The next crop of future Dodger greats just had their dreams come true.
The 2018 MLB First-Year Player Draft was this week and the Los Angeles Dodgers took a high schooler pitcher with their first round pick, and then continued to add arms from there.
By the end of the Dodgers vs. Pirates game on Tuesday evening, the Dodgers had drafted a total of ten players (five pitchers) in the first ten rounds of the draft.
After finishing with the best record in baseball last season, the Dodgers had the 30th overall pick in the draft and selected right-hander J.T. Ginn out of Brandon High School in Mississippi.
Ginn appeared in eight games (seven starts), going 5-1 with a 0.36 ERA (2 ER/39.1 IP) and striking out 78 batters against just nine walks, while holding the opposition to a .073 average. Ginn also recorded two shutouts and a no-hitter in his starts and was named the 2018 Gatorade Player of the Year.
"We have seen Ginn over the course of last year with a premium velocity that goes with a lot of movement,” said Dodger Director, Amateur Scouting Billy Gasparino. “We think he has one of the best fastball qualities in the draft and he also has a power breaking ball that he can throw for strikes. The stuff has always been there, but we have seen him develop a better delivery as the spring went along. We believe that he is a potential starter and can be one of those power, six-foot righties that really has premium stuff."
Ginn was scouted by Dodgers' scout Benny Latino, and had a 15-2 record with a 1.02 ERA in his last three years of high school.
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However, just because Ginn is a pitcher doesn't mean he can't get it done at the plate as well. The 19-year-old batted .415 with 28 home runs, 22 doubles, three triples and 120 RBI in four seasons.
In the second round, with the 68th overall pick in the draft, the Dodgers selected right-hander Michael Grove out of West Virginia University.
The Wheeling, West Virginia native missed the 2018 season after undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery, but as a junior he went 5-5 with a 3.13 ERA in 25 collegiate games (16 starts).
"Grove is a little bit of a unique case. A lot of credit goes to our area scout, Jonah Rosenthal, as he was able to see him both freshman and sophomore year at West Virginia and was able to gain some familiarity with his physical ability. We felt like Grove’s talent level matched that pick and our comfort level of where he was with his post Tommy John surgery, it made sense for us," said Gasparino.
The Dodgers would go on two select two more pitchers in rounds 3 and 4, selecting John Rooney a left-hander out of Hofstra University in the third round and Braydon Fisher, a right-hander out of Clear Falls High School in Texas.
Below is the complete list of players selected in the first ten rounds.
Round | Pick | Player | Pos | School |
1 | 30 | J.T. Ginn | RHP | Brandon HS |
2 | 68 | Michael Grove | RHP | West Virginia |
3 | 104 | John Rooney | LHP | Hofstra |
4 | 134 | Braydon Fisher | RHP | Clear Falls HS |
5 | 164 | Devin Mann | INF | Louisville |
6 | 194 | Bryan Warzek | LHP | University of New Orleans |
7 | 224 | James Outman | OF | Sacramento State |
8 | 254 | Luke Heyer | INF | Kentucky |
9 | 284 | Josh McLain | OF | NC State |
10 | 314 | Deacon Liput | INF | Florida |
The 2018 First-Year Player Draft concludes tomorrow with rounds 11-30 starting at 9:00AM PST.