Dodgers select RHP Brooks Auger, SS Elijah Hainline, OF Brendan Tunink, OF Kole Myers, RHP Seamus Barrett in Rounds 6-10 of 2024 MLB Draft

Bruce Kuntz 07/15/2024 MLB Draft Leave A Comment

(Via Mississippi State Baseball)

After drafting 3B Chase Harlan and LHP Jakob Wright earlier, the Dodgers completed Day 2 of the 2024 MLB Draft by selecting three more pitchers and two more hitters from rounds 6 through 10.

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With the 190th overall pick in the sixth round, the Dodgers drafted 22-year-old right-hander Brooks Auger out of Mississippi State. Auger stands 6-foot-5 and has a fastball that has reached 97 mph.

Auger’s four-seam performed very well in college last year, generating a 31.4% chase rate which is in the 96th percentile. The pitch averaged 93.1 mph, 19.1 inches of induced vertical break and 8.7 inches of horizonal break. He also has good extension at 6.2 feet, which is in the 71st percentile of fastball releases.

His second most used pitch was his slider, which averaged 85.9 mph, had 96th percentile extension and had a 40.7% whiff rate. Auger also throws a changeup and a cutter each much less than his top two pitches. The changeup has performed extremely well in its limited action, so that might be a pitch the Dodgers attempt to turn into a bigger focus in his arsenal.

Ultimately, Auger looks like a good pick here, turning in an analytically-good fastball and slider. He also had solid command this spring, posting an 8.9% walk rate alongside his 26.2% strikeout rate and 2.69 FIP. Of his 20 appearances, only five were starts, and he only totaled 45 2/3 innings. Auger made an excellent start in the SEC Tournament, turning in eight innings and 13 strikeouts against Ole Miss.

The slot value for the 190th pick is $315,500, but with Auger turning 23 in October, the Dodgers may hope to make this a slightly under-slot signing. Auger was a senior this spring, playing his freshman season at Hinds Community College and missing his junior season at Mississippi State due to injury.

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With the 220th overall pick in the seventh round, the Dodgers drafted 21-year-old shortstop Elijah Hainline out of Oregon State. Hainline batted .337 in 2023 for Washington State and hit .280 this spring after transferring.

There’s a lot to like in Hainline’s data from his junior year of college, but his whiffs stand out as a potential drawback. He posted good exit velocities and hard hit rates despite being listed at just 5-foot-10, 181 pounds, but has to work on lifting the ball to the pull-side more often to get the most of it. He can drive the ball to all fields, but too much of his pulled contact was on the ground.

One aspect that stands out for Hainline is his plate discipline. Although he was a bit passive, he did a great job not expanding the zone, including against breaking balls and with two strikes. His hit tool should end up somewhere around a 45, and he could be a 50 in power.

He can play across the infield and may project better as a utility infielder than an everyday shortstop. He will have to cut down on the strikeouts to reach his ceiling and likely won’t be as great of an offensive performer as he was in college, but he has a solid chance to be a well-rounded contributor.

Hainline played his first two years of college ball at Washington State and transferred to Oregon State for 2024. He still has one year of eligibility remaining, but I’d be surprised if he wasn’t signed. Slot value for pick 220 is $247,900.

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With the 250th overall pick in the eighth round, the Dodgers drafted 18-year-old outfielder Brendan Tunink out of Newman Central Catholic HS in Illinois. He is a Notre Dame commit. This is now getting into the portion of the draft where high schoolers are a signability risk.

Tunink was called a “two-way guy, ish” by Melanie Newman on the MLB Draft broadcast, although he was announced as an outfielder only. On the broadcast, Jim Callis described him as “a center fielder who can run and has some hitting ability, and you like the bat speed. If he gets stronger, there might be some power.” Callis gave him a Charlie Tilson comp.

Slot value at pick 250 is $205,800. I don’t have much in terms of additional information on Tunink, so here is some video and what others have to say about the pick.

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With the 280th overall pick in the ninth round, the Dodgers drafted 23-year-old outfielder Kole Myers out of Troy. Myers was a fifth-year senior who posted big offensive numbers but should be an under-slot signing.

Standing 6-foot-1, Myers played his first three years of college ball at LSU Eunice JC before transferring to Troy, where he played the last two years. He was named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team this spring after putting up monstrous numbers including 12 home runs.

Myers did a nice job walking while limiting strikeouts, walking at a 20.1% rate while only striking out 14.9% of the time. His exit velocities were good but not too crazy, which may mean he’s more likely to have average power at the next level. He did a very good job hitting spin and taking it when it was a ball.

While the walk rate stands out, he was slightly passive at the plate, running a zone-swing rate in the 28th percentile. More aggression early in the count could drop the walk rate but might also allow him to use his raw power even more effectively. Along that same front, he’ll have to pull the ball more often to tap into his best home run power.

Myers has good speed and could be a center fielder because of his range. He is also a threat on the bases, swiping 34 bases and only being caught stealing two times this spring. This seems like a nice pickup for a fifth-year senior who will almost certainly sign below the $188,800 slot value at pick 280.

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With the 310th overall pick in the 10th round, the Dodgers drafted 23-year-old right-hander Seamus Barrett out of Loyola Marymount. This made it back-to-back seniors that will likely sign under-slot.

Barrett, who stands 6-foot-7, had a big season at Loyola Marymount, posting a 30% strikeout rate and 3.70 FIP. His fastball averaged 93.5 mph and topped out at 97.2 mph, performing very well out of his high slot and 6.1 feet of extension. His fastball had a 33.9% called strike plus whiff rate, which was in the 95th percentile of college baseball heaters.

He threw his fastball much more than the rest of his arsenal, but he did call upon a number of secondary pitches. He threw a slider, a curveball, a splitter, a changeup and a sinker. It is clear that Barrett’s arsenal is built around his fastball, and it is impressive that he was as big of a strikeout-guy as he was without any water-carrying secondaries (although his slider and splitter/changeup both performed solid in limited action).

Barrett showed good command, posting a 7.3% walk rate which is encouraging alongside the strikeouts. He pitched in 25 games this spring, seven of them being starts, and totaled 43 1/3 innings. He allowed six home runs, which drove his ERA up to 4.78 despite encouraging peripherals.

Before he transferred to LMU, Barrett was teammates with top catching prospect Dalton Rushing at Louisville. As another senior, the Dodgers will likely be able to sign Barrett under-slot value, which is $179,000 at pick 310.

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This was an encouraging Day 2 of the draft for the Dodgers. They grabbed good college talent and a high-ceiling prep bat in Tunink, who they will likely have to go over-slot to attempt to sign. The drafting of college players should provide room for that, especially with the ninth and 10th round picks being seniors.

Here is what the class looks like through 10 rounds for the Dodgers:

  • SS Kellon Lindsey, 18
  • 3B Chase Harlan, 18
  • LHP Jakob Wright, 21
  • RHP Brooks Auger, 22
  • SS Elijah Hainline, 21
  • OF Brendan Tunink, 18
  • OF Kole Myers, 23
  • RHP Seamus Barrett, 23

They will be back at it tomorrow, as will I with coverage, for rounds 11-20 of the draft.

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About Bruce Kuntz

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I'm a Long Beach State journalism student and I've been writing about the Dodgers and their farm system since I was in high school.
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