Padres Go Heavy on Arms in MLB Draft

San Diego is taking a lot of pitching in the early rounds

You may have heard that old baseball cliché "pitching wins championships." I don't know if that's entirely true, but if it is the Padres are putting themselves in one heck of a position to win about 50 titles.

San Diego’s professional baseball team made eight selections on the second day of the Major League Baseball Draft. The first seven of them were pitchers, giving the Friars 10 arms in their first 13 picks.

They started the day by taking right-hander Mason Thompson from Round Rock HS in Texas. Like their first round selection Cal Quantrill, Thompson is coming off elbow reconstruction surgery but scouts love his measurables.

Thompson was projected to be a first round pick before his Tommy John procedure. The 6-foot-7 right-hander was already throwing in the low-90’s when he pitched for Team USA in the Pan-American games, beating Cuba to win the gold medal.

“Mason, there’s a lot to like,” said Padres General Manager A.J. Preller. “He has a big body, he’s really long. We tracked him all year. Getting to get a feel for where he was in the rehab process. We felt like it was an opportunity to get a guy who definitely would not have been in that spot had he had a healthy season.”

The Padres proceeded to take six more pitchers and all of them are large human beings. The smallest of the bunch is 7th rounder Dan Dallas, a lefty from Canisius High School who’s 6-foot-2 and weighs 195 pounds. When it comes to starting pitchers, the Padres like to look for guys who can withstand the rigors of a 162-game season.

“It definitely helps,” said Preller. “It’s a long season. I think having big, strong, physical, athletic people who are playing the game is a positive. It’s a good place to start. It always helps when we’re scouting a player.”

They finally grabbed a position player, infielder Boomer White from Texas A&M, with their 10th-round pick. Here’s the Padres full draft so far:

Rd.       Name              Pos.      (Ht.)    (Wt.)    Bat/Throw     School
1)    Cal Quantrill          RHP      6-3       195       L/R      Stanford University
1)    Hudson Sanchez    INF       6-2       180       R/R         Carroll High School
1)    Eric Lauer             LHP       6-3       210       R/L     Kent State University
2)    Buddy Reed          OF       6-4       190       S/R         University of Florida
LOT B) Reggie Lawson  RHP      6-4       200       R/R              Victor Valley Senior HS
3)    Mason Thompson  RHP      6-7       205       R/R               Round Rock HS
4)    Joseph Lucchesi    LHP       6-5       220       L/L      Southeast Missouri State University
5)    Lake Bachar          RHP      6-2       205       R/R      University of Wisconsin – Whitewater
6)    Will Stillman          RHP      6-4       180       R/R     Wofford University
7)    Dan Dallas            LHP       6-2       195       R/L    Canisius High School
8)    Benjamin Sheckler  LHP       6-8       240       L/L       Cornerstone University
9)    Jesse Scholtens     RHP      6-4       235       R/R       Wright State University
10)    Boomer White     INF      5-10      195       R/R        Texas A&M University

The 2016 MLB Draft will conclude on Saturday with rounds 11-40, so the Friars will add 30 more players to the mix.

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