2018 MLB Draft Division II Recap

The 2018 MLB Draft has come and gone, and we had 84 Division II products drafted, which is the same number as in 2015, a tad below 2016's 92, and an increase of 11 over 2017's 73. We had a three-way tie for the school with the highest number of players drafted, as Colorado Mesa, Tampa, and UC San Diego all had four players drafted in 2018.

On Monday, day one of the MLB Draft, only one player was selected, as Le Moyne's Josiah Gray was the first D-II product off the board at #72 overall in the Competitive Balance B round, which follows round two of the draft. He is the highest Division II player drafted since 2015, when three D-II products were drafted inside the first 71 picks. Gray was taken by the Cincinnati Reds.

On day two, six D-II players were selected, led by Mercyhurst's Chris Vallimont in the fifth round, at #147 overall to the Miami Marlins. Also taken on day two were Nova Southeastern's Jake Anchia (Catcher, Round 7, 208 overall, Seattle Mariners), Cal State Stanislaus' Joe Ryan (RHP, Round 7, 210 overall, Tampa Bay Rays), Carson-Newman's Brett Langhorne (3B, Round 10, 292 overall, Atlanta Braves), Central Oklahoma's Austin Lambright (LHP, Round 10, 302 overall, Kansas City Royals), and Florida Southern's J.T. Hintzen (RHP, Round 10, 305 overall, Milwaukee Brewers). A fun random fact here is that this is the second consecutive year that a senior, left-handed, Central Oklahoma pitcher was the fifth D-II player drafted, following Holden Capps in 2017.

Finally, on day three, 77 D-II players were drafted, led by Azusa Pacific's Isaiah Carranza in Round 12, 348 overall to the Chicago White Sox, and ended by Colorado Mesa's Jake Mielock in Round 40, 1194 overall to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Tampa had the best average draft pick for schools with at least three players drafted at 585.0.

The Sunshine State Conference, for the third time in the last four years, had the most draft picks of any conference, and is the most for any conference in the last four years, at 16. The south region's 20 draft picks led all regions, as the Gulf South Conference also had four selections.

For the fourth straight year, the highest number of D-II draft picks by any one MLB team was seven. The Oakland Athletics took seven D-II products in 2018. Over the last four years, however, the St. Louis Cardinals have been by far the most D-II friendly MLB team, drafting 25 players from our favorite division. This year, the only two MLB teams to not draft a Division II player were the two Los Angeles-based teams, as neither the Dodgers or Angels took a single D-II player. Over the last four years, only the Boston Red Sox (five) have drafted fewer D-II players than the Angels (six). The Dodgers aren't very far ahead (behind?), drafting only seven.

With all that said, here is a list of all 84 NCAA Division II draftees in the 2017 MLB Draft, by round first. Below that is a breakdown of how the draft played out in various forms.

Competitive Balance B

72. Josiah Gray (Le Moyne) - Cincinnati Reds - RHP - JR

Round 5

147. Chris Vallimont (Mercyhurst) - Miami Marlins - RHP - JR

Round 7

208. Jake Anchia (Nova Southeastern) - Seattle Mariners - C - JR
210. Joe Ryan (Cal State-Stanislaus) - Tampa Bay Rays - RHP - SR

Round 10

292. Brett Langhorne (Carson-Newman) - Atlanta Braves - 3B - SR
302. Austin Lambright (Central Oklahoma) - Kansas City Royals - LHP - SR
305. J.T. Hintzen (Florida Southern) - Milwaukee Brewers - RHP - JR

Round 12

348. Isaiah Carranza (Azusa Pacific) - Chicago White Sox - RHP - JR
372. Mark Moclair (Tampa) - Houston Astros - RHP - JR

Round 13

386. Brad Wilson (Ohio Dominican) - Toronto Blue Jays - RHP - JR

Round 14
413. Gus Varland (Concordia-St. Paul) - Oakland Athletics - RHP - JR

Round 15
458. Tyler Durna (UC San Diego) - Chicago Cubs - 1B - JR
459. Zack Shannon (Delta State) - Arizona Diamondbacks - RHP (!?) - SR

Round 17
502. Justin Dean (Lenoir-Rhyne) - Atlanta Braves - CF - JR
504. Brad Case (Rollins) - Pittsburgh Pirates - RHP - JR
507. Alex Vesia (Cal State-East Bay) - Miami Marlins - LHP - SR
510. Justin Montgomery (California Baptist) - Tampa Bay Rays - RHP - JR
513. Kyle Leahy (Colorado Mesa) - St. Louis Cardinals - RHP - JR

Round 18
532. Cameron Kurz (UC San Diego) - Atlanta Braves - RHP - JR
539. Grant Wolfram (Davenport) - Texas Rangers - LHP - JR
543. Cole Aker (Tampa) - St. Louis Cardinals - RHP - JR

Round 19
556. Randy Norris (Winston-Salem State) - San Francisco Giants - CF - JR
559. Nick Starr (Southern Arkansas) - Cincinnati Reds - RHP - JR
567. Justin Evans (Columbus State) - Miami Marlins - RHP - JR
576. Zach Hall (UC Colorado Springs) - Colorado Rockies - OF - SR
582. Devin Conn (Nova Southeastern) - Houston Astros - RHP - SO

Round 20
598. JT Salter (West Alabama) - Seattle Mariners - RHP - JR

Round 21
622. Tanner Lawson (St. Edward's) - Atlanta Braves - LHP - JR
624. Will Gardner (Carson-Newman) - Pittsburgh Pirates - RHP - SR
627. Connor Grant (North Greenville) - Miami Marlins - RF - JR
642. Dalton Roach (Minnesota State) - Houston Astros - RHP - SR

Round 22
646. Clay Helvey (Tampa) - San Francisco Giants - RHP - JR
653. Aiden McIntyre (Holy Names) - Oakland Athletics - RHP - SR
664. Jacob Blank (Augustana) - Minnesota Twins - RHP - SR

Round 23
676. Ben Strahm (Northeastern State) - San Francisco Giants - RHP - JR

Round 24
708. Rigo Fernandez (Cal State-Dominguez Hills) - Chicago White Sox - LHP - SR
726. Trent Fennell (Barton) - Colorado Rockies - RHP - SR
730. Logan Browning (Florida Southern) - Boston Red Sox - LHP - SR

Round 25
737. Adam Cox (Montana State-Billings) - Philadelphia Phillies - RHP - SR
749. Josh Smith (Grand Valley State) - Texas Rangers - LHP - JR
759. Landon Whitson (Lenoir-Rhyne) - Arizona Diamondbacks - RHP - SR
762. Logan Mattix (Georgia College) - Houston Astros - CF - SR
763. Kellen Rholl (Angelo State) - Cleveland Indians - LHP - SR

Round 26
767. Eric White (Southern Arkansas) - Philadelphia Phillies - RHP - JR
779. David Lebron (Tampa) - Texas Rangers - RHP - SR
780. Steffon Moore (West Alabama) - Tampa Bay Rays - LHP - SR

Round 27
801. Gabe Mosser (Shippensburg) - San Diego Padres - RHP - SR
802. Zach Seipel (Minnesota-Crookston) - Atlanta Braves - RHP - SR
808. Cash Gladfelter (Shippensburg) - Seattle Mariners - 2B - JR
813. Perry DellaValle (Seton Hill) - St. Louis Cardinals - RHP - SR
821. Pablo O'Connor (Azusa Pacific) - Washington Nationals - 2B - SR

Round 28
829. Brandt Stallings (Georgia College) - Cincinnati Reds - 1B - JR
830. Mitch Hickey (UC San Diego) - New York Mets - RHP - SR

Round 29
859. John Schneider (Palm Beach Atlantic) - Cincinnati Reds - RHP - JR
881. Colton Pogue (Pittsburg State) - Washington Nationals - SS - SR

Round 30
885. Jared Tobey (Wayne State (Mich.)) - Detroit Tigers - LHP - SR
893. Gio Dingcong (St. Thomas Aquinas) - Oakland Athletics - 1B - SR
895. Tyler Joyner (North Alabama) - Baltimore Orioles - RHP - SR
912. Layne Henderson (Azusa Pacific) - Houston Astros - RHP - SR

Round 31
921. Jake Sims (St. Leo) - San Diego Padres - RHP - JR
923. Alexander Pantuso (Slippery Rock) - Oakland Athletics - RHP - SR
928. Rigo Beltran (Lynn) - Seattle Mariners - LHP - SR
933. Ty Cohen (Florida Tech) - St. Louis Cardinals - RHP - SR
941. Jonathan Quintana (Barry) - Washington Nationals - OF - SR

Round 32
946. Braden Frankfort (Fresno Pacific) - San Francisco Giants - C - SR
953. John Jones (North Greenville) - Oakland Athletics - C - SR
958. Zach Scott (St. Leo) - Seattle Mariners - 2B - SR
960. Kaleo Johnson (Montana State-Billings) - Tampa Bay Rays - 3B - JR
963. Brandon Purcell (Georgia College) - St. Louis Cardinals - C - SR
966. Reagan Todd (Colorado Mesa) - Colorado Rockies - LHP - JR

Round 33
975. Justin Childers (Ohio Dominican) - Detroit Tigers - 1B - SR
976. Austin Edgette (Bloomsburg) - San Francisco Giants - CF - SR
983. Joseph Pena (St. Thomas Aquinas) - Oakland Athletics - SS - SR
985. Zachary McLeod (Colorado Mesa) - Baltimore Orioles - SS - SR

Round 34
1013. Nick Ward (West Chester) - Oakland Athletics - 2B - SR
1017. Joe Strzelecki (Nova Southeastern) - Miami Marlins - RHP - SR
1024. Dylan Stowell (California Baptist) - Minnesota Twins - RHP - SR
1027. Matt McGarry (Belmont Abbey) - New York Yankees - 2B - SR

Round 35
1042. Logan Brown (Southern Indiana) - Atlanta Braves - C - JR
1054. Tanner Howell (Dixie State) - Minnesota Twins - RHP - SR

Round 37
1105. Andrew Ciolli (Mercyhurst) - Baltimore Orioles - RHP - JR
1113. Christian Caudle (Texas A&M-Kingsville) - St. Louis Cardinals - C - SR

Round 39
1165. Ted Stuka (UC San Diego) - Baltimore Orioles - RHP - SO

Round 40
1194. Jake Mielock (Colorado Mesa) - Pittsburgh Pirates - RHP - SR

And here are some breakdowns of the draft picks:

No. of MLB Draft Picks for Each Division II School

Four Selections
Colorado Mesa (Average Pick - 914.5)
Tampa (Average Pick - 585.0)
UC San Diego (Average Pick - 746.3)

Three Selections

Azusa Pacific (Average Pick - 693.7)
Georgia College (Average Pick - 851.3)
Nova Southeastern (Average Pick - 602.3)

Two Selections

California Baptist
Carson-Newman
Florida Southern
Florida Tech
Fresno Pacific
Lenoir-Rhyne
Lynn
Mercyhurst
Montana State-Billings
North Greenville
Ohio Dominican
Shippensburg
Southern Arkansas
St. Leo
St. Thomas Aquinas
West Alabama

One Selection

Angelo State
Augustana
Barry
Barton
Belmont Abbey
Bloomsburg
Cal State-Dominguez Hills
Cal State-East Bay
Cal State-Stanislaus
Central Oklahoma
Columbus State
Concordia-St. Paul
Davenport
Delta State
Dixie State
Grand Valley State
Holy Names
Le Moyne
Minnesota State
Minnesota-Crookston
North Alabama
Northeastern State
Palm Beach Atlantic
Pittsburg State
Rollins
Seton Hill
Slippery Rock
Southern Indiana
St. Edward's
Texas A&M-Kingsville
UC Colorado Springs
Wayne State (Mich.)
West Chester
Winston-Salem State

No. of MLB Draft Picks for Each Division II Conference

16 Selections

SSC

Eight Selections

PacWest

PSAC

Seven Selections

CCAA

Five Selections

RMAC

Four Selections

Conference Carolinas
GSC
NSIC
PBC

SAC

Three Selections

GLIAC
MIAA

Two Selections

ECC
G-MAC
GAC
GNAC
LSC

One Selection

GLVC
Heartland
Independent
NE-10

No. of MLB Draft Picks for Each Division II Region
Atlantic - 9
Central - 9
East - 3
Midwest - 6
South - 20
South Central - 8
Southeast - 12
West - 17

No. of Division II MLB Draft Picks by Listed Position on MLB.com

C - 6

1B - 4

2B - 5

SS - 3

3B - 2
(INF - 14 + 6 C's)

LF - 0

CF - 4

RF - 1

OF - 2

(All OF - 7)

RHP - 45

LHP - 12

(All P - 57)

Position Players - 27

Pitchers - 57

No. of Division II MLB Draft Picks by School Year

Sophomores - 2

Juniors - 33

Seniors - 49

No. of Division II Picks for Each MLB Team

Seven Selections
Oakland Athletics

Six Selections
Atlanta Braves

St. Louis Cardinals

Five Selections

Houston Astros
Miami Marlins
San Francisco Giants
Seattle Mariners

Four Selections

Baltimore Orioles
Tampa Bay Rays

Three Selections

Cincinnati Reds
Colorado Rockies
Minnesota Twins
Pittsburgh Pirates
Texas Rangers
Washington Nationals

Two Selections

Chicago White Sox
Detroit Tigers
Philadelphia Phillies
San Diego Padres

One Selection

Arizona Diamondbacks
Boston Red Sox
Chicago Cubs
Cleveland Indians
Kansas City Royals
Milwaukee Brewers
New York Mets
New York Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays

Zero Selections
Los Angeles Angels
Los Angeles Dodgers

No. of Division II Picks for Each MLB Team Since 2015
Arizona Diamondbacks - 12
Atlanta Braves - 15
Baltimore Orioles - 15
Boston Red Sox - 5
Chicago Cubs - 11
Chicago White Sox - 9
Cincinnati Reds - 9
Cleveland Indians - 6
Colorado Rockies - 12
Detroit Tigers - 7
Houston Astros - 17
Kansas City Royals - 8
Los Angeles Angels - 6
Los Angeles Dodgers - 7
Miami Marlins - 16
Milwaukee Brewers - 7
Minnesota Twins - 11
New York Mets - 11
New York Yankees - 8
Oakland Athletics - 10
Philadelphia Phillies - 14
Pittsburgh Pirates - 8
San Diego Padres - 8
San Francisco Giants - 13
Seattle Mariners - 17
St. Louis Cardinals - 25
Tampa Bay Rays - 10
Texas Rangers - 12
Toronto Blue Jays - 14
Washington Nationals - 9