Welcome to Behind the Plate With DJ, a weekly look at what is going on in the world of baseball. This series will weigh in on the interesting, the controversial, and the downright cool. The play of the week could be an incredible play or an unusual one. If something made you scratch your head, you will probably find it here. So sit back, relax, and let’s take a look at the week that was.
MLB Picks in the College World Series
The MLB Draft is over, the College World Series is about to begin, and there are quite a few players involved in both. For a lot of MLB fans, this will be their first look at some of the players that their team drafted.
The Mariners lead the way with 5 players that have made it past the Super Regionals. The only teams not to have any of their picks represented are the New York Yankees, the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Texas Rangers.
Here is a quick guide to the MLB Draft picks that are playing in Omaha this year.
Arizona Diamondbacks (3)
The Diamondbacks selected Texas Tech outfielder Stephen Smith in the 10th round, Arizona pitcher Kevin Ginkel in the 22nd, and Coastal Carolina second baseman Connor Owings in the 34th.
Atlanta Braves (1)
The Braves selected Texas Tech outfielder Tyler Neslony in the 9th round
Baltimore Orioles (1)
The Orioles selected Texas Tech pitcher Ryan Moseley in the 8th round.
Boston Red Sox (2)
The Red Sox selected Florida pitcher Shaun Anderson in the 3rd round and Arizona third baseman Bobby Delbac in the 4th round.
Chicago Cubs (3)
The Cubs selected a pair of Oklahoma State pitchers, Thomas Hatch in the 3rd round and Trey Cobb in the 12th as well as Texas Tech outfielder Zach Davis in the 32nd round.
Chicago White Sox (3)
The White Sox selected Miami catcher Zack Collins in the 1st round and a pair of Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in third baseman Zach Remillard in the 10th and pitcher Mike Morrison in the 27th.
Cincinnati Reds (1)
The Reds selected Florida pitcher Scott Moss in the 4th round.
Cleveland Indians (2)
The Indians selected a pair of players on UC Santa Barbara, pitcher Shane Bieber in the fourth round and outfielder Andrew Calica in the 11th round.
Colorado Rockies (1)
The Rockies selected Miami outfielder Willie Abreu in the 6th round.
Detroit Tigers (3)
The Tigers selected a pair of Miami Hurricanes, pitcher Bryan Carcia in the 6th round and shortstop Chad Dedio in the 27th, and Coastal Carolina pitcher Alex Cunningham.
Houston Astros (2)
The Astros selected Oklahoma State pitcher Tyler Buffett in the 7th round and Miami second baseman Johnny Ruiz in the 28th.
Kansas City Royals (1)
The Royals selected TCU pitcher Rex Hill in the 27th round.
The Los Angeles Angels (3)
The Angels selected a pair of Arizona Wildcats, outfielder Zach Gibbons in the 17th round and shortstop Cody Ramer in the 19th, along with UC Santa Barbara pitcher Justin Kelly in the 33rd round.
Los Angeles Dodgers (3)
The Dodgers selected UC Santa Barbara pitcher James Carter in the 21st round, Texas Tech pitcher Eden Candler in the 25th round, and Oklahoma State pitcher Conor Costello in the 32nd round.
Miami Marlins (3)
The Marlins selected Oklahoma State pitchers Remey Reed in the 6th round and Michael Mertz in the 14th, and Texas Tech first baseman Eric Gutierrez in the 20th.
Milwaukee Brewers (2)
The Brewers selected Texas Tech pitcher Dalton Brown in the 30th round and Arizona first baseman Ryan Aguilar in the 31st round.
Minnesota Twins (1)
The Twins selected Miami shortstop Brandon Lopez in the 10th round.
New York Mets (2)
The Mets selected Florida first baseman Peter Alonso in the 2nd round and Coastal Carolina shortstop Michael Paez in the 4th.
Oakland Athletics (3)
The Athletics selected Florida pitchers A.J. Puk in the first round and Logan Shore in the 2nd, and Texas Tech pitcher Ty Damron in the 15th round.
Philadelphia Phillies (1)
The Phillies selected UC Santa Barbara pitcher Trevor Bettencourt in the 25th round.
Pittsburgh Pirates (1)
The Pirates selected Oklahoma State first baseman Dustin Williams in the 36th round.
San Diego Padres (2)
The Padres selected Florida outfielder Buddy Reed in the 2nd round and Coastal Carolina first baseman George Young in the 31st round.
San Francisco Giants (2)
The Giants selected Oklahoma State pitcher Garrett Williams in the 7th round and Miami outfielder Jacob Heyward in the 18th.
Seattle Mariners (5)
The Mariners selected Oklahoma State shortstop Donnie Walton in the 5th round, Miami pitcher Danny Garcia in the 15th round, Texas Tech pitcher Robert Dugger in the 18th round, and a pair of Arizona Wildcats in outfielder Trey Griffey in the 24th round and pitcher Nathan Bannister in the 28th round.
St. Louis Cardinals (1)
The Cardinals selected Oklahoma State second baseman J.R. Davis in the 15th round.
Toronto Blue Jays (1)
The Blue Jays selected Florida pitcher Kirby Snead in the 19th round.
Washington Nationals (2)
The Nationals selected Florida pitcher Dane Dunning in the 1st round and Texas Tech pitcher Hayden Howard in the 12th round.
Advanced Stat of the Week
Every week, Behind the Plate will look at an advanced stat that is being used in baseball. These stats give a better idea on what value a player gives a team. This week’s stat is WHIP.
WHIP is a rate stat that keeps track of how well a pitcher does with keeping runners off the base paths. It stands for Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched. It is simple to calculate, as it is just (Walks + Hits)/Innings Pitched. WHIP is not the greatest tool to evaluate pitchers due to the fact that they do not have as much control of whether or not a batted ball becomes a hit. However, the better pitchers do have a tendency to have a better WHIP.
So if it is not a good evaluation tool, what is it good for? It is used in fantasy baseball, along with ERA, Wins, Strikeouts, and Saves. Good pitchers in fantasy tend to have a WHIP of 1.15 or less. Other than that, WHIP is not much better than ERA as far as evaluating pitchers.
Play of the Week
Usually, a ball hit up the middle with a runner on second is not a double play ball. On Friday, Jonathan Villar alertly tagged Kelly Johnson out as he was going back to second before throwing to first to complete an inning-ending double play.
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