Picking twice in the second round of Monday’s MLB Draft, the Red Sox decided to stay down the middle, choosing a pair of middle infielders at 43rd and 69th.
Arizona junior Cameron Cannon and Puerto Rican high schooler Matthew Lugo were Boston’s selections, as the team focused on talent first, but opted for the upside options that could play premium positions.
“That part of it’s always attractive,” said Red Sox VP of amateur scouting Mike Rikard.“We do line up our board based on talent, and sometimes the talent can be in the bat, purely, we kind of went that way last year, with taking a high school first baseman and a high school outfielder, but we do certainly have a preference for guys that stay in the middle of the field and guys who have some versatility defensively, because in the long run of things it hopefully allows these guys to get their bat in the lineup with the different possibilities that they have to play different positions.
With the 43rd pick, the Red Sox took Arizona infielder Cannon, a versatile defender and one of the most polished hitters in the draft.
One of the best bats available, the Arizona junior is slashing an excellent 397/.478/.651 as one of the best hitters in the PAC-12, including a particularly impressive month of May. With above average contact abilities and decent power, Cannon may not be a superstar-level prospect but could be a very solid and dependable hitter, if a very pull-heavy one.
“We like a lot about [Cannon>,” said Rikard. “He’s a very good hitter, we like his swing path, he does things as far as controlling the strike zone, and limiting his strikeouts that we value, we do believe he’s got good power now, and we think there may be more evolving power that he’s got a chance to grow into as he has a chance to mature as a hitter.”
Cannon’s taken most of his reps at second base or shortstop this season but can also play third, an infielder that can move all over the diamond. He has good hands and an above-average arm, and while he could perhaps stick at shortstop, he may profile better at second.
“One of the real pluses for him,” Rikard said, “is that he’s very versatile, he’s played quite a bit of shortstop at the University of Arizona as well as some second base, as well as playing some third base last summer in the Cape.
At 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, Lugo’s got a “projectable” frame that could add muscle and bolster his power, though he’s a plus hitter already and has the raw upside at the plate to convince scouts.
Rikard had praise for Lugo, and mentioned how well the team had gotten to know both the Puerto Rican and the Arizona native that went 26 slots ahead of him.
“We’re very excited,” said Rikard. “The predictability on the high school kids in the draft is always tough, like I mentioned on the previous call it’s never easy to know who's going to be there at your pick, but we're certainly excited to get a very talented young player. He’s got really good tools, we think he as well has a chance to stay in the middle of the field for sure, we like his power potential, and he’s got speed to kind of push the game a little bit. The other part of it is, we’ve gotten to know both players very well through the process, and we’ve become very impressed and comfortable with their makeup and character and all those things as well.”
The young shortstop could be an above-average defender at the next level, similar to Cannon with good hands and a strong arm — Lugo, however, is still pretty raw and needs some polish. However, the scouting team paid visits to Puerto Rico multiple teams, and he convinced them.
“I think they do,” Rikard said, “and obviously it’s always nice when there’s some lineage there, you always like for the players in the offseason to know they’re in good hands.
Lugo’s connections to the Red Sox don’t stop there, as he shares an agent with Boston’s first pick in 2018.
“The other kind of caveat to the whole scenario is that Matthew has the same agent as Triston Casas, so we’re already those two guys working out together in the offseason and so forth, so that’s always a good thing, that they have backgrounds and people in their lives that have a chance to be such a positive influence.”