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Boston Red Sox: Recapping Day 3 of the 2021 MLB Draft

The Red Sox made their final ten selections of the MLB Draft Tuesday, ahead of the MLB All-Star Game. Here’s details about every one of the final picks (rounds 11-20):

With their 11th round pick, the Red Sox selected first baseman Niko Kavadas out of Notre Dame to kick off the third day of the draft.

As a senior with the Irish, the left-handed bat hit .302 with an OPS of 1.245 while bashing 21 homers. He had discipline at the plate too, as despite striking out 53 times, he reached base on balls 50 times.

Despite having such a good bat, the fact that he’s already 23 years old and his lack of defensive value likely was the reason he was squashed all the way to the 11th round.

With their 12th round pick, the Red Sox selected UC-Santa Barbara’s very own right-handed pitcher, Christopher Troye.

Spending time in both the bullpen and rotation during his college career, the junior has started in eight of his 37 appearances with Santa Barbara. Through his 15 appearances, he notched a 4.50 ERA through his 18.1 innings.

Troye seems to have good stuff, with a 31% strikeout rate, but harsh command issues — a 23% walk rate.

With their 13th round pick, the Red Sox selected utility man Zach Ehrhard, as their fifth high school draftee of 2021.

The right-handed bat hails from Paul R. Wharton High School, and played mainly shortstop in high school but has the ability to play anywhere on the diamond with exceptional speed.

Other than that, there’s not much info on the 6-foot shortstop, as there is a mere three videos on him. Perfect Game ranked him as the 29th best high school shortstop in Florida, and he had a commitment to Oklahoma State.

In the 14th round, Boston selected a senior arm out of Miami (Ohio), Jacob Webb.

In the 39 innings, the righty had an ERA of 2.08. Through his 18 appearances (all out of the bullpen), he fanned 59 batters while walking just 14. Before attending Miami, the 6-foot-5 246-pound hurler attended Sinclair Community College for two seasons.

With their 15th round selection, the Red Sox chose shortstop Payton Green, a shortstop out of Green Hope High School in North Carolina.

Green likely doesn’t have the athleticism to stay at short, as the power-bat will most likely move to third base, or possibly second base. He is probably more likely to fulfill his North Carolina State commitment than sign with the Red Sox.

To kick off the final five selections in the draft, the BoSox selected their first JuCo player of the draft, with their selection of BJ Vela.

Vela hails from Reedley College, in California. The 5-foot-9 middle infielder slashed .481/.560/.821, while blasting seven homers through 27 games played. Across 106 at-bats he struck out just four times and had 35 RBIs while stealing nine bases.

The second consecutive junior college player the Red Sox took came in the 17th round, with Boston’s selection of Luis Guerrero.

Guerrero spent this past season with Chipola College, a JuCo that has produced a list of big league players — Buck Showalter, Jose Bautista, and Patrick Corbin to name a few. He tossed 58 innings while striking out 98 and posting a 3.72 ERA. Although he had a solid season with his JuCo team, he struggled in the MLB Draft League as he posted an 8.59 ERA through 14 2/3 innings — he fanned 21 batters while walking 17.

The Red Sox chose Phillip Sikes, an outfielder out of Texas Christian University (TCU), with their 18th selection.

Siikes, a former 38th round selection by the Diamondbacks (when the draft used to be 42 rounds), is a 6-foot-2 outfielder who had a breakout season with the Horned Frogs. The outfielder slashed .329/.427/.620 while crushing 11 homers and drove in 63 runs. He stole 13 bases and hit five triples, as well as 19 doubles through his 58 games with TCU.

With their second to last pick in the draft, the Red Sox picked Tyler Uberstine, a right-handed pitcher out of Northwestern.

He racked up a 5.90 ERA through 39 2/3 innings, as he struck out 38 while walking 20 and started in each of his nine outings. He threw nine innings in the MLB Draft League, allowing four runs.

The Red Sox made their final selection Sunday with the 586th pick, as they selected Josh Hood out of the University of Pennsylvania, the only Ivy League pick Boston made.

The shortstop didn’t play any baseball this spring, as the Ivy League didn’t have any winter or spring sports. The last time we saw him was in 2019, and he won the conference’s rookie of the year, but other than that there’s not much info on the kid.

(Photo of Niko Kavadas/Notre Dame Baseball Twitter)

 

 

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