The Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday afternoon officially announced their final ten picks from Day 3 of the 2021 MLB draft, several hours before the first pitch of the All-Star Game in Denver.
The Dodgers made 19 picks in this season’s draft, choosing 17 pitchers, one infielder, and one outfielder. Of those 17 pitchers, 11 are right-handed and six are left-handed. Three of those 19 draftees are recent high school grads while the remaining 16 are from the collegiate level.
On the final day of the draft, the Dodgers chose 10 players, including Oklahoma State University left-handed pitcher Justin Wrobleski (11th round, 342nd pick), South Mountain Community College lefty Ronan Kopp (12th round, 372nd pick), Florida SouthWestern State College right-handed pitcher Antonio Knowles (13th round, 402nd pick), University of Tampa righty Jordan Leasure (14th round, 432nd pick), West Virginia University right-handed pitcher Madison Jeffrey (15th round, 462nd pick), The Gunnery School middle-infielder Michael Sirota (16th round, 492nd pick), West Virginia University southpaw Adam Tulloch (17th round, 522nd pick), California Baptist University outfielder Damon Keith (18th round, 552nd pick), Folsom Lake College righty Gabe Emmett (19th round, 582nd pick), and Navy right-handed pitcher Charlie Connolly (20th round, 612th pick).
The 6-foot-1 Wrobleski started his collegiate journey at Clemson University, then transferred to State College of Florida before pitching for the Cowboys, where he appeared in nine games for a 3-2 mark across 40.2 innings with 50 strikeouts this past spring.
Another southpaw in Knopp followed in the 12th round. The 18-year-old Scottsdale native stands at 6-foot-7 and garnered a 0-1 record this season over 10 appearances, striking out 38 batters to yield a 2.84 ERA.
The 6-foot-1 right-handed Knowles played at Stetson University prior to pitching with the Buccaneers. Originally from Key West, Florida, Knowles notched a 1.35 ERA with 13 saves and struck out 72 against just five walks, leading him to be named a First Team All-American, the first in program history.
Staying in the Sunshine State, the Dodgers chose the righty Leasure with the 432nd overall pick. Pitching in 38.1 innings over 17 games, the 6-foot-2 reliever fanned 60 and walked just four to earn a 4-1 record with a team-leading six saves.
Drafted next in the 15th round was the six-foot righty Jeffrey. The Big-12 Commissioner Honor Roll member tossed 20.0 strong innings this spring, racking up 23 strikeouts for a 2-2 record with four saves, allowing just ten extra-base hits.
The Dodgers selected their first position player of the draft in the 16th round, naming the shortstop Sirota as their 492nd pick. The Northeastern University commit stands at 6-foot-2. Sirota hit .400 in 2020 and was named to the Perfect Game Northeast All-Region 1st Team. He is also the great-nephew of legendary Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford.
Another Mountaineer followed in the 17th round in Tulloch, a 21-year-old southpaw. Originally from Weston, Florida, the 6-foot-2 pitcher appeared in 13 games last season, striking out 52 batters across 37.1 innings.
The local standout Keith was the second and final position player Los Angeles drafted. The 6-foot-3 Redlands native was named Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year after starting all 56 games for the Lancers, slashing .336/.434/.588. He ranked amongst the conference’s best in multiple categories: runs (1st, 57), home runs (1st, 13), hits (2nd, 72), slugging percentage (2nd, .588), walks (4th, 35), RBI (5th, 44), batting average (6th, .336), stolen bases (7th, 12), and on-base percentage (8th, .434), leading him to be an All-Conference First Team member.
In the 19th round, another Californian was selected in the 6-foot-5 righty Emmett. He pitched in six games this spring, finishing off the season with a 1-2 record alongside 26 punchouts and a 9.75 strikeout-per-nine innings ratio.
With the final pick of the draft, Los Angeles selected the righty Connolly. Standing at 6-foot-4, the All-Patriot League Second Team honoree garnered a 4-1 mark over eight starts while holding the opposition to a .241 batting average. Connolly produced a 4.50 ERA with 45 strikeouts across 36 innings. He earned Eagle Scout honors in high school.
TBPC outlined the Dodgers’ selections from Day 2 on Monday.
(Ally Salvage furnished the information provided in this report)
Think Blue Planning Committee 
LikeLike
Gasparino has already said he’s not sure they’ll be able to sign Sirota, the shortstop we drafted in the 16th round. I believe I read somewhere that he’s related to Whitey Ford.
Charlie Connolly, our last pick, has a 4 year commitment to the Navy which he apparently won’t be able to get out of. Why waste the choice? Billy G. said he wishes there would have been 10 more rounds because there were other players they wanted to draft. And then he drafts a guy who can’t even start his career for four more years.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think you read the Whitey Ford thing in the ninth paragraph of the above story. 🙂
LikeLike
Nope it wasn’t here that I read it. I never read the 9th paragraph of anything that is posted online. 🙂
LikeLike
Yep, and the military usually will not let them even practice unless they are close to a facility. They have been a little more accommodating to football players than baseball. But a couple of athletes from the Academy’s have had decent careers after their service. Connolly has already decided he wants to serve and will not sign. There is a rule in place that they can petition for a release from their commissions after 25 months of service. Maybe the most famous and successful service academy athlete is Staubach.
LikeLike
This draft has an odd feeling to me. Obviously the Dodgers have a different approach from the norm. It would appear the teachers in the Dodger system are getting a group of freshmen mostly with C averages. Teach ‘em up Gaspy.
LikeLike
Not sure what there approach is but it hasn’t worked sinse Andrew arrived. In 6/7 drafts all he has added to this team is a pitcher and catcher. Pretty pathetic results. Don’t think he is the guy they thought they were getting. His former team just keeps drafting and building a farm system while ours has disappeared. He has been extremely good ( or lucky) grabbing other teams castoffs .Whoever drafted before him was a good judge of young talent.
LikeLike
Andrew has been around for 7 drafts now. You can’t count the last few because it takes young guys a while to work their way through the minors. Also, when you’ve been in the playoffs for every year that Andrew has been in charge, you get the lowest (worst) draft positions and that makes a huge difference.
That said, in his first draft (2015) we got Buehler and Rios.
In the 2016 draft we got Lux, Smith, Gonsolin, May and McKinstry.
If they had all been healthy this year that would have been 7 of the 26 guys on the roster. I don’t consider that a failure. It looks like the 2017 draft will not be a success but starting with 2018 it’s really too soon to tell.
So, I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one Gordon. I think, considering their draft position every year, that they’ve done a very nice job.
LikeLike
I forgot about may. That’s 2 pitchers and a catcher. The other guys you name aren’t yet big leaguers. So nice job but no 1st, 2nd or 3rd basemen and no outfielders in 7 years. And I’ve never seen anything to convince me that there’s much difference between drafting 10th or 30th.if there was you wouldn’t have the same 10 good teams and 20 bad teams. In fact look up the top 5 draft picks over the last 10 years. Or even the number 1 picks over 10 years. You will besurprised. And that was an exceptional draft crop.
LikeLike
I understand how you’re looking at this. We just don’t view it the same way.
Can you show me an MLB team that has stocked an entire starting lineup or let’s say even 5 or 6 starters with draft choices over the last 7 years and has also managed to get into the playoffs 4 or 5 times, let alone 8 in a row? I haven’t checked so maybe you can. I’d really be interested to find out.
I haven’t thought about this very much, but maybe the odds of drafting successful major league players in the draft are very low for everyone. Anyone have a number on what percentage of guys who are drafted ultimately wind up as MLB regulars?
LikeLike