The Colorado Rockies didn’t leave the infield on day two of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft. Tuesday was all about adding a balance of arms and experience on the infield for Colorado.
The Rockies selected two right-handed pitchers, two left-handed pitchers, two first basemen, one second baseman, and one catcher. All eight selections came from the college ranks.
Colorado selected right-handed pitcher Will Gaddis, a junior out of Furman University in the third round with the 86th overall pick. The Brentwood, Tenn., native went 9-3 in 2017 with a 1.89 ERA (105.0 IP, 22 ER) with 16 walks and 89 strikeouts. His 5.56 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 2017 ranks best in school history for a single season. Gaddis earned First-Team All-Southern Conference honors for the second consecutive season. In his career at Furman, went 22-12 with a 3.43 ERA (28.1 IP, 110 ER) with 59 walks and 234 strikeouts.
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Right-handed pitcher Pearson McMahan, 20, was selected with the 116th overall pick in the fourth round out of St. Johns River State College (Palatka, Fla.). In 2017, went 6-2 with one save and a 3.46 ERA (75.1 IP, 29 ER), 32 walks and 94 strikeouts in 13 starts and four relief appearances. He was a Rawlings-Perfect Game Honorable Mention All American in 2014.
University of Texas left-handed pitcher Nick Kennedy was selected in the fifth round with the 146th overall pick. A junior, Kennedy went 8-2 with a 3.02 ERA (53.2 IP, 18 ER) in 2017 with 20 walks and 59 strikeouts in 19 appearances with nine starts. The 6-foot, 200-pound native of Tampa, Fla., attended Alonso High School, where he was a 2014 Rawlings-Perfect Game Underclass First Team All-American and a member of the National Honor Society. His father, Dave, is a strength and conditioning coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League.
First baseman Chad Spanberger, a junior out of the University of Arkansas, was selected in the sixth round with the 176th overall pick. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound native of Granite City, Ill., batted .305 (73-for-239) with 54 runs scored, 13 doubles, one triple, 20 home runs and 67 RBI across 60 games for the Razorbacks in 2017. The home runs ranked second in the SEC, ninth in the nation He is just the sixth player in Arkansas history to record 20 or more home runs in a season. Across three seasons at Arkansas, batted .275 (123-for-448) with 73 runs, 22 doubles, three triples, 26 home runs and 105 RBI. This season he set an SEC Tournament record with three home runs and seven RBI in one game.
Left-handed pitcher Lucas Gilbreath,is the first Colorado native selected by the Rockies in this draft (Westminster). Gilbreath, 21, was selected out of the University of Minnesota in the seventh round (206th overall). In 2017, he converted to a starter and went 5-2 with a 2.66 ERA (81.1 IP, 24 ER), 32 walks and 92 strikeouts. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound lefty attended Legacy High School in Broomfield, where he led Colorado Class 5A in strikeouts both as a junior (93) and as a senior (114). He received Second-Team All-Colorado Honors from The Denver Post in 2014, and was twice named First-Team Front Range League All-Conference. Gilbreath was previously selected by the Rockies in the 36th round of the 2014 MLB First-Year Player Draft, but did not sign.
Second baseman Bret Boswell, a junior selected out of the University of Texas in the eighth round (236th overall), batted .273 (54-for-198) with 34 runs, 13 doubles, seven home runs, 33 RBI, 33 walks and 39 strikeouts this past season for the Longhorns. A native of Rockwell, Texas, he was a 2013 Rawlings-Perfect Game Honorable Mention All-American and a 2013 All-Region 1st Team member for Texas while playing at Rockwall-Heath High School.
UCLA first baseman Sean Bouchard was selected in the ninth round (266th overall). Bouchard played in all 57 games for the Bruins at first base and batted .306 (66-for-216) with 39 runs scored, 16 doubles, two triples, nine home runs, 43 RBI, 26 walks and 47 strikeouts. He lead the Bruins in all of those categories except walks and strikeouts. The 6-foot-3, 215 pound native of San Diego, Calif., was an All-Pac-12 selection in 2017. He played for Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego, and was a 2014 Rawlings-Perfect Game California Second-Team All-American and All-Region First Team Selection.
Catcher Austin Bernard, a switch-hitting junior out of Pepperdine University, was selected in the 10th and final round of the second day of the draft (296th overall) … a native of Valley Center, Calif., he batted .234 (11-for-47) with seven runs, two doubles, seven RBI, six walks and nine strikeouts in 2017 … the 5-foot-10, 190-pound catcher allowed eight stolen bases while throwing out eight baserunners … attended Valley Center High School, where he batted .340 across his high school career.
The Rockies made two selections on the first day of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft, picking third baseman Ryan Vilade in the second round (48th overall) and right-handed pitcher Tommy Doyle 70th overall in the second competitive balance round.