2016 Draft Pick Discussion, Rounds 21-40

[1992casey]

Please use this thread to share your thoughts, links, stories, pictures and anything else on the Brewers' picks on draft day from rounds 21 through 40. Please do not start separate threads to discuss the individual picks.

 

Please use the in-draft thread to talk about the picks, similar to a game thread.

[WV Brew]

21. Nathan Rodriguez, Cypress College, another catcher for your pleasure.

[WV Brew]

Padres took Taylor Kohlwey from UW-Lacrosse in round 21.

[Kelbysdaddy]

Brewers take Beloit native Cam Roegner in the 22ND round!!!! Excited about that! Good luck young man. Make B-city proud!

[And That]

39th round pick Jose Gomez is a 5'3 center fielder. He did win his conference's Gold Glove award.

[trwi7]

39th round pick Jose Gomez is a 5'3 center fielder. He did win his conference's Gold Glove award.

 

That's .97 Altuves.

[Eye Black]

As great as it would be there does not appear to be much hope for signing 40th round selection RHP Kyle Serrano from the University of Tennessee. Kyle was a well regarded pitching prospect coming into the season, but unfortunately has since had Tommy John surgery and missed his junior season. The UT head coach will likely have a say, Kyle's dad Dave Serrano.

[beekay414]

As great as it would be there does not appear to be much hope for signing 40th round selection RHP Kyle Serrano from the University of Tennessee. Kyle was a well regarded pitching prospect coming into the season, but unfortunately has since had Tommy John surgery and missed his junior season. The UT head coach will likely have a say, Kyle's dad Dave Serrano.

There's no hope. He's returning to UT.

 

Kyle Serrano ‏@KSerrano11 3h3 hours ago

Greatly appreciate getting drafted by the @Brewers, excited to get back on the field and wear the orange and white again #Vols'17

[Mass Haas]

College's press release --

 

University of Alabama-Huntsville's Wilson Adams Selected by Brewers in MLB Draft (32nd round)

 

We learn that "In addition to his postseason accolades, his strong year on the mound also led to Adams being named a semifinalist for the Brett Tomko Award which is presented to Division II's top pitcher."

[Mass Haas]

Tulane Press Release --

 

NEW ORLEANS – Tulane baseball’s Emerson Gibbs has been selected in the 33rd round (981st overall) of the MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.

[Mass Haas]

Former South Western pitcher drafted by Brewers

Zach Miller, The Evening Sun (Hanover, PA)

 

South Western graduate Parker Bean was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday afternoon.

 

Bean, a pitcher who graduated high school in 2013 and just finished his junior year playing Division I baseball at Liberty University, was selected in the 36th round of the 2016 MLB Draft. He received the news while with his family at his parents' home in the Hanover area.

 

“I’m with the people I love the most," Bean said about an hour after his selection. "It’s been a crazy past hour, tons of phone calls, texts, Twitter notifications, all that stuff. I’m just trying to respond to everyone and thank them. It’s an unreal feeling.”

 

Bean appeared in 16 games for the Flames this past season, starting five, while striking out 42 batters in 35 1/3 innings. The Brewers were one of multiple teams that reached out to him Saturday to discuss possibly selecting him, he said.

 

“I didn’t have too many expectations," he said of the draft. "I heard some things here and there, but with the draft there’s a lot of uncertainty. I’m perfectly happy with how it ended up and know it’s all part of them plan. It’s awesome that it finally happened.’

 

Bean still has one year of college baseball eligibility remaining, so he has the option to either sign with the Brewers or return to Liberty for his junior year and re-enter the draft next year.

 

“We haven’t talked through all the details yet, but I’m definitely leaning towards signing," Bean said. "It’s been a dream of mine, ever since I was a young kid, to play professional baseball and it’s right on my fingertips. It’s exciting, but we’ll see what the next 24 hours holds.”

[Mass Haas]

Brewers make emotional pick in 38th round

By Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel

 

As the 2016 Major League Baseball draft neared its end Saturday afternoon, it got very emotional in the Milwaukee Brewers' "war room," and not because folks were getting tired and wanted it to be over.

 

Amateur scouting director Ray Montgomery asked area scout Shawn Whalen to step to the microphone and announce the Brewers' 38th-round selection over the draft conference call. The name he gave was his son Caleb, a centerfielder at the University of Portland.

 

"I probably felt as good as Shawn," said Montgomery. "But watching Shawn actually announce the pick, and knowing what he's been through, and having his second boy go today, it was a great feeling in the room."

 

It indeed was a banner day for the Whalen family. Shawn's youngest son, Brady, a high school shortstop in Vancouver, Wash., was taken in the 12th round by St. Louis.

 

Asked to describe the day, Shawn said, "Surreal. I can't put it into words without getting emotional. A lot of hard work, a lot of determination, and a lot of support from the people around these guys, because you can't do it by yourself."

 

Adding an extra dose of emotion was the fact Shawn has battled thyroid cancer for two years, having surgeries in March 2015 and again in March of this year. The second surgery was necessary when the cancer spread into lymph nodes.

 

"I appreciate everything that Ray and the Brewers have done to stand by me," he said. "I've had a great support system and I was able to bounce back real quick, because the best therapy I was able to find was down on the field doing my job.

 

"As my mom would say, it's a new normal. You learn to appreciate life, I can tell you that much."

 

Whalen has another son, Seaver, who just finished his junior year at Loyola-Marymount.

 

"He's a pretty interesting player; he just hasn't put it together," said Shawn. "He's a late bloomer. They're all late bloomers, like their dad was."

[Mass Haas]

Norwalk High's Gonzalez drafted by Brewers in 24th round

By John Nash, The Hour (Norwalk, CT)

 

LINK includes photos

 

NORWALK — Mike Gonzalez received two phone calls from the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.

 

The first one was the team just checking in on him and how he was doing. The second was to formally welcome him to the club.

 

The Brewers drafted the Norwalk High School right-handed pitcher in the 24th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, taking him with the 711th pick.

 

Gonzalez is believed to be the first-ever high school player from Norwalk to be drafted by a Major League Baseball club.

 

“He called me and I really didn’t have anything to say,” Gonzalez said. “I was in (Brien McMahon baseball player) Hunter Dumas’ basement, just hanging and having fun when they called.”

 

Gonzalez said the team would sit down with him to formally discuss a contract offer in the near future.

 

“They’re going to come down and talk to us about things,” Gonzalez said. “But it’s still what’s best for me and my future. I don’t want to have to struggle (financially) while I’m in the minor leagues.”

 

Over his recently completed senior season, with a lot of eyes on him, Gonzalez was 6-1 with a 1.64 ERA. In 5.1 innings, he struck out 56 and walked 22.

 

He added anywhere from six to eight miles per hour on his fastball, throwing 85 as a junior and get consistently into the low 90s as a senior.

 

Gonzalez was planning to attended Miami Dade Junior College and play for two years there before chasing a Division 1 scholarship offer.

 

How badly the Brewers want him will dictate his future.

 

Mike Porzio, a scout with the Brewers and owner of The Clubhouse, Gonzalez’s current travel club in Fairfield said the club is high on the 17-year-old Norwalk native.

[1992casey]

I heard the Brady Whalen pick by the Cardinals on the webcast, and Shawn was mentioned when Brady's name was called in. It's pretty cool how nods are given to people in the game when picks are made.

[Mass Haas]

Brewers draft former Middlesex star Brennan Price

Greg Tufaro, MyCentralJersey.com

 

Former Middlesex High School baseball star Brennan Price, who recently completed his junior year at Felician College as a pitcher and designated hitter, was selected in the 29th round of the 2016 MLB First-Year Player Draft with the 861st overall pick by the Milwaukee Brewers.

 

Price, whose fastball topped out in the mid 90 mph range, stands 6-foot-9 and weighs 260 pounds. He posted a 3-3 record, striking out 42 batters while walking 29 over 44 and a third innings. Price batted .336 (55-for-159) with 37 RBI and 25 runs scored.

 

"I think it's a home run of a pick," said former Middlesex head coach Mike O'Donnell, who coached Price, a 2013 graduate. "I think he's got the mental makeup to advance. He hasn't been pitching for all that long and I think he's got lots of room for improvement and to mature as a pitcher where he can gain the feel of some secondary pitches and continue learning how to pound the zone and throw quality strikes."

 

Price, who underwent surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm as a high school junior, led the Blue Jays to the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament title that year, belting a memorable pinch-hit grand slam in the late innings that enabled Middlesex to pad its 5-4 lead against Sayreville.

 

Price’s college teammate, Matt Blandino, was also drafted on Saturday. They were the fourth and fifth players to be drafted from Felician in the 17-year history of the Golden Falcon program. Blandino was chosen in the 19th round, a Felician record, by the Cincinnati Reds. He was the 558th overall selection. Fewer than three hours later, Price was selected.

 

Both Blandino and Price were true juniors in 2016 and in their first draft-eligible season of college baseball. They join Andre Randolph (2003) and Jerry Vasto and Scott De Jong (2014) as Felician athletes to be selected in the MLB First-Year Player Draft.

 

Price pitched regularly for the first-time as a collegian in 2016, logging a 5.48 ERA and a .242 opponent batting average. He is a three-time all-CACC and two-time all-region performer as a position player.

 

In three years, Price garnered 141 hits, including 47 for extra-bases, and 105 RBI while playing first base and designated hitter, but it was his potential to develop as a power pitcher that grabbed the attention of professional scouts.

 

In 2016, Blandino and Price helped lead Felician (34-21, 16-4 CACC) to regular-season and tournament championships in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and to its second NCAA Tournament appearance. Blandino, in his first year as a Golden Falcon, set Golden Falcon single-season records for starts (14), innings (100 2/3) and strikeouts (97). He had a 9-4 record and an earned-run average of 2.32, and yielded 79 hits and 16 walks.

 

"Brennan appears to have won the respect of the coaches in our conference," Felician head coach Chris Langan said at the time in a press release. "We had a young line-up (in 2015), and a lot of teams pitched really carefully to him, and he still put up pretty good numbers."

 

O'Donnell said he is "not one bit surprised" that Price was drafted.

[Mass Haas]

Brewers make emotional pick in 38th round

By Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel

 

As the 2016 Major League Baseball draft neared its end Saturday afternoon, it got very emotional in the Milwaukee Brewers' "war room," and not because folks were getting tired and wanted it to be over.

 

Amateur scouting director Ray Montgomery asked area scout Shawn Whalen to step to the microphone and announce the Brewers' 38th-round selection over the draft conference call. The name he gave was his son Caleb, a centerfielder at the University of Portland.

 

"I probably felt as good as Shawn," said Montgomery. "But watching Shawn actually announce the pick, and knowing what he's been through, and having his second boy go today, it was a great feeling in the room."

 

It indeed was a banner day for the Whalen family. Shawn's youngest son, Brady, a high school shortstop in Vancouver, Wash., was taken in the 12th round by St. Louis.

 

Asked to describe the day, Shawn said, "Surreal. I can't put it into words without getting emotional. A lot of hard work, a lot of determination, and a lot of support from the people around these guys, because you can't do it by yourself."

 

Adding an extra dose of emotion was the fact Shawn has battled thyroid cancer for two years, having surgeries in March 2015 and again in March of this year. The second surgery was necessary when the cancer spread into lymph nodes.

 

"I appreciate everything that Ray and the Brewers have done to stand by me," he said. "I've had a great support system and I was able to bounce back real quick, because the best therapy I was able to find was down on the field doing my job.

 

"As my mom would say, it's a new normal. You learn to appreciate life, I can tell you that much."

 

Whalen has another son, Seaver, who just finished his junior year at Loyola-Marymount.

 

"He's a pretty interesting player; he just hasn't put it together," said Shawn. "He's a late bloomer. They're all late bloomers, like their dad was."

 

LINK

 

“I am very excited for the opportunity to play professional baseball with the Milwaukee Brewers,” Caleb Whalen said. “This is a dream come true and God has truly blessed me.”

[Mass Haas]

Georgetown Press Release --

 

WASHINGTON - Georgetown University baseball players Matt Smith (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley) and David Ellingson (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands College Park) both heard their names called on Saturday afternoon during the final day of the 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft. Smith was selected in the 34th round, 1,011 overall, by the Milwaukee Brewers. Ellingson was taken six picks later, 1,017 overall, by the Seattle Mariners.

 

Smith, an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection this year after being named to the first team in 2015, started 13 games for the Blue & Gray during his senior campaign, finishing with a 3-6 record and a 4.52 ERA while recording a team-high 64 strikeouts in 81.2 innings pitched. His 64 strikeouts rank eighth in Georgetown’s single-season history. Smith went 2-0 during GU’s spring break trip to Florida, with wins over then-No. 15 Florida Atlantic and Penn, and also picked up a victory over St. John’s. Over his final two starts, Smith broke three Georgetown career pitching records. In his start at Creighton on May 6, he passed Tom Bass (’83) for innings pitched and now holds the top spot with 309.2 career frames. When he took the mound in his final start against Villanova on May 13, Smith surpassed Tim Adleman (’10) and Eddie Pena (’05) with his 49th career start. In his final game, he also passed Adleman for the career strikeout lead, finishing his career with 229 strikeouts.

 

“It is surreal,” Smith said. “I’ve worked my whole life to get an opportunity to play baseball at the next level. It has been a stressful process, but I couldn’t be more thankful to have this opportunity.”

[Mass Haas]

College's press release --

 

University of Alabama-Huntsville's Wilson Adams Selected by Brewers in MLB Draft (32nd round)

 

We learn that "In addition to his postseason accolades, his strong year on the mound also led to Adams being named a semifinalist for the Brett Tomko Award which is presented to Division II's top pitcher."

 

Adams stunned that he can chase baseball dream

A. Stacy Long, Montgomery Advertiser

 

St. James graduate Wilson Adams ran through a whirlwind of emotions from anger to fear and finally elation Saturday.

 

Adams, peeved that he hadn’t been picked in the annual pro draft, and a younger brother decided to vent their frustration on the golf course.

 

On the drive to the course, they witnessed a hit-and-run accident where “my life and someone else’s flashed before my eyes.”

 

Once there, somewhere between the parking lot and the first tee, Adams’ dad called with a startling question: “Did you hear?”

 

“I figured my nephew had said his first words or something, but my dad said, ‘No, you just got drafted,” Adams said, his golf clubs falling at his feet.

 

“I freaked out. I absolutely freaked out.”

 

The Milwaukee Brewers took the right-handed pitcher from UAH in the 32nd round and indefinitely postponed his next round of golf.

 

Adams said he’ll head to Arizona or Helena, Montana — sites of short-season Milwaukee affiliates — in the next few days.

 

“At most, I’m probably going to get $1,000, a handshake and be asked, ‘Do you want to play baseball?’” Adams said. “If somebody had said before the season that I would have that chance, I would have said ‘yes.’

 

“I can always come back to school, but I can’t always come back to baseball. Now I can focus on the dream I’ve been chasing since I was 4 years old.”

 

Adams, who is two semesters shy of his UAH degree and was out of baseball eligibility, rebounded from a bad junior year to be an ace this season for the Chargers.

 

He was an honorable mention NCAA Division II All-American and was 10-3 with a 2.45 ERA. His 952/3 innings included 84 hits allowed, 29 walks and 101 strikeouts, a mighty stretch from the previous year.

 

As a junior, he threw just 181/3 innings and wasn’t sure he’d even be allowed to play this season.

 

The fall before his junior season, Adams said he was throwing 88-92 mph and had dominated hitters, but he “got lazy” and didn’t do anything over the winter.

 

“I told myself that I needed some rest when I didn’t, and I dropped to 81-85 (mph) and I didn’t know where the ball was going,” said Adams, who didn’t make the same error before this season.

 

“This year, really and truly, wasn’t supposed to happen,” Adams said. “It wasn’t something I was expecting to happen, but I felt I had enough talent to make it happen.

 

“I really pushed myself to make it happen.”

[Mass Haas]

Andrew Vernon is first ever NCCU MLB draft pick

WRALSportsFan.com (North Carolina)

 

Former North Carolina Central University pitcher Andrew Vernon had a record-breaking senior year and career, and now he’s added another historic entry as he became the first Major League Baseball draft pick from NCCU when he was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the twenty-eighth round on Saturday, June 11.

 

“I’m ecstatic, this is definitely a dream come true. It’s hard to put into words.” Vernon said about being drafted by the Brewers. “I can’t wait, it’s a great organization, and it’s been my dream ever since I was little. I can’t wait to see what happens, the guys I’ll meet, and the fan base. I’m really excited about everything that’s happening.”

 

“What a tremendous culmination to a great four year career,” NCCU baseball head coach Jim Koerner said about the reliever. “Andrew has earned everything he’s gotten, and we are very proud of him. His talent, work ethic and determination will take him far.”

 

A native of Raleigh, North Carolina, Vernon pitched four seasons for the maroon and gray and ended his career as the modern-era leader in career saves with 15 and kept a career ERA of 3.89 which tops the list as well.

 

Over his four years on the mound Vernon made a career-record 83 appearances with seven starts as he had an opportunity to move from the bullpen to the mound in his senior campaign. He was a 2016 First Team All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference selection after he nailed down four saves and led the league with 85 strikeouts, which set a new single season mark in the modern era at NCCU.

 

With those 85 strikeouts, Vernon also finished the regular season 12th in NCAA Division I in strikeouts per nine innings with an average of 11.93 punchouts.

 

Vernon is also high in the NCCU career leaderboards in pitching as he is second in the modern era with 181 strikeouts and holds the second lowest opposing batting average of .243.

 

The Milwaukee Brewers minor league affiliates are the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (AAA), Biloxi Shuckers (AA), Brevard County Manatees (Advanced-A), Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (A), Helena Brewers (Rookie) and they have an Arizona League rookie team, and Vernon now waits to see where he will be assigned in the organization.

[Mass Haas]

There were also updates in our thread for Rounds 11-20 from the overnight, you will see those updates here, including a note on whether signing 11th round third baseman Chad McClanahan could possibly be swayed from his Arizona State commitment.

 

So that's a good number of updates from Saturday night (within 24 hours of the third day selections). We'll certainly link to others as the week progresses, so stay tuned.

[Jenkins5]

No one has mentioned it yet but LHP Blake Lillis was the #2 pitcher on his high school team.... #1 was Riley Pint

[ZBTMP]

With South Carolina and Louisville being eliminated yesterday looks like 30th rounder Dalton Brown, RHP, Texas Tech University and 31st rounder Ryan Aguilar, 1B, University of Arizona are the only (2) Brewers' draftees remaining in the CWS.

[Eye Black]

29th round selection Brennan Price has signed per this Tweet with photo included.

[Mass Haas]

VIDEO: 22nd rounder signs at Miller Park, how cool is that?

 

Beloit's Roegner attends Brewers game as new member of organization

[Mass Haas]

AUDIO: RHP Andrew Vernon, the first ever MLB draft pick from North Carolina Central University joined Mike, Lauren and Demetri on The Morning Show at WRAL to talk about his surprise at being taken in the 28th round by the Brewers.

 

"I was playing NBA2K when the Brewers called"

 

The best interviews are always the late-round college picks...

 

Vernon is on his way to Maryvale.