Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers continued their trend of experience over upside late in the draft, as the team selected 11 collegiate players and four prep players in rounds 26-40 of the 2014 MLB Draft. A lot of the guys who aren’t college seniors probably won’t sign for one reason or another, but they’re still selected either to designate interest for future dealings.
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With the No. 789 pick in the 26th round, the Dodgers selected 2B Deion Ulmer, a sophomore out of Holmes CC. Deion hit an impressive .423/.494/.537 with 36 stolen bases in 39 attempts, though obviously the competition has to factor.
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With the No. 819 pick in the 27th round, the Dodgers selected RHP Harlan Richter, a freshman out of Bossier Parish CC. Richter pitched 10 games and 7.1 innings, posting a 11.05 ERA with five strikeouts and 14 walks.
Richter has a fastball that sits in the high-80s and can touch 91-92, but there isn’t much else out there about him.
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With the No. 849 pick in the 28th round, the Dodgers selected OF Billy Bereszniewicz, a senior out of SUNY Binghamton. Bereszniewicz hit .367/.428/.471 in 52 games and stole 23 in 26 attempts.
His coach had this to say about him:
“I’m thrilled for Billy … nobody has worked harder for this opportunity,” head coach Tim Sinicki said. “There is no doubt in my mind he’ll make the most of it. He turned himself into a dynamic player on both sides of the ball and was without question our most valuable player this spring.”
As a bonus, he now has perhaps the most frustrating name to spell.
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With the No. 879 pick in the 29th round, the Dodgers selected LHP Christian Trent, a sophomore out of Ole Miss. Unbeaten this year in 15 starts, Trent posted a 2.37 ERA in 95 innings, with 73 strikeouts and 17 walks.
Trent’s fastball sits in the high-80s, while he also features a mid-70s curve and high-70s change.
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With the No. 909 pick in the 30th round, the Dodgers selected C Mike (Brant) Whiting, a senior out of Stanford. Whiting has hit .288/.361/.353 on the year, and while he hasn’t shown much pop, he has showed solid plate discipline and a nice compact lefty swing.
No idea why he’s listed as both “Mike” and “Mikel” but is “Brant” on the official Stanford roster, but whatever.
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With the No. 939 pick in the 31st round, the Dodgers selected RHP Derrick Sylvester, a senior out of Southern New Hampshire. Sylvester struck out 100 and walked 32 in 93.2 innings of work as a starter, posting a 2.59 ERA.
Sylvester has not had an easy road to get here:
Sylvester broke his left hand playing football with friends in the fall of 2010, an injury that required surgery.
That winter he came down with mononucleosis, and then he had tonsil issues that led to more surgery and more health problems. The Penmen took another step forward in that 2011 season, going 25-22, but the litany of ailments limited Sylvester to just four appearances and a 5.29 ERA.
Things got worse the next year when Sylvester took a tumble in his family’s backyard in Franklin and suffered a bone bruise on his throwing elbow. The scar tissue from that injury caused discomfort when he pitched, so just before the 2012 season he had minor arthroscopic elbow surgery to clear out the lingering scar tissue and he was forced to miss the entire season.
“We joke with Sly about keeping him in a bubble,” said Loiseau, who is now in his sixth year at SNHU. “He’s had some tough luck, but he’s worked hard on his body so he’s been able to stay healthy, knock on wood, the past two years.”
And his coach thinks quite highly of him:
“He’s our number one, he throws strikes, he’s intelligent, he knows what he’s doing on the mound, he’s seasoned, he’s got good confidence, guys feel good playing behind him, and we feel like we’re going to get a good outing from him every time he’s out there,” Loiseau said. “There’s a lot to like.”
Also, his fastball is described as ranging from 88-92 mph with a change-up and slider as his off-speed offerings. And at 6’6″, he should provide a nice downhill plane.
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With the No. 969 pick in the 32nd round, the Dodgers selected 1B Scott De Jong, a sophomore out of Felician College. De Jong batted .374/.457/.610 and had 10 stolen bases in 14 attempts.
Here he is hitting a few years ago, though his stock PLUMMETS due to his use of vertical phone filming.
There are also a couple more videos on his YouTube channel.
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With the No. 999 pick in the 33rd round, the Dodgers selected RHP Carson Baranik, a junior out of University Of Louisiana-Lafayette. Posted a 3.27 ERA in 99 innings as a starter with 70 strikeouts and 23 walks.
Baranik is in the 89-91 mph range that can touch 94 and likes to use a curve, slider, and change as his off-speed pitches.
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With the No. 1029 pick in the 34th round, the Dodgers selected OF Hunter Bross from Notre Dame High School in Arizona.
Swing makes a conscious effort to get level and results an extreme line drive approach when paired with the wide base and lack of movement/loading. However, that limits loft, as does hitting off his front foot. Mechanical changes shouldn’t be that difficult, but I doubt he signs anyway, so it’s sort of moot.
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With the No. 1059 pick in the 35th round, the Dodgers selected SS Tanner Chauncey, a junior from BYU. Chauncey batted .328/.382/.405 and started as a freshman.
I was extremely confused to see he was not on the roster after 2012 and accumulated no stats since then, but then I remembered he goes to BYU and might’ve been on a mission. Sure enough:
He has been serving in the Brazil Joao Pessoa Mission and played for BYU in the 2012 season as a freshman when he led the Cougars with a .328 batting average.
Logan White is the ultimate speculator, I guess? Doubt he signs, but this is probably just to let him know of the Dodgers’ interest.
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With the No. 1089 pick in the 36th round, the Dodgers selected RHP Kyler Kocher from Mountain View High School in Arizona. Kocher sits in the mid-80s and uses a slider and change, but I couldn’t find video or much else.
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With the No. 1119 pick in the 37th round, the Dodgers selected RHP Karch Kowalczyk, a senior out of Valparaiso. A reliever, Kowalczyk had a 1.59 ERA in 22.2 innings and struck out 23 to eight walks as the team’s closer.
His coach seems to think he’ll sign, as he put it bluntly:
“To say I would lose faith in the draft if he isn’t picked may be a little extreme, but I think he will be drafted,” Schmack said. “He’s got some good things going for him. He’s cheap; he’s not going to hold out for anything. Since he’s a senior, he’s got no leverage. He just wants an opportunity.”
Well he’s got the opportunity now.
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With the No. 1149 pick in the 38th round, the Dodgers selected LHP Caleb Ferguson from West Jefferson High School in Ohio.
Ferguson got up to 93 mph, according to one report:
Against Urbana, Ferguson was reportedly up to 93 with 15 strikeouts on Monday. Ferguson has been a player on radar’s before but seemed to generate little buzz during the showcase circuit and over the winter. If he continues to light up radar guns like that, with any resemblance of a serviceable secondary, the southpaw should have little trouble drawing up interest.
Now for the bad news, apparently Ferguson, a West Virginia University commit, just had Tommy John surgery … like a week ago. So I really doubt he’s going to sign at this point, and the pick was more the Dodgers expressing interest.
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With the No. 1179 pick in the 39th round, the Dodgers selected RHP Jeff Bain from San Marino High School in California. Bain is a Cal Berkley commit, and one that that they sound quite excited about. I doubt 39th round money is going to convince him to stray from that commit.
Bain has fastball that sits in the mid-80s and touches 90 with a curve in the mid-70s. His frame paired with his current ability is the reason for optimism in terms of upside.
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With the No. 1209 pick in the 40th round, the Dodgers selected RHP Sam Moore, a junior from the UC Irvine. Serving as the closer for Irvine, Moore pitched 42.2 innings with a 1.90 ERA and struck out 38 to just nine walks. Fastball has arm-side run and sink, and Moore shows a slider with two-plane break and a workable change with fade.
Would love it if he signed, but I highly doubt he will for 40th round money.
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And that’s all, ladies and gentlemen.
