After selecting righty pitcher J.T. Ginn with their first selection of the 2018 MLB draft on Monday evening, the Dodgers chose West Virginia University right-handed pitcher Michael Grove with the 68th overall selection in the second round.
Grove missed the 2018 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, but prior to the procedure he tallied an overall 5-5 record with a 3.13 ERA (32 ER/92.0 IP) in 25 collegiate games (16 starts), while also holding the opposition to a .220 batting average. As a sophomore in 2017, he made nine starts, going 3-1 with a 2.87 ERA and striking out 61 batters against 15 walks in 47.0 innings before sustaining the season-ending UCL tear. As a freshman in 2016, he went 2-4 with a 3.40 ERA and collected one save in 16 games (seven starts) for the Mountaineers. Grove was also named to the 2016 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention team and the 2017 All-Big 12 Second Team. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound pitcher was scouted by Dodgers’ scout Jonah Rosenthal.
“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.
Before surgery, he threw comfortably in the mid-90s with his fastball and mixed in a plus breaking pitch, locating both with good consistency.
Grove became the fourth West Virginia University product to be selected in the first two rounds of the draft.
The third through tenth rounds of the MLB Draft will be held Tuesday, June 5th and the remaining rounds will be held on Wednesday, June 6th.
(Lauren Douglas provided some information furnished in this report)