D-backs select 29 players on second draft day
Jun 8, 2011, 1:20 AM | Updated: 2:21 am
PHOENIX – The Arizona Diamondbacks announced that they selected an additional 16 pitchers in rounds 2-30 of Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft today, according to D-backs’ Director, Scouting Ray Montgomery.
The D-backs drafted right-handed pitchers Trevor Bauer and Archie Bradley with the third and seventh picks, respectively, yesterday, as well as left-handed pitcher Andrew Chafin with the 43rd overall selection.
“We felt very strong coming in to today, and we built on that,” said Montgomery. “We added more on the mound as I think you can never have enough pitching, so we tried to get some power arms. We are always looking for athletic, middle-of-the-field-type players as well and were able to accomplish that with some of our draft picks. Overall, it was a good day. It has been beyond what I could have expected with what went on yesterday and carrying it through today. I could not ask for more out of the guys I am working with in that room.”
Today’s selections of note include:
-Right-handed pitcher Anthony Meo (second round, 63rd overall), tossed the first no-hitter in Big South Tournament history on May 25 en route to being named a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week.
He garnered First-Team Big South All-Conference honors and was named one of 50 finalists on the Golden Spikes Award Watch List after going 10-3 with a 2.16 ERA and 115 strikeouts in 16 starts during his junior season at Coastal Carolina.
Meo was also named a 2010 First Team All-American, District IV Player of the Year by National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and Big South Player of the Year in his sophomore campaign after going 13-2 with a 2.61 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 18 games (16 starts).
-Outfielder Justin Bianco (third round, 93rd overall) was named the 2011 WPIAL Baseball Coaches Association Class AAAA Player of the Year and was selected to participate in the WBCA All-Star Game.
-Right-handed pitcher Evan Marshall (fourth round, 124th overall) went 5-5 with a 1.62 ERA and a save in 30 games for Kansas State during his junior season after being named a second team All-Big 12 relief pitcher in 2010.
-Right-handed pitcher Matt Price (sixth round, 184th overall) was named one of 36 semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy and garnered first team All-SEC honors for his efforts at South Carolina this season. He was a Freshman All-American selection by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball in 2010.
-Right-handed pitcher Jesse Darrah (eighth round, 244th overall) broke the Fresno Pacific school record with 101 strikeouts during his junior season, when he went 7-1 with a 2.44 ERA in 13 starts. He was named a Louisville Slugger and Collegiate Baseball NCAA Freshman All-American in 2009 at Sacramento State, the first Hornet to do so during the Division I era.
-Infielder John Leonard (ninth round, 274th overall) was named to the Section 2-AAAA first team and garnered co-MVP honors after batting .541 with 16 runs and 12 RBI during his senior season at Connellsville Area Senior High School in Pennsylvania.
-Right-handed pitcher Kyle Winkler (10th round, 304th overall), was named one of 30 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award and garnered third team Louisville Slugger All-American and first team Mountain West All-Conference accolades after going 8-2 with a 1.39 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 14 games (13 starts) for Texas Christian University.
-Left-handed pitcher William Locante (11th round, 334th overall) earned 2011 TranSouth Athletic First Team Conference honors for his efforts at Cumberland University.
-Catcher Steven Rodriguez (15th round, 454th overall) played for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team in 2010, helping the team to a silver medal at the FISU World University Baseball Games.
-Left-handed pitcher Adam Choplick (17th round, 514th overall) secured a playoff berth for Billy Ryan High School (Texas) after tossing a perfect game with 16 strikeouts on April 29.
-Left-handed pitcher Taylor Siemens (18th round, 544th overall) was named 2011 Golden State Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year and garnered NAIA All-American Honorable Mention honors for his efforts at California Baptist University.
-Infielder Jonathan Griffin (21st round, 634th overall) ranked second in University of Central Florida single-season history with 19 home runs in 2011 en route to being named an All-Conference-USA first team selection.
-Infielder Ryan Court (23rd round, 694th overall) was named a 2011 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award Candidate and an All-Missouri-Valley-Conference first team selection.
-Right-handed pitcher Wyatt Strahan (27th round, 814th overall) was named the Century League Utility Player of the Year at Villa Park (Calif.) High School.
-Infielder Carter Bell (29th round, 874th overall) played for Team Canada at the World Baseball Championships in Japan in 2010 and hit .300 with a triple, home run and 5 RBI in 6 games.
