Arizona Diamondbacks add eight players on second day of draft

The Arizona Diamondbacks selected eight more players on the second day of the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft.

“Today we continued to target position-specific, athletic players and I think we definitely accomplished that,” D-backs’ director of scouting Ray Montgomery said Friday. “We worked to bring in good-character guys and players we know will take their work seriously. We were able to select a mix of high school players who are ready to start their careers and college players who are ready for the next level.”

Below is a list of the players taken, as described in a press release from the team:

• Infielder Daniel Palka (Third Round, 88th overall, Georgia Institute of Technology) garnered 2013 All-Atlantic Coastal Conference First-Team honors after batting .342 (81-for-237) with 13 doubles, 17 home runs and 66 RBI. The Collegiate Baseball Third-Team All-American was rated by Baseball America as the ninth-best college outfielder in the draft.

• Outfielder Matt McPhearson (Fourth Round, 120th overall, Riverdale Baptist HS, Columbia, MD.), a University of Miami, Fla. recruit, was named a 2013 Rawlings Second-Team All-American. The 2012 Under Armour All-American, is rated by ESPN as the No. 62 overall prospect and by Baseball America as the 13th-best centerfielder in the draft.

• Infielder Jamie Westbrook (Fifth Round, 150th overall, Basha HS, Chandler AZ), a Chandler, Ariz. high school standout, batted .434 with 6 home runs, 13 RBI and 17 runs scored. The D-backs Elite Scout Team participant has committed to play at Pepperdine University.

• Outfielder Colin Bray (Sixth Round, 180th overall, Faulkner State CC) is rated by PerfectGame.Org as the No. 1 junior college prospect in the draft. He batted .444 with 8 doubles, 4 triples, 3 home runs, 32 RBI, 60 runs scored and 23 stolen bases this season.

• Left-handed pitcher Daniel Gibson (Seventh Round, 210th overall, University of Florida) appeared in 32 games for the Gators, going 2-1 with a 4.42 ERA (19 ER in 38.2 IP) and 31 strikeouts. He is ranked by Baseball America as the eighth-best prospect in the state of Florida.

• Right-handed pitcher Brad Keller (Eighth Round, 240th overall, Flowery Branch HS, Flowery Branch, GA) was named to the Georgia Region-8 5A All-Region First-Team and garnered Second-Team pitcher of the Year honors. He is committed to play at Presbyterian College.

• Catcher Grant Nelson (Ninth Round, 270th overall, St. Louis University) batted .338 (77-for-228) with 8 doubles 3 triples, 5 home runs and 32 RBI for the Bilikens and was added to the 2013 Johnny Bench Award Watch List during the year.

• Right-handed pitcher Jimmie Sherfy (10th round, 300th overall, University of Oregon) went 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA (10 ER in 40.0 IP) with 21 saves for the Ducks and is a finalist for the 2013 NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award for the second consecutive year.

Follow @AZSports