San Diego Padres: 2017 draft- battery mates

A look at the first two rounds of the MLB draft for the San Diego Padres, two picks including a pitcher and a catcher, which comes as little surprise.

The first two rounds of the 2017 MLB draft are in the books and the San Diego Padres invested heavily in their 1-2 battery.

In the first round of the 2017 MLB draft the San Diego Padres selected MacKenzie Gore, LHP out of Whiteville High School in North Carolina.

Gore dominated in his junior season with 1 earned run in 83.1 IP and 174 strikeouts. At 18 years of age, he possesses elite stuff, a mid 90’s fastball with movement, a plus curve and potential for a plus slider and change up. He has an exaggerated leg kick which adds to his deception. He is athletic and projects as a top of the rotation starter.

The start of the draft differed a bit from projections with SS/CF Royce Lewis taken first overall by the Twins, which none of the mock drafts forecast. He was followed by the Reds picking Hunter Greene, as a pitcher.

The Padres shocked no one with their pick of Gore, which most of the mocks projected as their player. No surprise as the organization is building for the future and a closer to the majors college pitcher would be wasted considering their plan.

In the second round of the draft, catcher Luis Campusano- Bracero from Cross Creek High School in GA was selected.

Widely considered the best catching prospect in the draft, Luis profiles to have a plus arm with raw potential power and could develop into an every day major league catcher. At 6-0 and 200 lbs, the 18 year old righty will need lots of development to reach his potential.

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Ironically, in the compensatory B round after the 2nd round, the Padres choose another high school catcher. At 6-3 and 180 lbs, Blake Hunt blossomed in his senior year after an offseason conditioning program that packed on 20 lbs. The Mater Dei High School righty has plus catch and throw skills and the potential to develop a plus bat. According to an April scouting report from Baseball America, Hunt was scouted heavily in the
Boras Games this spring and his stock has risen steadily since the start of the season.

Before the start of the draft, AJ Preller was interviewed extensively on TV and radio. His claim that the organization didn’t draft out of positions of need but would draft the best available athlete on the board seems to hold true at this point. Taking two high school catchers this high in the draft does not address areas of need in the organization and seems a risky move. Developing high school athletes is higher risk to begin with and catchers even more so.

Next: MLB draft: How to watch, what to expect

It will be interesting to see how this gamble pays off.

Rounds three through forty will take place over the next two days and can be followed on MLB.com. Padres draft picks will be posted on their website (Padres.com) as well as Twitter if you follow either the Padres twitter feed or AJ Cassavell, MLB.com beat writer.

We’ll post a synopsis of the overall draft after it’s completion.

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