2018 MLB Draft: Looking at What the Indians Did

This past week, Major League Baseball conducted their annual draft. While the MLB Draft doesn’t have the fanfare or excitement of the NFL or NBA Drafts, it is just as important to the continuity of the team. This article will discuss some of the players that the Indians drafted during the 40 rounds of the draft, which took three days to complete. Additionally, at the end of the articl,e there will be a list of all the players drafted by the Indians.

The Indians had three 1^st Round picks. One was their regular pick, one was as compensation for Carlos Santana signing with the Philadelphia Phillies and the third was a section of the round called the Competitive Balance Round. All three of these picks were used on high school players.

At pick 29 they drafted catcher Noah Naylor from Canada. He is considered one of the best all-around hitters amongst the high school batters in the draft. He has a powerful arm but needs to improve on his receiving skills as a catcher. If the Indians feel that Naylor cannot be the catcher they are hoping he’ll be, he may be moved to third base, where his batting skills will still be on display and he can use his strong arm to make the throw across the diamond.

With the 35^th pick, the one acquired for losing Santana in the off-season, the Indians selected Ethan Hankins. Hankins is a right-handed high school pitcher from Georgia who has the best fastball in the draft and an improving changeup as a complementary pitch. If he can add a breaking pitch like a curveball or slider he has the ability to be a top of the rotation starter. Being young he will have plenty of time develop those pitches.

At #41, they drafted Lenny Torres, another hard-throwing right-handed pitcher from New York. Torres is only 17 years old so it’s hard to tell if he would be better suited to be a starter or come out of the bullpen. To go along with his dominating fastball, he has worked on a slider that as it improves should become a very good secondary pitch for him.

Over the next few rounds, they drafted a mix of excellent college players as well as some high upside high school batters. Their second-round pick, Nick Sandlin is a right-handed pitcher who is best suited to work out of the bullpen. The multiple arm angles he uses when pitching will make him a hard pitcher to have to deal with in the later innings. Some other names to keep an eye on include SS Richie Palacios, LHP Adam Scott and 3B Raynel Delgado.

One last player to mention is 26^th round pick Gunnar Halter, a right-handed pitcher from Seminole State, a junior college in Oklahoma. He is the son of former Major Leaguer, Shane Halter, who played for the Royals, Mets, Tigers and Angels from 1997 – 2004. Hopefully, Gunnar’s impact on the Indians will surpass his father’s impact in the majors.

We hope that all the player drafted by the Indians will have great success with the club and help lead the Indians to many World Series titles in the future. Here is a complete list of all of the draftees: