By Maureen Mullen
CSNNE.com
With four picks on the first day of the 2011 draft the Red Sox took two college players and two high school players, two pitchers and two position players. In the first round they took a college pitcher and a high school catcher. In the sandwich round, they took a high school pitcher and a college outfielder.
"We're real happy with how Monday went," Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said. "I think 30 clubs feel that way coming out of the draft room. There's a little anxiety to see if the guys you like are going to be there, and more often than not you end up getting the guys you like because the reality is all 30 clubs have these guys evaluated differently. So, we were high-fiving and feeling good coming out of the room but I feel like 29 other clubs were probably doing the exact same thing.
"You circle back in five or 10 years and see how you did, but certainly we feel like some things broke our way and we were able to get four players we feel really good about, two high school, two college, two pitchers, two hitters. The hitters are up-the-middle guys with strong defensive tools and bats that we really like. Both pitchers we feel project as starters in the big leagues. So we're real happy with how it went."
With their first pick, at No. 19 overall, the Red Sox plucked from their backyard, choosing UConn right-handed pitcher Matt Barnes, a native of Bethel, Conn.Barnes, who turns 21 on June 17, is 6-feet, 4-iches, 203 pounds with a fastball in the 91-93 range. He posted a record of 11-4 with a 1.62 ERA in 16 starts spanning 116 23 innings this season for the Huskies.
He was a unanimous choice as the Big East Pitcher of the Year, the first UConn player to earn the honor since former Major Leaguer Charles Nagy received the award in 1988 and 1989. Barnes won the Big East pitching Triple Crown, leading the conference in wins (11), strikeouts (97) and ERA (1.20) during the regular season, walking just 26 batters in 105.0 innings and limiting opponents to a .163 batting average. He has 241 career strikeouts, just two behind UConn all-time leader Ed Baird, who set the record in 1966-68.
Having Barnes close to home had little impact on the Red Sox' decision.
Boston Red Sox
"It's a long process scouting these guys," Epstein said. "It's basically a year-long process in the case of Barnes and fourth-pick outfielder Jackie Bradley. We've seen these guys for three-plus years. So just one more data point and one more voice out of many who'd seen him pitch. There's always a lot of debate and discussion in the room, which is always helpful if you haven't just watched video and haven't just read scouting reports but you've actually seen him in person."
While the Sox have been keeping an eye on Barnes over the past few years, Barnes has seen and heard plenty about the team as well, and welcomes the chance to one day play at Fenway Park.
"The Red Sox run a great organization and they know how to win," Barnes told the Hartford Courant in Clemson, S.C, where the Huskies beat Clemson, 14-1, Monday night in the NCAA regionals. "I'm excited about this opportunity."
With their second pick, at No. 26 overall, the Sox selected Blake Swihart, a switch-hitting catcher from V. Sue Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho, NM. Swihart hit .602 (56-for-93) with 17 doubles, five triples, five home runs, 41 RBI, 58 runs scored and 24 walks in 28 games this year. He was named to the Class 5A North All-Star squad by the New Mexico High School Coaches Association.
He played for USA Baseball's 18U National Team last summer and led the team with a .448 batting average while tallying six doubles, five home runs and 17 RBI in 17 games.At 6-feet, 175 pounds, Swihart turned 18 on April 3. He was ranked by Baseball American as the 17th best prospect in the draft, and No. 1 catcher. He has committed to the University of Texas, which could raise his price for the Red Sox.
"We hope to sign all these guys," Epstein said. "That's not really what the first day of the draft is about. It's about selecting them, and those guys becoming first round picks or sandwich picks and us potentially welcoming four exciting new players to the organization. There's a time for the signing process and that'll come. But we hope to sign all these guys. Obviously every player has options but we always feel like the more we get to know the player the more we get to present what the Boston Red Sox are all about and the better chance we have of signing these guys. That's the whole point."
Asked whether Swihart projects as a catcher or if he will likely move to another position, Epstein replied:
"We definitely like him as a catcher. He's only been catching for about a year but we were impressed with the way he caught and he's athletic enough to really succeed back there but also athletic and versatile enough to go play a number of different positions. So we'll start him out as a catcher with a strong conviction that he can stay back there."
With their third pick (36th overall) the Sox took Henry Owens, a tall (6-feet, 6-inches, 190 pounds) left-handed high school pitcher from California. Owens, who turns 19 on July 21, from Edison High in Huntington Beach, Calif., has a 90-92-mph fastball. He also throws a curveball, slider, and changeup. He earned 2011 Sunset League pitcher of the year honors for the second straight year, going 12-0 with a 1.03 ERA. In 78 23 innings this year he has 99 strikeouts compared to 13 walks. Owens was also named to the 2010 All-Orange County First Team and was a 2010 AFLAC All-American. He pitched for USA Baseball's 18U National Team last summer, going 3-0 with a 2.33 ERA , with and 31 strikeouts in 19 13 innings.
"Obviously, Owens was another guy we scouted a lot this summer at Team USA," said Red Sox director of amateur scouting Amiel Sawdaye. "He went to multiple showcases. Left-handed, obviously first off, a guy we project to be a middle-of-the-rotation guy. He throws three pitches for strikes. Advanced pitchability. A guy who has the ability to command his breaking ball and also throw a changeup. For a high school kid, that's unique and certainly something that we covet."
"We always take the best player available on the board," Epstein said. "Owens is somebody who stood out to us, as Amiel said, is 6-foot-6 with a projectable frame. We've seen him up to 94 mph and has advanced feel with three pitches right now. He's always performed well against the best competition. So Left-handed or right-handed, he really stood out as somebody that we liked, and the fact that he's left-handed is an added bonus."
With their fourth pick of the day (40th overall) the Sox picked outfielder Jackie Bradley, Jr., an outfielder from the University of South Carolina. Bradley, who is 5-feet, 10-inches, 180 pounds, turned 21 on April 19. In 2010, the left-handed hitter led the Gamecocks with a .368 average (89-for-242) and was named both the Most Outstanding Player and to the All-Tournament Team at the College World Series where South Carolina won the National Championship.
But, slowed by a left wrist injury that required surgery, he hit just .259 with six home runs and 26 RBIin 37 games this season and has not played since late April. A native of Prince George, VA, Bradley played for the Richmond Braves National AAU team in high school and played for the Hyannis Mets in the Cape Cod League in 2009. He was the center fielder for South Carolina this season. In his career at South Carolina, he hit .336 (214-for-636) with 30 homers and 132 RBI, and earlier this year became the 24th player in school history to record 200 or more career hits.
The Red Sox are satisfied Bradley's wrist will not be an issue.
"He had the wrist injury, but Jackie's not officially a part of the organization yet so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment in detail," Epstein said. "But obviously we reviewed the medical file and something our medical staff was really comfortable with that he'll be able to come back 100 percent."
The draft resumes at noon on Tuesday with rounds two through 20. Rounds 31 through 50 will be held Wednesday.
Maureen Mullen is on Twitter at http:twitter.commaureenamullen.