Padres 2017 draft: Signed, Sealed, & Delivered

The deadline for teams to sign the players they selected in the 2017 deadline was July 7th. The Padres used every penny in their allocation to sign 31 of the 41 kids they chose, including all of their first 18 selections. In addition, they’ve signed six undrafted free agents who should be included with this class. In all there are no real surprises in this draft, and the only disappointments are that they weren’t able to woo a couple of long-shots they selected with later picks away from their college commitments. Now that we’re a week removed from the signing deadline, many of these players have made their professional debuts. Below is a table listing every player selected in the draft, followed by a review of what they’ve done so far:

Before we overanalyze what these kids have done so far, keep in mind that it’s a small sample size, it’s a dramatic change in environment for almost all of these kids, and the competition they face from day to day will vary wildly. Kids who earn a quick promotion might not have superior tools but rather may have more polish due to experience level or maturity. What impresses me is that almost all of these kids are already in camp, working with the player development staff to start their careers. The organization is wasting no time in getting these kids indoctrinated into the new definition of “Padres baseball”.

• MacKenzie Gore, LHP: The Padres’ top pick has thrown out a first pitch at Petco Park, won Baseball America’s High School Player of the Year award, and was awarded Gatorade’s National Baseball Player of the Year award at the ESPY award show on June 12th. He has yet to throw a pitch as a professional, but he’s in Arizona now and should make his debut soon. AJ Preller estimated that he’d get 20-30 innings of work in this summer, and he’s currently on the Arizona Rookie League roster. Baseball America already ranked him as the 31st best prospect in all of baseball. He’d better get to work!
• Luis Campusano, C started on the same Arizona Rookie League roster as fellow draftee and catcher Blake Hunt. He’s hit three home runs in nine games and has drawn praise for his arm strength, but he’s made his share of fumbles both in receiving and in transferring the ball in steal attempts. Those kinds of challenges are to be expected for high school catchers, but the power is nice to see.
• Blake Hunt, C has been moved to the AZL 2 roster and he’s drawn some rave reviews for his polish behind the plate while hitting .243/.333/.459 through ten games. It sounds like Campusano has the higher baseball IQ at this point while Hunt shows better mechanics and fundamentals behind the plate.
• Mason House, CF is on the AZL 2 roster and is off to a nice start, hitting .327/.389/.510 through eleven games with two doubles, two triples, and a home run. During the draft he was seen as a promising, athletic kid with a projectable 6’3” frame who dominated sub-par competition without any track record against quality pitching.
• Keating, Sam, RHP is with the AZL team and has given up six runs (four earned) through 2-2/3 innings pitched across two games.
• Jonny Homza, 3B/C is 14-for-51 with two doubles for the AZL team and is apparently being converted to a catcher after being drafted as a third baseman. He played shortstop for his high school and logged his share of innings from the mound as well.
• Aaron Leasher, LHP is with the AZL 2 team and has surrendered 11 runs (6 earned) through 5-2/3 innings pitched across three starts.
• Nick Margevicius, LHP has only given up two runs (one earned) through eleven innings across three appearances for the AZL team. He’s struck out 17 hitters in that time, which is a pretty impressive rate in a very small sample size.
• Olivier Basabe, SS is 3-for-10 with four walks and a stolen base for the AZL team.
• Alex Cunningham, RHP is back with the AZL team after making an appearance for the Lake Elsinore Storm. He logged three scoreless appearances with the rookie league team before his promotion, where he got lit up for four earned runs in two innings.
• Dominic Taccolini, RHP, is with the AZL team but has yet to make an appearance.
• Chandler Newman, RHP has made four appearances for the AZL team including a three-run outing that has his ERA in the double digits through 4-2/3 innings pitched.
• Thomas Cosgrove, LHP got promoted to the Tri-Cities Dust Devils (single-A short season) after two appearances in Arizona. He gave up two earned runs in his first appearance with the Devils but has followed that up with two three-inning scoreless outings. He already has 18 strikeouts through 11-2/3 innings of pro ball.
• Fred Schlichtholz, LHP was promoted to Tri-Cities before making an appearance in Arizona. He’s made four appearances and has only given up one earned run in 6-2/3 innings of work.
• Vijay Miller, RHP has five earned runs through 7-1/3 innings across four games for the AZL team.
• Cole Bellinger, RHP has yet to be assigned to a team. The younger brother of Dodgers’ first baseman Cody Bellinger received a $350k bonus, the largest after the first five selections.
• Joey Cantillo, LHP also signed for over $300k and has yet to be assigned to a team.
• Jason Pineda, 3B is 9-for-31 through 10 games in the AZL with two homers and three walks.
• Nicholas Feight is listed as an infielder and is with the AZL 2 team. He’s 7-for-50 through 13 games with two homers and ten K’s. It looks like he’s been playing first base for the team, which seems like an odd fit for a 5’11” righty.
• Greg Lambert, CF is 10-for-37 with a double, a triple, and a stolen base for the AZL team.
• Luis Roman, 3B is 7-for-32 with ten K’s for the AZL 2 team.
• Harrison Simon, RHP, hasn’t been assigned yet.
• Robbie Podorsky, CF is with the Tri-City Dust Devils after earning a promotion on July 11th by hitting .400/.471/.556 through eleven games with three doubles, two triples, and three stolen bases with only three strikeouts. Looks like a kid with some wheels and a nice mix of plate discipline and contact ability.
• Noel Vela, LHP, hasn’t been assigned yet.
• Jalen Washington, C went straight to Tri-City and is hitting .209/.300/.372 through 13 games.
• Chandler Seagle, C also went straight to Tri-City and is hitting .162/.244/.216 through ten games.
• Tyler Benson, LF spent some time in Tri-City and has already made it up to Fort Wayne after hitting .353/.450/.412 at the lower level.
• Matthew Batten, SS has logged 15 games with the AZL team and has posted an impressive .304/.371/.464 line with four doubles, a triple and a homer with six walks against 12 strikeouts.
• Caleb Boushley, RHP, has been lit up for 16 runs (14 earned) through 13-2/3 innings across four games with the AZL team, including an ugly 8-run, 4-1/3 inning outing.
• Jeremy Smith, RHP, is with the AZL 2 team but has yet to make an appearance.
• Justin Paulsen, 1B has a 256/.388/.385 line through 12 games with the AZL 2 team.

Undrafted free agents:

• Jorge Leo, RHP has not been assigned to a team.
• Spencer Kulman, RHP has given up six runs (four earned) in 3-1/3 innings across two games with the AZL team.
• Tom Coletti, RHP has made two appearances with the AZL team, giving up one run in two innings pitched.
• Daniel Sexton, LHP has a 2.70 ERA with 14 K’s through ten innings pitched with the AZL team.
• Nick Kuzia, RHP has made five appearances with the AZL team with a 5.68 ERA through 6-1/3 innings pitched.
• Cole Rutherford, 1B is 1-for-19 with the AZL squad with seven strikeouts through seven games.