Brewers: Draft heavy on arms, hard-to-sign players
By Phil Watson
The Milwaukee Brewers took Corona Senior High School right-hander Tristan Beck in the 34th round, despite his hard commitment to Stanford. (Image capture from youtube.com)
Round 31: Colton Cross, RHP, Shorter (Ga.) University
Cross is a 6-foot, 200-pound right-hander who finished his collegiate career at Division II Shorter after initially playing at Kennesaw State for two seasons.
He was 2-7 with a 4.13 ERA in 10 appearances (nine starts) and 48 innings this season for the Shorthawks (yes, Shorthawks), striking out 40 and holding opponents to a .231 average.
Round 32: Sean Chandler, RHP, Papillion LaVista (Neb.) High School
Chandler is a tall, thin right-hander (6-foot-5, 185 pounds) who had a 6-2 record and 2.20 ERA as a senior this season.
He is committed to play at Iowa Western Community College next season.
Round 33: Connor Baits, RHP, University of California-Santa Barbara
Baits is a 6-foot-5, 210-pounder who completed his junior year this spring. He was 1-0 with a 4.32 ERA in 14 appearances (one start) this season, striking out 11 in 16.2 innings.
The New York Mets selected Baits in the 23rd round in 2012 after he graduated from San Diego’s Point Loma High School.
Round 34: Tristan Beck, RHP, Corona (Calif.) Senior High School
Beck, listed at 6-foot-4 and 160 pounds, is a hard commitment to Stanford, explaining how the No. 70 prospect before the draft fell into the late rounds.
Beck told The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif., earlier this week that he was withdrawing from draft consideration. He is committed to play at Stanford University.
According to MaxPreps, Beck was 7-1 with a 0.65 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 65 innings for Corona Senior this year.
Round 35: Quintin Torres-Costa, LHP, University of Hawaii
Torres-Costa, 20, just finished his redshirt sophomore year at Hawaii, where he was 1-3 with eight saves in 19 appearances, moving to the bullpen after he struggled as a starter early in the year.
He had a 4.00 ERA—deceptive because he didn’t allow a run over his final 15 appearances, covering 22.2 innings.
He struck out 49 batters in 36 innings. Torres-Costa received an extra year of eligibility after undergoing Tommy John surgery just two appearances into his freshman season in 2013.
He pitched at the same high school—Waiakea High School in Hilo, Hawaii—as last year’s first-round pick by the Brewers, left-hander Kori Medeiros.
Round 36: Jordan Desguin, RHP, Florida Gulf Coast University
Yes, they play baseball at Dunk City. Desguin, 21, was a junior this season and was 6-1 with a 3.63 ERA in 62 innings, striking out 58 and walking only 11.
A 6-foot-1, 195-pound right-hander, Desguin was in his first year with the Eagles after transferring from Feather River (Calif.) College, where he pitched in 2013-14.
Round 37: Brandon Gonzalez, CF, Cypress (Calif.) College
A 19-year-old left-handed hitter, Gonzalez did not play in 2015 after graduating from Villa Park (Calif.) High School in 2014.
As a senior last year, he hit .330 with one home run in 28 games and was selected in the 36th round of the 2014 draft by the Kansas City Royals.
Round 38: Scott Grist, RHP, Texas State University
The 23-year-old Grist was a fifth-year senior at Texas State after sitting out the 2014 season.
He was 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA in four starts, striking out 14 in 26 innings as he worked his way back from Tommy John surgery.
As a junior in 2013, prior to his injury, Grist was 5-2 in 19 games, 12 of them starts, with a 4.56 ERA in 73 innings, fanning 48. At 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, Grist appeared in only five games in his first two seasons with the Bobcats.
Round 39: Nolan Kingham, RHP, Desert Oasis (Nev.) High School
Kingham, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound pitcher, was the No. 198 prospect in MLB.com’s top 200 list.
He’s committed to the University of Texas, but is intriguing because of his 94-97 mph fastball.
Kingham was 4-4 with a 1.91 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 55 innings at his Las Vegas high school, while also hitting .418 with six homers and 29 RBI.
Round 40: Charles Galiano, C, Fordham University
The Brewers’ final pick, No. 1201 overall, was Galiano, a 21-year-old catcher who just finished his junior season at Fordham.
He hit .301/.370/.474 with nine homers and 36 RBI in 54 games for the Rams this season and was taken in the 36th round in 2012 by the Philadelphia Phillies after graduating from Commack High School on Long Island.
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