San Diego Padres: Grant Little Ends Season In Style

Recent San Diego Padres draft pick, Grant Little, turns heads at College World Series.

The San Diego Padres dipped into the state of Texas for three of their selections in this year’s 2018 MLB draft. Two of those picks were Grant Little (74th overall) and Jose Quezada (291st overall) out of Texas Tech. While both young men put up memorable performances during their College World Series run, Grant Little was the star of the show for the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Little kicked off his World Series campaign with a 3-3 day at the plate, as Texas Tech took down the top overall seed Florida Gators. Unfortunately, Little struggled in his team’s loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks in the winner’s bracket, logging an 0-4 performance.

On Thursday night, in a win or go home re-match against the Gators, Little put on a show in left field.

Little finished 1-5 at the plate, driving in three in a 9-6 losing effort against Florida, ending the Red Raiders College World Series run.

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Jose Quezada, the 10th round pick of the Padres, made just one appearance in the CWS, logging a 3.1 inning outing in game one against the Gators. He gave up one run on three hits and struck out one.

Little, a redshirt-sophomore, rose up draft boards after a spectacular second season in Lubbock. Across 65 starts, Little hit .370 with a .462 OBP, knocking out 12 home runs, 25 doubles, and three triples over the course of the year. He drew 40 walks while striking out just 38 times, slashing his strikeout rate from 19% to just over 12% between his freshman and sophomore seasons.

The Padres can now work on signing Little and Quezada, now that the Red Raiders are out of the CWS. A low ceiling/high-floor prospect, Little should be a fast mover within the Padres organization. I asked a writer closely connected to the Texas Tech program about Little’s potential in the big leagues, he immediately said “a major league fourth-outfielder within two years.”

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Both Little and Quezada are expected to be fairly easy signs for the Padres. First-round pick Ryan Weathers is the only other selection from within the first 10 rounds that has yet to sign a rookie deal with the team. All three are expected to sign.