Diamondbacks draft 17-year-old C Ivan Luciano to round out Day 1 of MLB Draft

The Arizona Diamondbacks picked Puerto Rican catcher Ivan Luciano with the No. 64 overall selection in the second round of the MLB Draft on Sunday.

The pick rounded out a busy Day 1 for Arizona, which also drafted prep outfielder Slade Caldwell (No. 29), Kentucky outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt (No. 31) and prep shortstop JD Dix (No. 35).

Luciano is one of the youngest players in the draft at 17 years old. The left-handed hitter stands at 5-foot-10, weighs 185 pounds and is a Miami (Ohio) commit.

Excellent pick and throw on this CS from 2024 C Ivan Luciano (PR)

1.87 pop time for the @MiamiOHBaseball commit.

Strong defensive profile behind the dish.@ShooterHunt // #FDC23 pic.twitter.com/bhtjpF9RfW

— Ian Smith (@IanSmittyGA) September 29, 2023

“We love his bat,” D-backs director of amateur scouting Ian Rebhan said. “He’s obviously super young, but we think he’s really advanced. The way he can talk you through his approach at the plate, his contact skills that he showed all summer long and on the island this year and we see him as someone who can catch and throw as well.

“You’re getting an offensive catcher who’s 17 years old who also provides value behind the plate.”

From MLB Pipeline:

Luciano comes from the always-popular left-handed hitting backstop demographic. He has a hit-over-power profile right now, with a solid approach and an ability to make consistent hard contact. There’s good line drive gap power right now, and he has shown the ability to turn on pitches and drive them to his pull side a bit more this spring compared to last summer, with some evaluators thinking he could grow into 12-15 homers a year kind of pop. He’s not a runner, but he’s athletic and won’t be a base-clogger, even as he slows down over time behind the plate.

Luciano, out of El Shaddi Christian Academy, participated in the MLB Draft Combine at Chase Field last month.

The Diamondbacks have taken fellow left-handed-hitting catchers Daulton Varsho (2017) and Adrian Del Castillo (2020) in the first two rounds during the general manager Mike Hazen era.

MLB Pipeline ranked Luciano No. 220 on its list of draft prospects.

“I think we need to pay attention to our internal process,” Rebhan said.

“We’re gonna blend all these different sorts of information from our analyst team that does a great job and our scouting team that is traveling all over and seeing all these players. I think when all that came together on on Ivan, you’re getting a 17-year-old really advanced hitter … he doesn’t swing a miss. He controls the strike zone … and he plays a premium position.”

Day 1 of the MLB Draft involved the first two rounds, compensatory rounds, competitive balance rounds and prospect promotion incentive selections for 74 picks in total. Rounds 3-10 make up Day 2 on Monday, and the final 10 rounds are on Tuesday. Arizona’s first Day 2 pick is No. 102 overall in the third round.

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