Padres select LHP Max Fried with seventh overall pick in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft
Pitcher rated as the top left-hander in 2012 Draft class by Baseball America
The San Diego Padres today selected left-handed pitcher Max Fried out of Harvard-Westlake High School in Studio City, Calif., with the seventh overall pick on the first day of Major League Baseball’s 2012 First-Year Player Draft. Vice President/Assistant General Manager of Player Personnel Chad MacDonald made the announcement.
Recommended by Padres Area Scout Brent Mayne, Fried went 8-2 with a 2.02 ERA and 105 strikeouts against 29 walks and 43 hits allowed in 66 innings pitched for Harvard-Westlake his senior year. The 18-year-old also played in the Perfect Game All-American Classic last year at Petco Park and was rated as the top left-handed pitcher by Baseball America among all players in the 2012 Draft class. The southpaw has committed to play for UCLA.
Fried becomes just the third high school pitcher selected by the Padres with their first pick since 1987 and the sixth left-hander ever taken first overall by the Padres in the First-Year Player Draft. The Southern California native was also rated as having the best command among high school pitchers in the 2012 Draft class by Baseball America’s best tools survey.
The Padres will make three additional selections in the first day of the draft with the 33rd, 44th and 55th overall selections. The 40-round draft will continue tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. PT with rounds 2-15 and will conclude on Wednesday with rounds 16-40.