Time to get weird! It is Day Three of the MLB Draft and that means we get to see what area scouts are made of. The fun begins at noon ET with the Pirates making the first selection of the 11th round and the Cubs starting at pick number 334 and every 30 selections after that. Today’s festivities will run through the end of the draft (Round 20) and I will cover as much of each of these guys as the picks come through the wire.
I will be providing quick analysis of each player, but I’ll admit that we have reached the point where I am not familiar with most of the names coming off the board. I’ll throw up the easy info right away and then will periodically update as more becomes available.
If you are looking for analysis on Jordan Wicks, the Cubs’ first round pick, you can find it here. If you need all the dirt on picks in rounds two through ten, check it out here.
Let’s get this thing going!
Round 11, Pick 334: Gage Ziehl
Position: RHP
School: Penfield HS (NY) – University of Miami recruit
Notes: It took 11 rounds, but the Cubs have selected their first right-handed pitcher in this draft. Going with a high school pick to begin the Day Three festivities, the Cubs must think they have some savings to be had from their Day One and Day Two fun. Prospects Live reports Ziehl up to 95 on the gun with a firm changeup. In his sectional championship game this year, Ziehl went for the complete game shutout, giving up just one hit and striking out 12. His mechanics look pretty smooth and he does already have a shorter arm motion, compared to that of someone like Ryan Jensen. Last summer his fastball was sitting in the low-90s with up to 2500 rpm and a slider in the low-80s with rpms up to 3000. He appears to utilize his legs in his delivery really well. His high school numbers? Like most high school draftees, simply ridiculous: 42 IP, 0.17 ERA, .079 opponent average, 91 strikeouts, 7 walks.
Round 12, Pick 364: Teo Banks
Position: OF
School: Permian HS (TX) – Tulane commit
Notes: Another high schooler off the board to start our day here and this one was ranked as the 39th best draft prospect in the hotbed of Texas. Banks is already a big kid, standing 6-3 and 190 pounds and will surely use that size to his advantage in the power department. Video shows him use a big leg kick but fairly quiet hands at the plate once the pitch approaches. I think this is a kid the Cubs will love getting into the hands of their development team as they watch the power play to it’s full potential. Baseball America ranks him as their 436th overall prospect in this draft and notes his athleticism playing both football and track besides just baseball. We know how much the Cubs have loved drafting freak athletes recently and letting them blossom.
Round 13, Pick 394: Erian Rodriguez
Position: RHP
School: Georgia Premier Academy
Notes: The Cubs are really challenging me today. Another high school player that I knew zero (0) about before the pick rolled in two minutes ago, they are on a string of your prep guys. Prospects Live has Rodriguez ranked 287 overall in their Top 600 and describes him as – you guessed it – athletic. He is apparently as high as 97 mph on the gun and has two offspeed offerings, a slider and a changeup. He is long-levered and uses a long arm swing while pitches have to look like they are coming in a little extra hot thanks to his extreme extension.
Round 14, Pick 424: Frankie Scalzo Jr.
Position: RHP
School: Grand Canyon
Notes: It took until the 14th round, but we have our first college guy of the day. Scalzo immediately jumps to the top of your Top Names ranking in the system, but he has been pretty damn good the last two years down in Phoenix. Although he stands 6-3, 185 pounds, Scalzo was used as a reliever only in college the past two seasons and was the closer this year. He appeared in 25 games this year for the Lopes, recording a 2.12 ERA and striking out 31 in 29.2 innings. The curveball jumps out to me as a really good looking pitch and obviously his go-to out-pitch. Bonus: I think we might get to see some serious K-strut action from him as a pro.
Round 15, Pick 454: BJ Murray
Position: 3B
School: Florida Atlantic
Notes: Here’s what I’ve got on the first college hitter of the day for the Cubs. He had a rough freshman season at FAU, an incredible summer season in 2019, a no-so-good shortened 2020 COVID year, and another incredible season this year. He put up an OPS over 1.000 thanks to 14 bombs and 11 doubles. His body looks fairly built right now and he doesn’t have much projection left, but the bat speed is already terrific as it stands now. He is a switch hitter and actually reminds me quite a bit of fellow college draft pick, switch hitting, third baseman Ryan Reynolds (current Cubs prospect). That is just first glance and I’m sure there are significant differences between the two guys, but you could do worse than arguably the system’s best hitter this year.
Round 16, Pick 484: Zachary Leigh
Position: RHP
School: Texas State
Notes: Alright, so every year we get a pick like this where, to be completely honest, makes you scratch your head. Leigh is a fifth year senior out of a program that isn’t well-known and he put up poor numbers over the course of his career. For example, this year he started all 15 games he appeared in and pitched to a 5.03 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, and featured a 86:30 strikeout to walk ratio in his 87.2 innings. I will say that the Cubs know what they are doing with a guy like this and obviously the stats don’t tell the whole story. This isn’t a draft based on the results you got in school, it is a draft based on the potential a pro team sees in you. I see a fun, high-energy delivery that if taken into the pitch lab and shifted to the bullpen, could have some success in the lower minors. With that being said, he will be 24-years-old when he pitches next year, so it might be straight to the lab this year and then up to Tennessee next year.
Round 17, Pick 514: Christian Olivo
Position: SS
School: Leadership Christian Academy – Seminole State commit
Notes: Christian Olivo is an absolute wizard out at shortstop. He is a master of going to up the middle and going to his backhand and shows off a strong arm to first base. He participated in the MLB Draft League this year and has a swing that could use some cleaning up because of a slight hitch in his load. He is committed to a really good JuCo in Seminole State so we might be seeing his name pop up in drafts each of the next few years higher and higher up the board if the Cubs aren’t able to sign him.
Round 18, Pick 544: Dominic Hambley
Position: RHP
School: Belmont Secondary School – Oregon State commit
Notes: We are starting to get a little out of control with the high school guys here on Day Three. We have already seen five of them come off the board to the Cubs and I’m starting to wonder just how many of the 20 picks the team is going to be able to sign. Hambley stands 6-2 and 230 pounds as a high schooler has a high spin rate slider (2700 rpm). The heater is good and he also features a changeup that could still use some velo separation from the fastball but is good besides that. In fact, Hambley seems so good that I’m not entirely sure how they are going to keep him away from his Beavers commitment.
Round 19, Pick 574: Daniel Avitia
Position: RHP
School: Alhambra HS (AZ) – Grand Canyon commit
Notes: At this point I am pretty convinced the Cubs are going with a strategy in which they will give overslot bonuses to as many of these high school kids as possible (maybe three?) and then roll with the undrafted free agent market to sign their seniors, kind of like they did last year with the likes of Ben Leeper, Matt Mervis, Scott Kobos, and others. Avitia is extremely raw but stands 6-3 and 180 pounds. If he forgoes his commitment to the Lopes, he will be a blank slate for Craig Breslow and company to work with in the pitch lab. His long levers make it easy to picture some extra life on a fastball but it will just be a matter of how they shape his secondaries. This is a long play.
Round 20, Pick 604: Wilson Cunningham
Position: LHP
School: JSerra Catholic HS (CA) – University of Chicago commit
Notes: There it is. The Cubs round out the draft by selecting four straight high schoolers. Don’t fact check me on this, but Cunningham has the longest legs I have ever seen in my life. He stands 6-8 and is committed to a local school – the University of Chicago. There is a bit of a hitch in his delivery which I really like and of all the high school arms, Cunningham is actually one of my favorite projects. I’m sure if the Cubs don’t sign him they will still keep a close eye on him down the street over the next few years.
And with that, the 2021 MLB Draft is complete. 20 rounds came and went, and here is the final breakdown on the types of players the Cubs selected.
High school arms – 6
College arms – 5
High school bats – 3
College bats – 6
Thank you all for following along these last three days. It has been an absolute blast. Now, time to get some rest.
Out of the Vines 