The Tigers were happy that Andrew Miller lasted till their pick.
Well, after 18 rounds and 556 picks, things have gone as expected on one hand but there have been plenty of surprises on the other.
The #1 choice of Luke Hochevar by KC wasn’t a big surprise in retrospect. He is said to be the best arm overall in the draft. Here is his opening statement to the press.
Speaking generally, it was said for days that this was a pitcher’s draft. This was borne out as six of the first seven and nine of the first twelve were hurlers.
It was generally an “older” draft. Only 28% of today’s picks were high school players. Monsignor Edward Pace High in Florida didn’t suffer from this trend though. Four of their players got drafted.
As I said, there were surprises, Andrew Miller who was predicted to go #1 in the draft, lasted until #6 when he was happily picked by the Tigers.
Local Interest:
For those interested if any local guys got picked up, William Benson from Joliet Catholic Academy was picked by the Twins in the 2nd round (64th overall). Benson is a leftfielder.
I also know that the Yanks picked Northwestern Wildcat RHP George Kontos in round 5 (164th overall).
Finally, Illinois State University pitcher Kitt Kopach was picked by the Cubs in round 12 (359th overall).
Followup: For probably the best analysis on the MLB draft, check out The Baseball Analysts take on the whole day.