Cincinnati Reds 2019 MLB Draft Day Two recap

Rounds three through ten of the 2019 MLB amateur draft concluded Tuesday afternoon, which means the Reds made eight more selection to go toward building toward their future and adding some talented depth down on the farm.

But who did they select, you ask? Well, scroll on down and find out.

Round Three - SS Tyler Calihan, Providence School of Jacksonville (FL)

Not going to spend a lot of time here, because Wick already has all you need to know about the Reds third rounder. I will say I do like this pick quite a bit, though.

Round Four - 2B Ivan Johnson, Chipola Junior College

Height: 6’0’ Weight: 190lbs
Bats: Switch
Throws: Right

A shortstop by trade, it seems the general consensus is that Ivan will stick in the Major Leagues as a second baseman, with the ability to play SS in a pinch. He transferred to Chipola JC after his freshman year at Georgia and really hit, posting a line of .381/.491/.587. Apparently has more doubles power than dinger damage, but there’s not a lot of consensus there. The raw power may play.

As a fun tidbit that was passed along by Wick Terrell earlier this afternoon is that Ivan Johnson and Tyler Stephenson were old high school teammates back at Kennesaw Mountain HS. So, that’s pretty neat!

Round Five - LHP Evan Kravetz, Rice University

Height: 6’8” Weight: 240lbs

Kravetz spent the majority of his college career as a reliever for Rice, where it didn’t really go all that well. He spent 2019 in the Rice rotation and had a pretty good season, posting a 3.33 ERA with 103 strikeouts to only 28 walks. He’s a big dude who works in the low 90s with his fastball.

He’s a Jewish fella, which doesn’t really mean anything as far as how hard he can throw a baseball. It’s just interesting because he fills the Reds Jewish pitching role vacated by the likes of Jon Moscot and Zach Weiss. This interview with Kravetz in the Jewish Herald Voice is pretty interesting.

Round Six - RHP Graham Ashcraft, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Height: 6’2” Weight: 217lbs

Mr. Ashcraft has a big arm, working in the mid-90s with his fastball with the juice to get it up into the high 90s. Really not much mileage on the arm at this point, as he missed the latter portion of his 2017 season with a hip injury, and all of his 2018 with a different hip injury. Butter this guy up and call him Devin Mesoraco.

As is the case with a lot of guys that throw hard, he doesn’t really always know where it’s going. Graham uncorked 39 walks in 56 innings, along with 16 wild pitches. So you know, that’s not great, and you should probably watch your head and neck if you’re standing in the batters box against the guy. Still, working exclusively out of the bullpen should help hone some of the wildness.

Round Seven - C Eric Yang, University of California, Santa Barbara

Height: 5’11” Weight: 185lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right

Yang hit pretty well in his first full time season behind the plate for UCSB, posting a .383/.492/.567 line for the season. Coupled with really good defense behind the dish, and that kinda year will get you drafted. It doesn’t appear that any of the tools really stand out when it comes to pro-ball, but it appears possible that he’ll be good enough defensively at catcher to possibly get a shot down the road, especially if the hit-tool is average or better.

Round Eight - CF Quin Cotton, Grand Canyon University

Height: 5’11” Weight: 200lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right

Quin Cotton is a pretty good name! Otherwise, I’m not really sure about this pick. He’s hit pretty well for GCU, but reports are mixed on whether or not he’s actually good or not. He’s fast for sure, which should help him stick in CF, though apparently the arm isn’t all that strong, which won’t help. He may or may not have game power going forward, which really only comes into play in a big way if he can’t end up playing center field. MLB.com has his overall game ranked at a 45 on the 20-80 scale, which seems about right for this portion of the draft. If some of the other aspects of his game turn out right, he could easily be a fourth outfielder in the Majors down the road. If they don’t? Adios.

Round Nine - OF TJ Hopkins, University of South Carolina

Height: 6’0” Weight: 195lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right

I feel like a lot of the above is applicable here, too, at least when it comes to the offensive portion of the scouting report. Hopkins missed portions of 2018 with a back injury, but hit with more power when he came back for his senior season. His average and plate discipline suffered for it, but only a little.

Still, there isn’t really a consensus on whether or not that power will play in the pros. Still, Hopkins is a great athlete with exception speed and a good arm, so he should be able to stick in CF, and will have options if he needs to move to a corner spot. It’s strange, because he seems better than Cotton from what I’m reading, but was picked an entire round later.

I am not, nor will I ever be, a scout.

Round Ten - RHP Jake Stevenson, University of Minnesota

Height: 6’4” Weight: 225lbs

Hey, look! I hard throwing right handed college pitcher that struggles with control! A future bullpen piece at best! Shrug emoji, I don’t really know what to make of any of this at this point. Here’s a link to his Baseball Cube page.