Well, that was quite a day one, wasn’t it? Who knew that was going to happen? I certainly didn’t. Okay, I’m ‘fessing up to the fact I am actually writing this thread on Thursday afternoon, and so have absolutely no idea what’s going to have happened on Day 1. With the Diamondbacks not picking until the 15th slot, it feels unlikely that many needles will be moved by the player they pick. Arizona has had that slot twice before: in 2004, when they did well enough, Stephen Drew dropping to them, and in 2013
when things weren’t quite as successful. They passed on J.P. Crawford, Tim Anderson and some guy called Aaron Judge, to select Braden Shipley.
He threw exactly 100 innings for Arizona with a 5.49 ERA, before being let go after the 2019 season. However, there have been some good players to go at #15. Chase Utley is, far and away, the best. But Jim Rice and Chris Carpenter were no slouches either. But it has been a while. Trent Grisham in 2015 is probably the last player to make a significant impact from the slot. Although 2021 pick Sal Frelick won a Gold Glove for Milwaukee in his sophomore season, before falling back this year. As always with the baseball draft, it’s probably best to make no comment more predictive than “We’ll see.”
As we mentioned yesterday, today will see coverage of rounds five through twenty, and progress should definitely be much faster here. It works out at about one minute per choice, with things expect to run from now until about 4:30 p.m. Arizona time. These selections will be broadcast on MLB.com, MLB.TV and MLB+. I wouldn’t expect massive in-depth coverage of every pick here, but we’ll be endeavoring to keep you updated with any particularly interesting picks, news of local talent, etc. As yesterday, feel free to chip in with links or any other useful info in the comments.
