How did the 2014 Draft Picks Fare? Part 3

2014 Draft Picks

Every June Major League teams look to restock the prospect cupboards, in hopes of finding one or two everyday players. The Blue Jays selected over 40 wide eyed College/High School kids in the 2014 June Amateur Draft. So how did they do in their first year of pro ball?

On Sunday morning we looked at the top 10 picks, on Tuesday we looked at the next 9 the Blue Jays signed from the 2014 Draft. Today we will dive into Part 3 with a look at the final 9 picks the Blue Jays were able to sign from the 2014 Draft.

C Kevin Garcia (22)- Selected in the 30th round, 894th overall. Garcia played 10 games in Vancouver before being sent down to Bluefield for his final 23 games. Garcia did a good job of drawing walking and limiting strikeouts (0.571 BB/K). He hit LHP very well to a tune of .364/.417/.409. Garcia struggled in July but finished strong in August with a .283/.358/.367 slash with a homerun and 6 RBI.

2B Dave Pepe(22)- Selected in the 31st round, 924th overall. Pepe spent the entire season playing against opponents 2.4 years younger than him and he did very well. He showed great plate discipline with an impressive 16.3 BB% and 7.0 K%.

RHP J.T. Autrey (22)- Selected in the 32nd round, 954th overall. The 6’5″ 225lbs righty played for Bluefield and that didn’t go very well, so he got sent the GCL Blue Jays to close out the year. Opponents hit .371/.519/.500 of him.

RHP Chase Wellbrock (22)- Selected in the 33rd round, 984th overall. Wellbrock made the biggest jump of all the Blue Jay arms selected in 2014. He started in Bluefield, where he completely dominated in 20 appearances. Chase bypassed Vancouver and headed straight to Lansing for to appearances. Chase owned a 1.02 FIP with 80.0 LOB% while in Bluefield. Although a very small sample size, Chase didn’t fare very well in those 2 appearances, 6.20 FIP and a decent .76.9 LOB%.

LHP Brandon Hinkle (23)- Selected in the 34th round, 1014th overall. Hinkle spent the year in the GCL playing against players almost 3 years older than him.

RHP Joey Aquino (24)- Selected in the 35th round, 1044th overall. Joey started 11 games for Bluefield, showing good control (4.6 BB%) and held opponents to a .253 BABIP.

LHP Michael Kraft (23)- Selected in the 37th round, 1104th overall. Kraft spent a short time in Bluefield before being sent to Vancouver to finish the year. The Lefty reliever had very good peripheral stats in Vancouver with .163 BABIP, 90.9 LOB%, and 3.58 FIP. Kraft held opponents to a 0.103 batting average while striking out batters at a 30.1 K%.

RF James Lynch (22)- Selected in the 39th round, 1164th overall. James had been drafted by the LA Dodgers in 2011 and 2013, but didn’t sign.

OF Trent Miller (23)- Selected in the 40th round, 1194th overall. Miller did pretty good considering where he was selected. In 8 Vancouver games he didn’t draw a single walk and his ISO disappeared (0.042 ISO).

Picks not signed

RHP Chris Murphy

SS Yan Rivera

RHP Keith Weisenberg

Schedule