The Tigers have a chance to reap (fairly) rapid rewards from their 2022 draft class. They spent their first nine picks on college players, including six much-needed bats.
This, a year after they used eight of their first 10 picks on pitchers.
"The bats go really fast, as you know," said Tigers director of amateur scouting Scott Pleis. "So if there's a good bat there, it really is tough to pass up."
After drafting infielders Jace Jung (No. 12 overall) and Peyton Graham (No. 51) in the first two rounds Sunday night -- "great makeup, tooled out, they can play up the middle, both have power, both bring a lot to the table," said Pleis -- the Tigers added four more hitters and three arms in rounds four though 10 on Monday.
"We're always trying to get the best player, but I think it was well-rounded," said Pleis. "We got a lot of hitters, a lot of position guys, which is good. Some better athletes than others, but I think we got some impact. We're excited about how the day went."
That included Boston College third baseman Luke Gold in the fifth round, North Carolina shortstop Danny Serretti in the sixth, Tennessee outfielder Seth Stephenson in the seventh and Georgia Tech first baseman Andrew Jenkins in the ninth.
Pleis said of Gold, who batted .309 this season, "Every time I see him, he hits."
"He's just one of those guys. He squares the ball up, uses the field, hits the ball hard. I can see him playing several positions, but we'll probably leave him (at third base), let him do his thing and swing the bat," said Pleis.
He said the same thing of Jenkins, who smacked 17 homers this year and left Georgia Tech with a career OPS of 1.045.
"Sometimes you go into the ballpark on the wrong days with some of these guys, but we always saw him hit. He's a better athlete than some people might think. He can run, he can play the outfield, so there's some good versatility there, but he's just a good hitter who does have power," said Pleis.
On the mound, the Tigers took San Diego State right-hander Troy Melton in the third round, Valparaiso lefty Jake Miller in the eighth and Oklahoma righty Trevin Michael in the tenth.
By prioritizing college players, the Tigers added a number of advanced prospects to their system. They also gave themselves the best chance to sign each of their selections after sacrificing their competitive balance pick in the Isaac Paredes-Austin Meadows trade and their third-round pick as a result of signing Eduardo Rodriguez.
"Our (bonus) money wasn't like it usually is when we have all our picks," said Pleis. "So the high schoolers, if you don't grab them early in the draft, it's hard to sign them after that. But for the most part, we got the guys we wanted to get. You always gotta be a little bit lucky for those guys to get to you."
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