MLB Draft 2017: Rounds 6-10

The Draft got a little more traditional and a good bit more weird late on day 2.

Round 6
Dalton Guthrie, SS, 5’11" 175 lbs University of Florida
The Phillies went really hard on College players so far this year, taking only 1 High Schooler, officially (more on that later). Guthrie is a bit more traditional to guys the Phillies have grabbed in this range of picks. He’s a legacy player as his father, Mark, was a long time pitcher in the Majors, so he’s not going to be intimidated by the stage or need to learn how to work or deal with the grind the way some other guys will. Guthrie’s best tool is his hitting. He’s a patient hitter who likes to go up the middle and to the gaps. He doesn’t have much power at and his speed is just above average, but he’s so baseball smart that he positions himself really well and runs smart on the basepaths. The ceiling might be Cesar Hernandez, but the most likely outcome is probably utility guy. He may not have the arm for the left side of the infield so his path to the Majors is likely limited to Second or Utility. Of course, guys have played long careers with pop gun arms at Short if they know how to work around it through positioning and momentum and Guthrie may be able to stick with his smarts.

7th Round
Nick Maton, SS, 6’2" 165 lbs, Lincoln Land Community College
Another College SS for the Phils. I don’t know a ton about the kid. He played a year at Eastern Illinois where he starred and transferred to play a year of JuCo. Possibly to get eligible for the draft younger. The hit tool seems legit for contact, but level of competition is a little dicey. He could be a nice find here, but that’s pure conjecture on my part. I could find no usable video.

8th Round
Jhordany Mezquita, LHP, 6’1", 185 lbs, No school
Here’s where things got weird. The Phillies signed Mezquita months ago... kind of. Mezquita is a 19 year old from the Dominican Republic with a Fastball in the low 90’s. The Phillies by all accounts today were really high on him. Sadly he moved to Hazelton, PA before signing, thereby becoming ineligible for the IFA period. The Phillies had already reported his signing on their transactions log and from my quick perusal never listed him as cut or anything that suggested he wasn’t signed. Nothing they did was against the rules as best I can tell, but they sure confused the heck out of a lot of people, when they drafted their IFA signing in the 8th round. Given the success so far with Kilome, Sixto, Medina, etc. I have hopes this will continue that trend. Also, as best I can tell, he wasn’t a big money signing during IFA’s so I expect he’ll sign under slot. There are no videos of Mezquita.

9th Round
Jack Zoellner, 3B, 6’2", 205 lbs, University of New Mexico
Zoellner’s a Senior sign candidate to create pool money to go overslot later. Zoellner isn’t without his charms. He put up big power numbers, but he did it in a rather legendary launching pad. I also saw some reports that suggest Zoellner’s long term role is 1B, so that power is hopefully not all due to the thin air of Northern New Mexico. He’s shown good patience as a hitter capable of drawing walks, though it’s hard to tell how much of that is getting pitched around during home games. He’s probably an Org guy, but he could eventually be a mainstay AAA lineup anchor. That’s not exciting, but those guys are still important to have. Here’s a video of him cranking out a Homer in Hawaii, which will be much nicer than his accommodations in a few weeks in north Central PA.

10th Round
Connor Brogdon, RHP, 6’6", 185 lbs, Lewis-Clark State
Another Senior sign candidate and a rather skinny one. At 22 years old I don’t expect him to get much bigger. He’s from a small school NAIA program where he was quite effective, but level of competition concerns abound (less applicable for a Pitcher, but not nonexistent). Brogdon was drafted out of High School by the Braves in the 40th Round out of High School and decided not to sign. I feel like there’s a pun there involving his choice of College, but I’m just not finding it. I hope they sign him for $10k and he buys some steaks with the money to fill out that frame a little. There is no video of Brogdon and I’ve written everything I know about him. Like Zoellner, probably an Org guy, but with the height, maybe a little more ceiling and lower floor.