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The University of Kentucky Junior lefthander, Zack Thompson, was selected 19th in the amateur baseball amateur draft Monday night and scout manager Randy Flores said: "
But Thompson said that he had no idea that the cardinals would be part of this scenario. "It was a bit out of the left field at the last minute," said Thompson, by phone.
"I really did not hear anything from them. They just kind of came up there. . . before the pick. I did not know what to expect, but I certainly did not expect someone that I did not hear much about this season to come up like that. But I'm very happy they did it.
"A first class organization, so much history, 11 World Series (winners)," said Thompson.
Explaining the modest contact, Flores said, "When you choose number 19, it's hard to make a lot of calls because you do not know what's going to happen before your eyes. So it happened very quickly.
"But silence does not mean for us a waste of time."
For the past 11 years, the Cardinals have brought forward Major League pitchers Shelby Miller, Michael Wacha and Marco Gonzales to the 19th round in the first round.
Six-foot-three, 225-pound Thompson, who had to overcome shoulder and elbow problems, was 6-1 with an average of 2.40 points in Kentucky this season, including nine shots against Georgia, which he has twice whitened hits, and Florida. Scouts followed his fastball like a mid-range ball in the 90s but could hit 96 but he also has a good slider, a curved ball and a modification, which are less effective.
Thompson is a high school student from Indiana. In 2016, he had been selected for the 11th round by Tampa Bay, but he had failed his physical post-draft due to a shoulder problem and had signed up for the post-draft. ;university. In second year in Kentucky, he had problems with the elbow, which cost him two months, but did not miss an beginning of season this season.
"I felt good all year," said Thompson, 11th Baseball America. "I was able to put all this (injury history) behind me. In the way we treated injuries in the past, we have been very conservative. We took care of everything carefully.
Flores said, "When you watch it live, you come out impressed by its physical appearance. You come out with his ability to spin the ball and, in reality, you come out impressed with his guts and his guts on the mound. "
When asked what made him safe, Thompson's arm problems were no longer a problem, Flores replied, "The easiest way to say it. . . 90 innings in the (Southeast Conference). Like a lot of throwers, including myself, a lot of things have to be sorted out, but the fact that he was able to bounce back and show the stuff we thought was there answered the question for us. "
In those 90 innings, Thompson gave only 59 hits, including three at home, and took 130 hits, while the batter hit only 0.184.
"In the future, I would like to be a 200-sleeve guy every year," Thompson said.
Thompson was a starter and reliever mid-week in Kentucky before becoming a starter in his last two seasons with the Wildcats. For his three seasons, he had a 3.20 ERA and retired 268 in 196 innings and two-thirds.
The number of "slots" recommended for cardinals to sign their first round is $ 3,359,000.
THE RUTLEDGE OF THE SUMMIT TAKEN BY NATS
Jackson Rutledge, a high school student at the Rockwood Summit who was pitching at college in San Jacinto, Texas, was taken by Washington in 17th place, two choices in front of the Cardinals. Rutledge had been a potential top pick a few years ago, but he had chosen to honor a commitment to the University of Arkansas, although he was transferred from there. He was 7-1 with an average of 1.19 ran as a senior at High School in Summit.
"Congratulations to him and congratulations to the child for the improvement," Flores said.
THE CARDS MAKE SCHOOL SCHOOL CF AT THE 2nd TOUR
The Cardinals' second round choice was center field player, center field player Trejyn Fletcher, a Deering, Maine, a high school student who had committed to Vanderbilt. Fletcher spent his first two years of high school in a preparatory school in New York, but as he had repeated his first year at Trinity-Pawling School, he was about to finish his studies next spring.
He climbed to the top of the rankings of 2020 according to Perfect Game. But when he returned to Deering in February, he was reclassified as a senior, becoming eligible for this year's project at the end of high school.
Fletcher, who hit .456 and scored 17 goals in 16 games, is the highest ranked player in a Maine high school. He launches 93mph with a hard slider as a thrower, but he was taken as a position player for his potential as a 20-20 player (home run, stolen bases).
"We are excited about its set of tools," Flores said. "Very, very intriguing."
The reports are however believed to be a hitter with a high kick that may need to be toned down and that he will have to be more refined as a basic stealer and basic runner although speed is at the rendezvous.
"You can give him wings and imagine him flying," said Flores. "Pretty impressive."
The second round is $ 1,300,000, and Flores said, "We hope we can do it.
THE SON OF THE FORMER CARDINAL WITT GOES NO. 2
The son of a former cardinal was the second choice. Scorer at Bobby Witt Jr. High School in Colleyville, Texas was taken by the Kansas City Royals. His father, Bobby Witt Sr., former world number three, played part of the season with the Cardinals in 1998.
Witt, who has played 16 seasons and won 142 games in total, went 2-5 and averaged 4.94 points for the Cardinals, but no one was there because 1998 was the season.
Young Witt was discovered, among other things, by former Cardinals director Mike Matheny, assistant to the Royals front office.
The selections of the series 3 to 10 will be made on Tuesday and the project will end on Wednesday with the series 11 to 40.
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