position players, with the Dodgers taking non-pitchers on 13 of their last 20 picks.

Their first pick on Wednesday was 10th-rounder Logan Boyer, a San Diego State right-hander limited this year by shoulder tightness. Gasparino said the club dug deep on the medicals and is satisfied the pitcher is healthy and will be on the mound later this summer.

In the 28th round, the Dodgers took Georgia high school shortstop Brennan Milone. Gasparino conceded Milone will be a tough sign with a commitment to South Carolina, but he liked the bat enough to take that risk. MLB Pipeline rated him at No. 94 in the Draft.

Also, after taking only one high school player in the first 20 picks, the Dodgers finished with eight, including six of the last 12 picks.

Among other interesting Dodgers picks on Wednesday:

19th rounder Oklahoma left-hander Braidyn Fink is out until next year after Tommy John surgery; 20th rounder Zack Plunkett, a bazooka-armed Arkansas catcher, was taken as a reliever; 21st rounder Florida high school two-way player Trey LaFleur is committed to hit and pitch at Ole Miss; 29th rounder Breyln Jones, son of former Major League lefty Bobby Jones and a two-way player, was taken as a pitcher.

The Dodgers also took the sons of two former MLB catchers -- 32nd rounder Danny Sinatro, a center fielder from Washington State, is the son of Matt Sinatro; and 40th round UCLA catcher Ty Haselman is the son of current Dodgers Minor League managers coordinator Bill Haselman.

Dodgers scouts doubled down on four programs, taking Jack Little (5th) and Brandon Wulff (17th) from Stanford; Ryan Ward (8th) and Jimmy Titus (22nd) from Bryant; Alec Gamboa (9th) and Chet Allison (24th) from Fresno CC; Andrew Baker (16th) and Julio Carrion (33rd) from Chipola College (Russell Martin’s school).