How The Red Sox Fared In The 2012 Draft

Last night was a very interesting first night of the draft with the Houston Astros taking Puerto Rican shortstop Carlos Correia with the first pick and Mark Appel, who many projected to go #1 slid to #8 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Red Sox had three picks in the first round and sandwich round last night, the #24, #31, and #37 overall picks. The Red Sox picked the strategy of simply taking the best name that slid to them and had a very interesting first night.

With their first pick, they selected shortstop Deven Marrero from Arizona State University. Marrero would probably be ranked as a four-tool player as he hits for a good average, runs well, fields well, and throws well. With the introduction of a new bat company in 2012, Marrero’s batting average (as well as many other college hitters’) slipped to .284 from .315 his sophomore year and a shocking .397 in his freshman year. He had 4 home runs and 33 RBIs, but he led his team with 14 errors. However, stats are not generally looked at so much in drafting and Marrero appears to have the tools to become a good major league shortstop.

With the 31st pick in the draft, the Red Sox selected left-handed pitcher Brian Johnson out of the University of Florida. Johnson was looked at as both a hitter and a pitcher, but for a two-way athlete, he displays some pretty good pitching talent. He runs his fastball in the low 90’s, mixing in a breaking ball and change that could each become plus pitches later on. Johnson pitched very well in his junior year at Florida, going for an 8-4 record, along with a 3.56 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 86 innings for the Gators. As he begins to focus more on pitching than hitting, Johnson’s pitching will probably improve, something that bodes well for the Red Sox.

After two picks in the first round, the Red Sox had one pick– the 37th– in the compensation round, and they took Pat Light from Monmouth University. Light is a tall righty, listed at 6’6″ and 215 pounds, who projects as a good power pitcher. He relies on a fastball in the low-mid 90’s but can push it to the mid-high 90’s if need be and has been clocked at 97 mph. He also can put sink on his fastball and it should develop into a very good pitch for him later on. Besides his fastball, however, Light does not have great pitches– with an average breaking ball and a below average change. He should grow into a good power pitcher for the Red Sox though.