In the later rounds, it’s clear that the Rockies’ draft strategy was selecting mostly, if not all, college players. A fair amount are also seniors, who are more likely to sign. The high school picks were saved for the upper 30s, which isn’t a terrible strategy, especially since those high schoolers most likely have college commitments and will forego signing to go to college. It’s an interesting draft strategy, and the picks are outlined below.
Round 11, 326 overall: Hunter Williams, LHP, No School
Williams previously attended UNC-Chapel Hill but wasn’t on the team for his junior year in 2017. He pitched in three games for the Frontier League (Ind.) Washington Wild Things, where he threw 121⁄3 innings and gave up 14 hits, 10 runs, two home runs and walked 14 while striking out 13. Thomas Harding had a great little profile on the lefty last week.
Round 12, 356 overall: Matt McLaughlin, SS, Kansas
McLaughlin appeared in 56 games for Kansas in 2017, hitting .314 with an ISO of .155. He seemed to have been able to hit for average more with the metal bat, but in the Cape Cod Baseball League in 2016 with the Falmouth Commodores, he hit just .219. Defensively, he never recorded a fielding percentage above .950 during his time at Kansas.
Round 13, 386 overall: Shameko Smith, RHP, Polk State College.
A draftee out of the NJCAA, it is reported that Smith has a 95 mph fastball while Perfect Game says that the best velocity they recorded from him was 93 mph.
Round 14, 416 overall: Nic Motley, C, McLennan CC
In his second year at McLennan CC, Motley hit for power, recording 17 home runs and driving in 63 runs. Motley is set to play for the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters, a collegiate summer league team, if he does not end up kickstarting his (playing) heart in the Rockies’ crew.
Round 15, 446 overall: Colton Hathcock, RHP, Memphis
The righty reliever for the University of Memphis kept his walk rate low and his strikeouts high during his junior year. He spent his sophomore year as a starter, starting 14 out of 15 games he appeared in and put up respectable numbers. Whether he tries starting again or sticks as a reliever is yet to be seen.
Round 16, 476 overall: Alan Trejo, SS, San Diego State
Trejo can make a lot of contact with the ball, posting a .381 BABIP in his junior year at San Diego State. He’s also a fairly decent fielder, with a FLD% of .979. He was part of the aerodynamics club in high school and is also an aerospace engineer major, according to his SDSU profile, with career plans to work in that industry.
Round 17, 506 overall: Jeff Bohling, 3B, Gonzaga
Bohling was named the 2016 WCC Player of the Year during his redshirt junior season. As a redshirt senior, he didn’t really hit much for power, but did enough to make a lot of contact with a .378 BABIP.
Round 18, 536 overall: Garrett Schilling, RHP, Xavier
Schilling, no relation, transitioned from spending his first two years at Xavier as a reliever to starting in 2017. He had a successful sophomore season as a reliever, while his freshman year limited him to seven and one-third innings. He has a tendency to give up a lot of hits, but does enough to strand the runner.
Round 19, 566 overall: Joey Bartosic, CF, George Washington U
It must be nice to have someone from George Washington U on your side, and it certainly is with this senior draft pick for the Rockies. Bartosic hits for average and can get on base a bit, with a .333 average and a .395 OBP. In his senior campaign, he walked more than he struck out and stole 24 bases.
Round 20, 596 overall: Casey Golden, RF, UNC Wilmington
It’s too early to tell if it will be golden when Casey is at the bat, but he does strike out more than he walks, recording 212 strikeouts in his career at UNC Wilmington to 81 walks. He can certainly hit, though, recording 21 home runs in 2017 when previously, he didn’t even reach double digit homers. He also drove in 42 this season, with an OBP of .402, an ISO of .336, and a BABIP of .371.
Round 21, 626 overall: Nate Harris, RHP, Louisiana Tech
Harris previously went to Hill College before transferring to Louisiana Tech for his junior and senior seasons. The numbers show that at his time at Hill College, he started as a reliever, then moved to being a starter, but gave up more hits than innings pitched, with a H9 of 12.62 as a freshman and 11.30 as a sophomore. That’s improved since he went to Louisiana Tech, with the H/9 dropping to 7.32 as a junior and 7.59 as a senior. In 2017, he made 22 appearances, with nine of those being starts. He had three complete games and two shutouts.
Round 22, 656 overall: Daniel Jipping, OF, Central Michigan
Jipping not only has an above average, well, average (.298) during his time at Central Michigan, but he also has a good ISO, with a career average at .203. He’s not much of a base stealer, but he can certainly drive in some runs, with a career 153 RBI in three seasons.
Round 23, 686 overall: Danny Edgeworth, 3B, Mercer U
This senior pick’s Mercer legacy is secure, finishing his career with a .290 average, a .397 OBP, .166 ISO, .331 BABIP. He’s not much of a power hitter, but can connect a fair amount with the ball. He does get hit by a pitch a fair amount, tallying at 35 at Mercer.
Round 24, 716 overall: Jesse Lepore, RHP, Miami
South Beach, bringin’ the heat / Pitching in the city where the heat is on / All night, on the field ‘til the break of dawn — and in 69 innings this season, Lepore brought the heat on the mound. In his second season as a starter, he brought up his SO9 rate from 6.96 in 2016 to 7.30, but his BB9 also got higher, going from 3.42 to 4.04. That’s not an error a lot of people want to make.
Round 25, 746 overall: Derrik Watson, RHP, Murray State
There’s got to be something about Watson that the numbers clearly do not show. Otherwise, career numbers between Southwestern Illinois College and Murray State, well. They are numbers.
Round 26, 776 overall: Aubrey McCarty, RF, Florida A&M
McCarty started his college career at Vanderbilt, where he didn’t fare too well in an extremely small sample size. He did much better in his one season at Florida A&M, though. What Baseball Cube does not have there are his numbers when he spent his sophomore season at Gordon State, which are mentioned on his Florida A&M page.
Round 27, 806 overall: Brandon Lambright, RHP, Abilene Christian U
Another senior pick, Lambright previously never threw more than 16 innings during his time at Abilene Christian University. 2017 was different, though, throwing 41 and two-third innings. He can strike out guys, at least, but all his other numbers are fairly high.
Round 28, 836 overall: Brett Stephens, LF, UCLA
Senior pick — if you had a bingo card for these draft picks, you’d probably win twice over — who can make contact and get on base a fair amount.
Round 29, 866 overall: Todd Czinege, 2B, Villanova U
See report for Stephens, Brett, but up the numbers a little bit more.
Round 30, 896 overall: Jeff Moberg, 2B, U Tennessee
Apparently, according to the Baseball Cube, Moberg played five seasons for Tennessee. Obviously, he was a redshirt. He had a fairly successful redshirt senior campaign, though.
Round 31, 926 overall: Reagan Biechler, RHP, Wichita St
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A senior draft pick who fared well in his senior season. He had a shiny 11.37 K/9 this season, with a BB/9 of 3.13, which is fairly good for a pitcher. Whether he can keep it up if he signs and transitions to facing wood bats is the bigger question.
Round 32, 956 overall: Moises Ceja, RHP, UCLA
Ceja is a young senior, still just 21 at the time of the draft and won’t be 22 until August. His numbers at UCLA are fairly good and he played for a very good baseball program, so that can be telling of him on the field.
Round 33, 986 overall: Alec Byrd, RHP, FSU
Byrd’s junior season seems like an outlier compared to the rest of his time at Florida State University. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing, but there is something to be said about having a fairly good year, numbers-wise, in your junior year and not get drafted again (he was previously drafted in 2013 out of high school by the Cincinnati Reds in the 37th round) until your senior year.
Round 34, 1016 overall: Hayden Roberts, RHP, U Southern Mississippi
Roberts, a young senior, seems like a fairly hittable pitcher who was going between relieving and starting. If he signs, where he ends up sticking—whether it be the rotation or the bullpen—may play a huge role in how well he does in the organization.
Round 35, 1046 overall: James Notary, RHP, Broomfield HS
The Denver-suburb native, Notary, has fairly good numbers through high school, but he also has committed to playing at Texas Christian University, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he forgoes signing to get drafted higher after his junior year/21st birthday.
Round 36, 1076 overall: Michael Agis, RHP, FIU
A senior pick (cross off that bingo card again) from Florida International University, Agis has a tendency to give up a lot of hits per inning. But he also strikes guys out. So it balances out. Maybe.
Round 37, 1106 overall: Tyler Hardman, 3B, Temescal Canyon HS
The thing about drafting high schoolers this late in the draft is that they’re highly unlikely to sign them due to their college commitments. Tyler Hardman is no exception. With a commitment to the University of Oklahoma, he might be a hard man to sign.
Round 38, 1136 overall: Drake Davis, RHP, Ralston Valley HS
As is the case mentioned above, Davis is also highly unlikely to sign considering his commitment to Arizona State University.
Round 39, 1166 overall: Colin Hall, CF, Wesleyan HS
And again! But swap out the universities mentioned before with McKendree University.
Round 40, 1196 overall: J.T. Stanley, C, Centennial HS
And lastly, Stanley does not have any commitments that are, at the very least, public knowledge, but Perfect Game says that at least five universities are interested.