The Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday evening announced their final 30 picks from the third day of the 2018 Draft.
The Dodgers made 40 overall picks in this year’s draft, selecting 19 pitchers (13 right-handers, six left-handers), 13 outfielders, five infielders and three catchers. Of the 21 drafted position players, 10 are right-handed hitters, 10 are left-handed hitters and one is a switch-hitter. Thirty-three were selected from the college ranks while seven were drafted out of high school.
On the draft’s third and final day, the Dodgers picked 25 players from the college ranks including RHP Stephen Kolek (Texas A&M), C Hunter Feduccia (LSU), INF Dillon Paulson (USC), LHP Julian Smith (Catawba Valley CC), RHP Trey Dillard (San Jacinto College North), OF Aldrich De Jongh (Hillsborough CC), OF Niko Hulsizer (Morehead State), OF Sam McWilliams (Meridian CC), RHP Caleb Sampen (Wright State University), C Tre Todd (Liberty University), INF Simon Landry (Pearl River CC), RHP Justin Hagenman (Penn State), RHP Hunter Speer (William Carey University), C Aaron Ackerman (University of Illinois Chicago), LHP Connor Mitchell (Butler University), RHP Reza Aleaziz (Oklahoma State University), OF Daniel Robinson (Central Michigan), OF Matt Cogen (Belmont University), LHP Andrew Shaps (William Jessup University), OF Drew Avans (Southeastern Louisiana University), LHP Austin Drury (University of North Florida), OF Tyler Reichenborn (Iowa Western CC), OF Jeremiah Vison (Golden West College), OF Jon Littell (Oklahoma State University) and OF Jordan Myrow (San Jacinto College North).
In addition, the Dodgers selected seven high school players in William F. West HS (WA) RHP Brandon White, Grace Memorial HS (CA) OF Jacen Roberson, Next Level Acadamy (AL) RHP Jacob Gilliland, Joshua High School (TX) RHP Connery Peters and Evangelical Christian School (FL) RHP Ben Specht.
The Dodgers’ 39th round pick, OF Jordan Myrow, is the godson of current Dodger Manager Dave Roberts.
(Lauren Douglas provided the information furnished in this report)
I take it the Dodgers nabbed both Dillard and Hulsizer late just in case one of those Day 2 guys they drafted fails to sign for whatever reason, which is wise on their part as usual. See quite a bit of JUCO players mixed in there as well. Would love to see all those guys from that particular level sign at the very least as it’s always been an underexposed hotbed for potential big-league talent over the years. Highly doubt they sign everyone from this draft mainly on account that their current farm system just can’t take much more at this point, lol. If they do manage to sign those six players from the first ten rounds I mentioned the other day, so much the better for the club’s long-term outlook.
Hulsizer and Simon Landry look like they’ll be worth keeping an eye on if we can sign them. Following is a blurb from Dodger Insider. The quote from Gasparino on Landry is really something and the video I’ve seen on Hulsizer is impressive.
“Hulsizer, a junior out of Moorehead State, led NCAA Division I in 2017 with 27 home runs. The outfielder hit 12 this year, but missed time with a fractured hamate bone in his left hand. He batted .320/.428/.621.
Landry, a first baseman out of Pearl River Community College in Mississippi, hit .392/.447/.880 with 19 homers in 197 plate appearances. He is committed to the University of Houston.
“It’s probably the best raw power we’ve ever seen at a workout,” Gasparino said. “It would be better than any power in our system now, based on some of the measurements we have. If you go through exit velocity, he has better exit velocity than any minor or Major Leaguer we have in our organization. He’s 6–4 and he’s 225 pounds. It’s just a fun guy to watch, because he has extreme power.”
I’m gonna try to set up an interview with Hagenman. He’s pretty close to my neck of the woods.
Better not interview him until we see if we can sign him. On the other hand, maybe you’ll get some insight as to what it would take and we can take up a collection.
My main purpose would be to see if he’d reveal his intentions about returning to school for his senior year.