More on the Draft Picks

(Another press release from the Diamondbacks about their day 2 draft picks.)

D-BACKS SELECT 29 PLAYERS IN SECOND DAY OF 2010 DRAFT
Arizona Selects 18 pitchers in First 30 Rounds

(PHOENIX) — The Arizona Diamondbacks announced that they selected an additional 17 pitchers in rounds 2-30 of Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft today after drafting Texas A&M right-handed pitcher Barret Loux with the sixth overall pick yesterday. The D-backs also selected a catcher, four outfielders and seven infielders today.

Of the 30 players the D-backs have selected in the draft thus far, 24 have come from the college ranks.

“We felt this draft pool was very deep in pitching going into the spring, especially in the high school ranks,” said D-backs’ Director, Scouting Tom Allison. “We tried to identify the positive physical and mental attributes of Major League pitchers and we were fortunate to select many prospects that we feel met this criteria in the top few rounds. We look forward to watching them develop as baseball players and young men.”

Today’s selections of note include:
• Right-handed pitcher James (J.R.) Bradley (2nd round, 56 overall), who was named the 2010 West Virginia Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year and 2010 Kanawha Valley Player of the Year following his senior season at Nitro High School (W. Va.). He compiled a 12-0 record with a 0.67 ERA and 102 strikeouts over 63.0 innings on the mound, while posting a .500 batting average with 12 home runs, 15 doubles, 51 RBI and 49 runs scored.
• Right-handed pitcher Robby Rowland (3rd round, 88 overall), who is the son of former Major Leaguer Rich Rowland, tossed a perfect game on April 14 and earned Redwood Empire’s Overall Athlete of the Year.
• Right-handed pitcher Kevin Munson (4th round, 121 overall), who was named the 2010 All-Colonial Athletic Association Pitcher of the Year with James Madison University, as well as being named a Louisville Slugger Third-Team All-American.
• Left-handed pitcher Cody Wheeler (5th round, 151 overall) was named a Louisville Slugger Second-Team All-American at Coastal Carolina University after going 10-0 with a 4.05 ERA with 101 strikeouts in 15 starts this season. He played for the Team USA National Collegiate team last summer after earning Big South Pitcher of the Year honors that season.
• Right-handed pitcher Blake Perry (6th round, 181 overall) was named a Rawlings Honorable Mention and All-Florida Region Preseason All-American.
• Right-handed pitcher Jeffrey Shields (7th round, 211 overall) led the Alabama Community College Conference with 12 wins while his 1.60 ERA and 98 strikeouts were second during his final season at Chattahoochee Valley Community College.
• Right-handed pitcher Blake Cooper (12th round, 361 overall) earned Collegiate Baseball’s Third-Team All-American honors at University of South Carolina-Columbia.
• Left-handed pitcher Kevin Ziomek (13th round, 391 overall) earned the 2010 Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year honors at Amherst Regional High School.
• Right-handed pitcher Derek Eitel (17th round, 511 overall) was a dual-sport star at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology where he set several school records as the starting quarterback.
• Infielder Raoul Torrez (21st round, 631 overall) was selected from Arizona State University.
• Infielder Nicholas Gallego (27th round, 811 overall), son of former Major Leaguer Mike Gallego, was chosen from UCLA.
• Right-handed pitcher Jake Floethe (29th round, 871 overall) out of Cal-State Fullerton is the son of Chris Floethe, who played in the Oakland Athletics’ system from 1968-74, and cousin of Taylor Twellman, who plays soccer for MLS’ New England Revolution.

This is Arizona’s 15th First-Year Player Draft since being awarded an expansion team from Major League Baseball in 1995.

The draft concludes tomorrow with rounds 31-50.