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Note: This will be a running post, updated consistently throughout the end of day two.
Round 6 (#185) - Pedro Pages, C, Florida Atlantic University
The late stages of day two begin with Pedro Pages, a junior catcher out of Florida Atlantic University. He was born in Maracy, Venezuela and attended high school in Doral, Florida.
Pages is a thick bodied catcher, standing 6’1 and weighing in at 234lbs. Despite his size, Pages gets good marks for his work behind the plate and should stick there in pro ball. He’s a good receiver and threw out a gaudy 68% percent of would-be base stealers in 2019. On top of the defensive chops, he is bilingual in English and Spanish.
At the plate, he’s a contact bat that’s light on power. He’s improved in every season at Florida Atlantic, leading to a .310/.433/.432 line in a 2019 campaign where he walked as many times as he struckout. The plate discipline focus is classic Flores, with a brighter defensive future than you’d probably expect.
Round 7 (#215) - Jack Ralston, RHP, UCLA
Jack Ralston is a 6’6”, 231lb redshirt junior out of UCLA. Ralston is from Newhall, CA, where he attended Hart HS and went undrafted in 2015.
Although he’s a redshirt junior, Ralston only has two season of Pac-12 action under his belt. His redshirt was used as a freshman, and I haven’t yet been able to find why he didn’t pitch in 2017. He was ineffective in his return to the mound as a redshirt sophomore, running a ghastly 1.29 K-BB ratio and just generally being, well, bad. 2019 has seen him take a huge step forward, becoming one of the stalwarts of the Bruins staff. Over 83 innings, he’s pitched to a 2.17 ERA while striking out 9.43 BB/9 and walking 3.25 BB/9.
His arsenal starts with a fastball that sits 91-94 and gets great downhill plane thanks to his size and arm slot. The go to secondary here is an overhand curve that runs in the low-80’s with good depth. I’ve found reports that peg it as a high-spin rate breaker with above-average potential. He also throws a changeup, in the way that many two-pitch guy “throw a changeup”, but it’s very much a work in progress. His command comes and goes, as does his control over his large frame. I’m not the biggest fan of the delivery, finding the arm action too long in the back and difficult to sync up, but he’s made strides in improving his consistency.
Round 8 (#245) - Logan Gragg, RHP, Oklahoma State
We’re getting into the weeds here. I’ll be honest I haven’t heard much of Gragg, even less than I’ve heard of the aforementioned Ralston.
From what I’ve gathered, he’s a 6’5 tommy john survivor that spent 2019 at Oklahoma State after spending two years at JuCo. He’s worked mainly out of the bullpen for the Cowboys and has been, well, not all that effective. Baseball America pegs his fastball as high as 96, and makes reference to a slider that flashes plus at times. It’s a short-arm delivery, sort of Joe Kelly-ish, and the fastball has plenty of sink on it.
The only video I was able to find was game footage. He enter the game against Kansas State at the 1:53:00 mark.
Round 9 (#275) - Todd Lott, OF/1B, UL-Lafayette
The run on pitchers ends with a big bodied junior outfielder out of UL-Lafayette.
Lott, cousin of former pro football player Ronnie Lott, is stands at a physically imposing 6’4, 235lb. He hails from Jacksonville, FL, where he attended Trinity Christian HS. As a prep he flashed big-time raw power, but questions over his hit tool and defensive home left him undrafted. Those red flags have proved mostly prescient, especially the fears of him filling out and slowing down. He’s left field or first base only at this point, so he’ll have to hit a lot to move up the ladder.
There in lies the problem. Lott hit well in 2019, but hasn’t showed any acumen with the bat in any season prior. As a freshman he struggled mightily, batting .266/.345/.344 with a gaudy 31.03% strikeout rate. Things got even weirder as a sophomore, when he began to tap into his raw power but raised his strikeout rate to a shocking altitude, going down on strikes 41.67% of the time. 2019 has been a different animal, seeing Lott vastly improve his plate discipline and contact ability. In 55 games he has batted .333/.401/.500 while slashing his strikeout rate to 14.47%. First base is his likely defensive home, so he’ll have to build on the 2019 improvements to make an impact.
Round 10 (#305) - Jake Sommers, LHP, UW-Milwaukee
My pride is taking a beating. This is another player that I’ve never crossed paths with, and I can’t find anything on other outlets about him yet. May take some time to dig up. All I know non-stat wise is that he’s a senior, he’s 6’2”, and he doesn’t throw with his right hand.