Local Sports

White Sox Take Missouri State 3B With 11th Overall Pick, Cubs Take Pair of College Arms

The White Sox drafted Missouri State's Jake Burger with the No. 11 overall pick, adding a power-hitting third baseman to their pipeline.
 
A St. Louis area product, Burger hit .328 with 22 homers and 65 RBIs as a junior this season and was the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. Chicago sees him as a player with the potential to hit 25 to 30 homers and has no plans to move him off third base, scouting director Nick Hostetler said.
 
Burger said he tried to mold his game after Paul Konerko's. And he scored bonus points before his interview with Hostetler and scout Garrett Guest when he told them he grew up rooting for the White Sox.
 
At no. 27 overall, the Cubs selected LHP Brendon Little from the State College of Florida. 
 
A draft-eligible sophomore, Little transferred from North Carolina following his freshman season. He combines an above-average fastball with a promising breaking ball. 
 
Little has to do a better job repeating his mechanics, and will need to continue working on his changeup. His fastball and bat-missing ability will coerce some team into picking him early on.
 
With the last pick of the first round, the Cubs took LSU right-hander, Alex Lange and took Loyola Marymount right-hander Cory Abbott.
 
The Cardinals had to send their second (56th overall) and third (75th overall) picks to the Houston Astros as compensation for the hacking scandal. St. Louis did not have a pick on Day 1. They won't make their first selection until the third round, 94th overall.
 
With the top overall pick of the 2017 MLB draft, the Twins took shortstop/center fielder Royce Lewis out of JSerra Catholic High School in California. 
 
Lewis may have the best tools of any position player in the draft, headlined by top-of-the-scale speed on the bases and excellent power at the plate. It's not certain he'll be a shortstop long-term, but if he doesn't he may have a future at another premium position in center field. MLB Network Dan O'Dowd said not long after Lewis was drafted that he expects to him settle in at center long-term, and he likened Lewis to George Springer of the Astros. 
 
The No. 1 overall pick has a slotted signing bonus of $7,770,700, and the Twins must make that work within their overall 2017 draft budget of $14,156,800. 
 
And with the second pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, the Cincinnati Reds selected Hunter Greene, a pitcher/shortstop from Notre Dame High School in California. 
 
Greene would almost certainly be a first-round pick as a hard-hitting shortstop, but it's his potential on the mound that makes him the consensus best talent available. Greene throws four pitches for strikes, including a fastball that touches triple digits and a plus slider. He also has the foundations of a usable big-league changeup. Greene won't turn 18 years of age until August.

Townhall Top of the Hour News

Local Weather - Sponsored By:

CLINTON WEATHER

Local News

DeWittDN on Facebook