2013 MLB Draft: Appel, Bryant & Gray As Top Three

Mark Appel, Jonathan Gray and Kris Bryant were ranked as the number one, two and three draft picks going into Wednesday’s 2013 first-year player draft, and that turned out to be close to dead-on. While Appel did in fact go number one overall, as predicted by many around the baseball world, Gray and Bryant went in reverse order from expected, however, they all fell within the top three as was originally thought out.

Mark Appel went first overall, getting drafted by the Houston Astros.

Mark Appel

Appel, who chose not to sign with the Pirates after they drafted him eighth overall in the 2012 draft, went 10-4, with a 2.12 ERA, this past season at Stanford University. His college career was a fairly impressive one, as Appel went 28-14 overall, with a combined 2.91 ERA, including setting the record for most career strikeouts as a Stanford pitcher. If Appel can continue to develop–though many argue he’s nearly ready at the moment–he should be pitching on the mound for his hometown Houston Astros sometime in the very near future.

Kris Bryant went second overall, getting drafted by the Chicago Cubs.

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Bryant, who was previously drafted by the Blue Jays in the 18th round of the 2010 draft, batted .329, with 31 home runs and 62 RBI’s, in his third season at the University of San Diego. Though Bryant has only been playing college ball for a total of three years, his numbers are intriguing, as his combined stats include a .353 batting average, with 54 homers and 155 RBI’s, between his freshman, sophomore and junior years. It’ll take a little time for Bryant to fully tap into his projected above average power, but once he figures things out, he’s sure to be a big impact player for the Cubs.

Jonathan Gray went third overall, getting drafted by the Rockies.

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Gray, who was previously drafted by the Yankees in the 10th round of the 2011 draft, went 10-2, with a 1.59 ERA, this past season with Oklahoma University, after playing at Eastern Oklahoma State College two years earlier, where he was just as great, going 6-2, with a 2.89 ERA. It shouldn’t take long before Gray finds himself pitching in the mile high city, as he was regarded as one of the top college pitchers and is sure to carry the same tag with him as he moves into the minor leagues. The Rockies would appear to have a can’t miss pitching prospect on their hands.

The remainder of the draft saw many surprises. A lot of players went higher than anyone expected, while others stuck around longer than many thought they would. But that usually happens every year with the draft.

The rest of the 1st round of the 2013 draft, following the first three picks, went as follows:

4. Minnesota Twins: Kohl Stewart

5. Cleveland Indians: Clint Frazier

6. Miami Marlins: Colin Moran

7. Boston Red Sox: Trey Ball

8. Kansas City Royals: Hunter Dozier

9. Pittsburgh Pirates: Austin Meadows

10. Toronto Blue Jays: Phillip Bickford

11. New York Mets: Dominic Smith

12. Seattle Mariners: D.J. Peterson

13. San Diego Padres: Hunter Renfroe

14. Pittsburgh Pirates: Reese McGuire

15. Arizona Diamondbacks: Braden Shipley

16. Philadelphia Phillies: J.P. Crawford

17. Chicago White Sox: Tim Anderson

18. Los Angeles Dodgers: Chris Anderson

19. St. Louis Cardinals: Marco Gonzales

20. Detroit Tigers: Jonathon Crawford

21. Tampa Bay Rays: Nick Ciuffo

22. Baltimore Orioles: Hunter Harvey

23. Texas Rangers: Alex Gonzalez

24. Oakland Athletics: Billy McKinney

25. San Francisco Giants: Christian Arroyo

26. New York Yankees: Eric Jagielo

27. Cincinnati Reds: Phillip Ervin

28. St. Louis Cardinals: Rob Kaminsky

29. Tampa Bay Rays: Ryne Stanek

30. Texas Rangers: Travis Demeritte

31. Atlanta Braves: Jason Hursh

32. New York Yankees: Aaron Judge

33. New York Yankees: Ian Clarkin

Competitive Balance Round A

34. Kansas City Royals: Sean Manaea

35. Miami Marlins: Matt Krook

36. Arizona Diamondbacks: Aaron Blair

37. Baltimore Orioles: Josh Hart

38. Cincinnati Reds: Michael Lorenzen

39. Detroit Tigers: Corey Knebel

So there you have it. Take a good look at that list. Make sure to follow them as the majority of them begin their professional careers. Odds are at least a few of those names will become MLB All-Stars, with the possibility that some may become a future Hall of Famer. You never know what can happen when you have so much young talent entering their given MLB organizations.

4 thoughts on “2013 MLB Draft: Appel, Bryant & Gray As Top Three

  1. I was at Nationals Park while it was happening, so I only got to see the first four or five picks, but I had no idea Colin Moran got drafted; and so high, too. I remember my high school baseball team playing against him, seeing as he was on our rival school’s team. We also went against Mariano Rivera’s son, who was on the team.
    -Mateo
    http://mateofischer.mlblogs.com

  2. Yeah, I was happy to see Moran go so high. I enjoyed watching him play at UNC, and I’ll be sure to make a point to go out to see him if he plays for Greensboro (Marlins’ Single-A affiliate) at some point. And that’s awesome that you all played against him, and Rivera’s son.

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