AL East 2018 Draft Summary

In conjunction with the MLB Draft Deep Dive series that I've been rolling out over the last few weeks (see links below), the following is a down and dirty summary of the early 2018 draft results for the AL East.

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST 2018 DRAFT SUMMARY

PITCHING

Pitcher Breakdown
TBR: 20 Signed | 17 C | 1 JC/CC | 2 HS | 14 RHP | 6 LHP
NYY: 19 Signed | 18 C | 1 JC/CC | 18 RHP | 1 LHP

TOR: 18 Signed | 16 C | 1 JC/CC | 1 HS | 17 RHP | 1 LHP

BAL: 16 Signed | 10 C | 6 HS | 10 RHP | 6 LHP
BOS: 13 Signed | 10 C | 2 JC/CC | 1 NS | 10 RHP | 3 LHP

Cumulative Stats for 2018 Draft Class (Pitchers)
BOS: 2.83 ERA | 1.239 WHIP | 295.1 IP | 13 Active Pitchers

TBR: 3.07 ERA | 1.179 WHIP | 563.1 IP | 20 Active Pitchers

TOR: 3.22 ERA | 1.149 WHIP | 389 IP | 16 Active Pitchers
NYY: 3.85 ERA | 1.274 WHIP | 301.1 IP | 16 Active Pitchers
BAL: 3.97 ERA | 1.449 WHIP | 330.1 IP | 16 Active Pitchers

Position Player Breakdown
BAL: 16 Signed | 13 C | 1 JC/CC | 2 HS | 1B | 2B | 2 3B | 3 SS | 6 OF | 3 C
BOS: 15 Signed | 9 C | 6 HS | 1B | 2B | 3 3B | 2 SS | 6 OF | 2 C
NYY: 15 Signed | 10 C | 1 JC/CC | 4 HS | 1B | 3 2B | 3B | 2 SS | 4 OF | 4 C
TBR: 15 Signed* | 10 C | 2 JC/CC | 3 HS | 2 1B | 2 2B | 3B | SS | 6 OF* | 3 C
TOR: 14 Signed* | 10 C | 1 JC/CC | 3 HS | 1B* | 2B | 3B | 3 SS | 4 OF | 4 C

*Add one to the totals to account for two-way players already counted in the pitching totals.

Cumulative Stats for 2018 Draft Class (Position Players)
BOS: .266/.347/.374/.721 | 15 Active Players

TBR: .265/.368/.388/.756 | 16 Active Players

TOR: .245/.348/.371/.719 | 15 Active Players
NYY: .237/.335/.363/.698 | 15 Active Players
BAL: .219/.298/.322/.619 | 14 Active Players

MLB Pipeline Top 30 Prospects
BOS: 5 Total (C RHP, HS 3B*, 2 HS 3B, HS OF)
BAL: 4 Total (C RHP*, HS RHP*, C SS*, C OF)
NYY: 4 Total (C RHP, JC/CC C, HS C*, HS OF)
TBR: 4 Total (C LHP*, HS LHP*, C 2B, HS OF)
TOR: 3 Total (HS RHP, HS SS/3B*, C OF)

*Top 10

AL EAST DRAFT CLASS NOTES: PITCHERS

Tampa Bay signed the most pitchers from this group and got both quantity and quality in their initial results. The Rays' top pick, a high school lefty, had a particularly good debut as did their second round pick (a two-way player). But it was the middle of the pack that really impressed me and could portend good depth from this college-heavy group going forward. Only one player was promoted beyond Short Season A, but this group combined to pitch a lot of innings in their inaugural season and that should provide a good foundation. All of the remaining affiliates were college-heavy as well with the exception of the Orioles who signed six high school pitchers. Most of the high school players pitched well and performed as expected in rookie league. However, only two of the college players (both with good numbers) had much of a track record at the Short Season A level and none were promoted above that level. And four of the college players pitched 13.1 innings or fewer. It's hard to get much of a feel for the class, but my initial impressions are ambivalent. Three of the Yankees draft picks didn't play at all and ten of their college picks didn't play beyond rookie league. The top three picks performed well at Short Season A, but most of the rest of the class gets an incomplete until they actually put up a few innings and show some success at a higher level. The Blue Jays class doesn't look quite as strong as Tampa, but it does appear to have some nice depth with several lower round pitchers performing nicely. Their top pick, a high school right-hander, only pitched two innings and two other players did not appear in 2018. Boston had the smallest pitching class, but had one of only two players to advance beyond Short Season A out of the entire group. RHP Durbin Feltman made 11 relief appearances at Advanced A in 2018 and appears to be on the fast track for the Sox. Beyond Feltman, it was more of a mixed bag, but there were definitely a couple of bright spots in that mix. However, it is definitely Tampa Bay that stands out in the initial results.

AL EAST DRAFT CLASS NOTES: POSITION PLAYERS


The Red Sox probably have the most interesting group of position players from the 2018 draft. Four of their high school picks appear on their Top 30 prospect list (although the top two only appeared in two games each in 2018) and several of their college players had very strong starts as well. If even a couple of these high school prospects pan out, this could turn out to be a very strong group for Boston. None of the college players were hidden away in rookie ball and two of them were promoted to full season teams. The Yankees also have some interesting younger players at the top of their class who performed as could be expected (and received much more playing time than the Red Sox top players). Further down in the draft, the results are mixed, but there are a few bright spots peppered throughout the group. Tampa Bay and Toronto also picked high school players as their top position player picks. Toronto's SS/3B Jordan Groshans got off to the best start of any of the top high school players out of this group, but there doesn't appear to be much depth in the Blue Jays class based on the early results despite a couple of very nice debuts among the lower picks. On the other hand, Tampa Bay's high school picks didn't exactly wow me in their inaugural seasons, but they had several college players up and down the ranks who showed good promise. The Orioles had two players who didn't appear in 2018 and seven more who batted under the composite group batting average of .219. Not exactly inspiring. Only three players batted over .250 and one of those three was a college player appearing in low rookie league. So once again, not inspiring. Boston does inspire me with their early results, just edging out the Rays as the most interesting group to watch.

Baltimore Orioles Draft Review
Boston Red Sox Draft Review
New York Yankees Draft Review
Tampa Bay Rays Draft Review
Toronto Blue Jays Draft Review