A's Select Hard-Throwing HS Right-Hander to Kick Off Day 2 of MLB Draft

The A's selected Steven Echavarria with their first pick of Day 2.

After grabbing three position players on the Draft's first day, the A's selected their first pitcher with their first pick of Day 2 (72nd overall), taking right-hander Steven Echavarria (Millburn HS-New Jersey). The righty has been clocked as high as 98 already. 

The last time the A's took a high school arm this early was Dakota Chalmers in the third round (97th overall) back in 2015. Trevor Cahill was a second round selection out of Vista High School back in 2006, and Jeremy Bonderman was originally drafted by the A's in the first round (26th overall) in 2001 before being the player to be named later in the Carlos Peña trade with the Detroit Tigers in 2002. 

Two years ago the A's selected another hard-throwing righty with a recent velocity bump when the took Mason Miller in the third round (97th overall). In 2018 the A's went with Hogan Harris. Both have spent time in the A's rotation this season, but both also had some time in college before being drafted. Nick Allen and Sean Murphy were also recent hits as third-round selections. 

Listed at 6-foot-1, Echavarria has impressed scouts with his ability to throw all of his pitches for strikes and his feel for a low-80s changeup. Per MLB Pipeline: "Echavarria does have an intriguing combination of present feel for pitching and projection of his stuff, with a potential four-pitch mix." 

FanGraphs had him listed as their #51 Draft prospect. "Echavarria's breaking ball is nasty. His height and slot make it so that pitch is only ever descending; it doesn't float up out of his hand in an identifiable way. It's a plus weapon in the upper-70s and is going to be a big league out pitch."

Brian Sakowski of Perfect Game said he was closing in on being a first rounder for them. 

This is a very intriguing pick for the A's. They have had success with third round selections in recent years, but they don't have a track record of success with high school pitchers, mostly because they have been avoided. The 72nd overall pick had a slot value of $1.01 million, and it may take a little more than that to pull the righty away from his commitment to Florida. 

In the 30 or so minutes since being selected by the Oakland A's, the new draftee has already retweeted the A's post about his selection, as well as 39th overall selection Myles Naylor's post saying how excited he is to begin his pro career with the A's.