2015 MLB Draft: Washington Nationals Day 3 Summary

(Photo Credit: Mick VanVossen,  Rey Del Rio,

http://www.msuspartans.com)

The Major League Amateur Draft finished up yesterday with the teams completing the forty scheduled rounds of selections.

The Washington Nationals, as expected, in the later rounds utilized the same strategy as they did last year with their late round picks. Most of the selections were players that are still in college or high school seniors who are probably already committed to colleges. There will be little incentive for most of the selected players to sign with the Nats and start their professional careers.

College juniors taken in the very late rounds of the draft have every incentive to play their senior year and continue to try to improve their skills and move up the draft board next year. The high school seniors have the same incentive, plus a college education, that they would give up to sign as a late round draft pick. They too are probably hoping to go to college, where they could continue to mature and work on their skills, which could allow them to move up in the draft in future years.

Since the entire draft pool money available to sign picks is capped under the MLB rules, teams are hoping most of the late round picks aren’t interested in signing. This leaves more money available for the Nats, and other teams, to pay the signing bonuses to the players they actually want to sign this year.

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Keeping that in mind, here are the players that the Nationals drafted in rounds 11 through 40 on Wednesday. Most of these players will not be seen in a Nationals minor league uniform any time soon, if ever.

I have broken these picks into three sets: The players that the Nationals may actually sign this year, players that are on the fence, and the players that will decline to sign this year:

Next: Probable Signees

Ian Sagdal (Photo Credit: Washington State Athletics)

Probable Signees From This Draft

Round 28: Mick VanVossen, right-handed pitcher, a senior at Michigan State University:  VanVossen is a senior. He stands at 6’4″ and weighs 215 lbs. He is a pitcher in the mold that the organization likes right now–a tall presence on the mound.

VanVossen’s trend during his college pitching career is troubling. As a freshman at MSU, he had a 4-0 record and a 3.47 ERA in limited appearances. In his sophomore season, he compiled a record of 5-2. His junior year was outstanding, when he posted an 8-3 record with a 2.82 ERA, and won the team’s most valuable pitcher award.

Then came his senior season, the one he just finished. He went 4-5 with a 6.00 ERA. He was inconsistent in his starts, either he pitched very effectively or got rocked. It is hard to tell whether he is fatigued from tying for fifth for most innings pitched by an MSU pitcher, had injury trouble, or his mechanics were off.

Round 29: Philip Diedrick, outfielder, a senior at Western Kentucky University: Diedrick is originally from Ajax, Canada. He’s another large guy, 6’2″, 215 lbs.

He played eight games in the outfield and served primarily as the designated hitter for Western Kentucky. He hit .291 and had eight home runs and 22 RBI’s in 52 games. His slugging percentage was .475. He was a transfer from Connors State College and played two years with Western Kentucky.

Round 33: Angelo La Bruna, shortstop, a fifth year senior at USC: He is a right-handed hitter who is 5′ 10″, 175 lbs. He was redshirted for the 2014 season due to NCAA transfer rules. La Bruna transferred to USC for his last two years of playing time. Prior to that, he was with the Duke University team.

He hit .250 in 2015 and played in 39 games. He was 4 for 6 in stolen base attempts. Not much power, only hitting two home runs. His fielding percentage for this season was a respectable .951.

Round 16:  Ian Sagdal, shortstop, senior at Washington State: He is a left-handed hitter that is 6’3″, 189 lbs.  Sagdal has good speed, hits for average and will take his walks.  He is in the mold of what MLB is looking for in shortstops–tall, rangy and fast.  He does not yet demonstrate any power.

Round 17:  Dalton Dulin, Northwest Mississippi Community College: He is a switch-hitting infielder, who primarily plays second base. The 5’8″, 165 lb. Dulin transferred to community college after playing one year at Ole Miss.  He got 11 starts at second base for an Ole Miss team that went to the College World Series.

The next year he transferred to NMCC.  He was the starting second baseman for that squad.  He hit .354 and had 46 stolen bases on 53 attempts.  His father spent time in the Orioles and Pirates organizations.  He will probably sign.

Round 18:  Melvin Rodriguez, second baseman, senior at Jackson State: He is a left-handed hitter that  is 5’10 and weighs 200 lbs.  Rodriguez is originally from Puerto Rico.  At the age of 24, he is a little older than the usual college senior draftee. That maturity may have been evident on the playing field this past season.  Rodriguez hit .421 last year,which was fourth in the NCAA’s.  He had 60 RBI’s and a .477 OBP in his senior season.

Round 19:  Clayton Brandt, shortstop, Senior at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Kansas: He is a right-handed hitter that is  5’11” and weighs 180 lbs. Brandt is coming off an incredible season.  He hit .417 and piled up the extra base hits–19 doubles, six triples and seven home runs.  His slugging percentage was a ridiculous .670. He had 43 RBI’s in 57 games.  Plus, he showed some speed. He stole 41 bases.

Round 20:  John Reeves, catcher/DH, senior out of Rice University: Reeves is a right-handed hitter that is 5’11” and weighs 190 lbs.  Reeves transferred to Rice from Navarro College and played the last two years for the Owls.

Like most catchers, Reeves is not speedy, but he can hit.  This past season, he hit .313 mostly in the DH role.  His on-base percentage was .412, thanks to the 25 walks he drew in the 56 games he played.  He drove in 55 runs and hit eight home runs.

Round 21:  Matt Pirro, right-handed pitcher, senior at Wake Forest University.  The 6’1″, 185 pound Pirro had a break out year in 2015, in which went 7-4 with an ERA of 3.67. He struck out 71 batters in 73 innings  Since his career record at Wake Forest was 14-13 with an ERA of 4.71, the big improvement in 2015 is striking.

Round 22:  Adam Boghosian, right handed pitcher, North Greenville University in South Carolina: Boghosian redshirted his first year of college eligibility while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He is 6’2″ and weighs 210 pounds.

Boghosian served as the closer for North Greenville for the 2015 season. He amassed 13 saves and had a 1.53 ERA in 29 innings pitched.

Next: Players On The Bubble

Andrew Lee: (Photo Credit: Wade Rackley/Tennessee Athletics)

Players On The Bubble

Round 11:  Andrew Lee, right handed pitcher, junior at Tennessee,6’5″, 225 lbs: This is a guy the Nats would probably like to sign, but with another year of college eligibility, his signing is going to depend upon whether the Nats and the player can agree on the amount of the signing bonus. He had a 4-2 record at Tennessee this year with a 2.61 ERA as a reliever. Plus, he has some experience playing in the infield at first base while playing in Knoxville.

Round 13:  Max Schrock, second baseman, junior from South Carolina.  5;8″, 185 lbs: Schrock is on the bubble because the right signing bonus will bring him into the Nationals fold now.  Max dealt with some injuries to his wrist and Achilles tendon this year.  Schrock hit .303 last season with 11 doubles and 34 RBI’s for the Gamecocks.

Round 15:  Kevin Mooney, right handed pitcher, University of Maryland, Junior, 6’2″, 215 lbs:  The reason Mooney is on the bubble is because there are two factors in favor of the Nats signing him: a good signing bonus and the fact that Mooney grew up in Maryland and may want to sign with a local big league organization.

There is a factor that weighs against Mooney leaving UMD right now–his college team not getting to the College World Series this year.  The UMD team may have that opportunity next year and Mooney may want to be part of that.  Mooney has been a very successful closer for the Terrapins during his college.  He has the most saves in Maryland baseball history and a 1.21 ERA during the 2015 season. Last season, Mooney had 11 saves and struck out 47 batters over the course of 38 innings.

Next: Players Who Might Not Sign