After the Red Sox selected Marcelo Mayer with the fourth overall pick Sunday night, Monday was full of action as the Red Sox made nine picks in rounds 2-10 of the draft.
With the 40th overall pick in the draft, Boston selected Florida Gators outfielder Jud Fabian. Fabian, while only hitting .249 in his sophomore season this past year, blasted 20 homers while driving in 46 runs, as the right-handed bat posted an OPS of .924 through 59 games and 225 at-bats. Two of his homers were off second overall pick Jack Leiter, which came on the same day.
To add to that, the left-handed outfielder plays good defense while drawing a hefty amount of walks, as the 6-foot-2 product of the Gators drew 40 this past season while stealing six bases. The 190-pound outfielder is ranked as the 23rd prospect on MLB.com.
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With their third-round pick, the Red Sox selected a very versatile asset, as they drafted NC State’s Tyler McDonough. McDonough, a 5-foot-10 utility man had a great year with the Wolfpack hitting .339 while swatting 15 homers and driving in 45 RBIs while seeing time mainly in center field, but also playing both second and third base.
To go along with that, he had 37 extra-base hits while putting up an OPS of 1.054 and walking 33 times through the 55 games he played in during his sophomore season.
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With their fourth-round pick, Boston selected Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz whose fastball tops out at 94. The 17-year-old throws three other pitches, including a solid mix of the changeup, curveball, and slider.
Rodriguez-Cruz is a good athlete who has an upward projection in velocity. Standing at 6-foot-5, the 160-pound Puerto Rican pounds the zone with strikes and has the potential to be a hard-throwing right-hander.
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The Red Sox returned to Florida with their next pick, selecting Nathan Hickey as their fifth-round selection.
Hickey, a catcher who has seen time at first base, has one of the smoothest left-handed swings you’ll find from someone who regularly plays behind the dish.
Boston selected yet another guy with good plate discipline, as the catcher had more walks (42) than strikeouts (40) this season while putting up a .317/.435/.522 slash line. He crushed nine home runs and put up 50 RBIs through his 60 games as a freshman.
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Boston drafted Daniel McElveny in the sixth round, as Bonita High, McElveny’s high school, is just miles away from Eastlake High, Marcelo Mayer’s high school.
Through 29 games as a senior, he hit .435 with an OPS of 1.344, while blasting five homers. Despite having a strong senior campaign and having the ability to play every single position on the diamond (including catcher), his only offer was to walk-on at San Diego State.
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The Red Sox selected the right-handed hurler Wyatt Olds with their seventh-round selection, as the Oklahoma Sooner struggled in 2021 but does have intriguing stuff.
The Oklahoma product posted a 5.23 ERA across 75.2 innings but showed some upside walking just 4.4 batters per nine innings ( and striking out 12.0 batters per nine.
Olds’ fastball sits in the mid-90s while his slider lies in the mid-80s, generating a lot of swings and misses.
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The Red Sox took Hunter Dobbins with their eighth-round selection, a right-hander out of Texas Tech.
Dobbins posted a 1.35 ERA through 20 innings in the shortened 2020 season, but blew out his arm shortly before the 2021 season, requiring season-ending Tommy John Surgery.
The righty was reaching up to 97 on his fastball before blowing out his arm.
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Tyler Miller of Auburn was selected by the Sox in the ninth round Monday.
Miller led the SEC in RBIs, with 61, as the first baseman slashed.313/.354/.601 while blasting 16 homers. He walked just 15 times while striking out 44 in his 208 at-bats, which raises concerns about the left-handed bat’s approach.
Regardless, there were reports just hours after the draft, that said Miller was going to be signing with the Red Sox.
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Matt Litwicki was the Red Sox’s final selection Monday, as they drafted him in the 10th round.
The right-hander has had four injury-plagued seasons at Indiana, but showed potential in his fastball as it featured high-90s stuff in the 12 innings he hurled out of the bullpen this season.
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Day three of the draft will kick off at noon ET on Tuesday, as it’ll be the final day of the draft before the All-Star Game later that night.
(Photo of Jud Fabian/Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)