The Miami Marlins have taken Mississauga, Ont., native Josh Naylor with the 12th overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft.
The first baseman becomes the highest-drafted Canadian position player ever.
https://twitter.com/JoshNaylor44/status/608080482551635968
Naylor wasn’t the only Canadian drafted in the first round, as Calgary right-hander Mike Soroka went 28th overall to the Atlanta Braves.
In the second round, left-hander Jeff Degano of Surrey, B.C., was taken 57th overall by the New York Yankees.
The 17-year-old Naylor gained some fame last year when he finished second to American Luken Baker in the MLB Select Junior Home Run Derby. He offers the Marlins huge raw power and an advanced left-handed bat capable of hitting corner-to-corner.
“He’s a different animal,” Greg Hamilton, Baseball Canada’s director of national teams, told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. “When you’re looking for a hitter, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better one on the planet in high school. He is a hitter, and you don’t see them like that, too often.”
Additionally, in recent years, Naylor has played an integral part of Canadian national junior team and excelled during the team’s recent tour against Dominican Summer League clubs, smashing a team-high five home runs.
Showing some hometown pride, Toronto Blue Jays prospect and fellow Mississauga native Dalton Pompey took to Twitter to congratulate Naylor.
Soroka, 17, offers the Braves a poised right-hander with increasing velocity.
“If you did a list of all the high-school pitchers to come out of Canada, you can put him there, he’s up there with anybody. He’s really good,” said Hamilton. “He’s got three-pitch command, really knows how to pitch, got real good sink on his fastball, great composure, tremendous command and his velocity is up to 93, 94 now. You’re talking a six-foot-four right-hander who is pitching 90-93 with plus sink and the ability to work both sides of the plate. And to me, the intangibles are outstanding, composure, the ability to make pitches and win without his best stuff, he doesn’t panic – the sorts of things you try to teach young players he has a very good grasp of.”
With files from Shi Davidi
