As the baseball season swings into the heart of summer, with All Star Weekend in just over a month, the 2019 MLB Draft has kicked off, allowing top-end prospects and highly-touted players to be chosen for a shot at their dreams of playing professional baseball, depending on whether they commit to college or not.
Reigning World Series champs, the Boston Red Sox are sitting third in the AL East (32-29), positioning themselves to dethrone the division-leading Yankees (38-22) at some point. Now they have the task of making 38 more picks in the draft.
You may be asking yourself why care about the Blue Jays draft board? Well the New Hampshire Fisher Cats are the Double-A affiliates of Toronto, allowing these prospects to work their way up through the farm system and very likely spend time playing at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium for a few months.
Here are the list of picks in the first 10 rounds for Toronto and Boston along with local prospects from the New England area that were selected by Boston.
Boston
Round 2 (43)- Cameron Cannon SS (Arizona)- Utility man considered undersized by many (5’10 195) but can play the part of short and third base, Cannon has the ability to rise up through the system and could quickly establish himself as a top end product.
Round 2 (69)- Matthew Lugo SS (Carlos Beltran Academy)- A slender 6’1 infielder, the 18 year old Lugo has been tabbed as a high ranking player from the Puerto Rico region, allowing him now to get valuable experience in one of the best farm systems in baseball today.
Round 3 (107)- Ryan Zeferjahn P (Kansas)
Round 4 (137) – Noah Song P (Navy)
Round 5 (167)- Jaxx Groshans C (Kansas)
Round 6 (197)- Chris Murphy P (U. San Diego)
Round 7 (227)- Brock Bell P (State College of Florida Manatee)
Round 8 (257) Wil Dalton CF (Florida)
Round 9 (287) Cody Scroggins P (Arkansas)
Round 10 (317) Stephen Scott OF (Vanderbilt)
* Round 11 (347) Sebastian Keane P North Andover H.S. (Massachusetts)
* Round 34 (1037) Ryan Berardino 1B Bentley (Massachusetts)
Toronto
Round 1 (11)- Alex Manoah P (West Virginia)- A huge right hand flamethrower, Manoah was waiting for the right time at West Virginia to deliver, and he did just that. Pounding out strikeouts in the Cape Cod league followed by having an NFL tight end body, Manoah will immediately give the farm system a potential star in the making.
Round 2 (52)- Kendall Williams P (IMG Academy)- The Blue Jays decided to pair up on 6’6 pitchers for picks 1 and 2, now tabbing Williams as next in line to help out the farm system if he signs. More sleek than Manoah, Williams is a highly coveted prospect with length and arm speed. He could be one to stop on through Manchester, NH to showcase his arm in Double A.
Round 3 (88)- Dasan Brown CF Abbey Park HS (ON)
Round 4 (117) – Will Robertson RF (Creighton)
Round 5 (147) – Tanner Morris SS (Virginia)
Round 6 (177)- Cameron Eden SS (California)
Round 7 (207)- LJ Talley 2B (Georgia)
Round 8 (237)- Angel Camacho 3B Jacksonville University (FL)
Round 9 (267)- Philip Clarke C (Vanderbilt)
Round 10 (297)- Glenn Santiago SS International Baseball Academy (PR)
