The 2014 MLB draft is officially over. For a lot of our local superstars it turned out to be a day to remember. With a handful of local players going in the top ten rounds, New England was once again represented nicely. Let’s take a closer look into where players from this part of the country got scooped up and where they will be playing in the immediate future.
- Tyler Beede: “Young Beedah” will be taking his talents to the west coast. The Vanderbilt ace was selected 14th overall by the San Francisco Giants. Watching the draft live with his Vanderbilt teammates made for great T.V. when the Giants called his name at 14. Beede was immediately mauled and embraced by his fellow commodores when selected. Tyler will have to earn his way to the big leagues, but with the amount of talent Beede has it won’t be long until he is pitching at AT&T Park alongside Bumgarner and Lincecum.
- Sean Newcomb: Selected immediately after Tyler Beede, Sean Newcomb from the University of Hartford went 15th overall to the Los Angeles Angles. This selection made Newcomb only the 2nd player in school history to be drafted in the first round out of the University of Hartford. The first was Astros great, Jeff Bagwell, and if Newcomb has the same amount of successes on the mound as Bagwell had at the plate, then the Angels have a bright future.
- Adam Ravanelle: Sudbury native Adam Ravanelle was selected in the 4th round 130th overall by the Detroit Tigers. Ravanelle will now face the decision to either go pro or stay in school and finish out his senior year. After a career year as a junior at Vanderbilt, he and the commodores officially earned a bid to Omaha after eliminating Stanford in the super regionals this past weekend.
- Pat Connaughton: The Notre Dame superstar and local Arlington, MA native got picked up 121st overall by the Baltimore Orioles. Connaughton will most likely pitch for one of the Orioles farm system teams for two months this summer before heading back to South Bend to start his last year of collegiate basketball. Look out for Pat on both the Hardwood and baseball diamond in the near future.
- Jared Bellinger: Taken in the 11th round by the St. Louis Cardinals Bellinger has a tough decision to make: go to Duke or start his journey to the Big Leagues. Early indications point to Bellinger going to Duke, improving his game while playing at the Division I level, and building his future draft stock.
- Jamill Moquette: One of fifteen Division III players taken in this year’s draft, Jamill Moquette will get the chance to continue to play the game he loves. Taken in the 32nd round by the Baltimore Orioles, Moquette will join other local prospects in the Orioles farm system including Tad Gold another D3 ball player, who played four years at Endicott College.
New England produced a strong handful of MLB draft prospects in 2014. New England baseball fans should keep tabs on the local prospects and look out for some of these names in the immediate future, from Division I standouts to Division III underdogs all of these New England draft picks will be fighting for a roster spot this upcoming summer.
