Late Monday afternoon the Nationals announced the signing of 22 players selected by the organization in last week’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. None of the players who agreed to terms were chosen above the fifth round. Washington general manager Mike Rizzo and his staff will endure a challenge negotiating with No. 1 pick Bryce Harper, an outfielder, No. 2 Sammy Solis, a left-handed pitcher, No. 3 Rick Hague, a shortstop, and No. 4 A.J. Cole, a right-handed pitcher. Here’s a look at some of the more intriguing signings the Nats announced today with the full list of 50 draft picks listed below. Signed players are in bold.
No. 5 Jason Martinson, SS, Texas State
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A football player who decided to concentrate only on baseball after a hamstring injury kept him off the field. Doesn’t have a ton of experience at shortstop, playing the position for the first time full time this spring. Nats director of amateur scouting Kris Kline threw out the name Ian Kinsler – at least in terms of makeup, energy and skillset. Martinson has good hands and a strong arm so he took to the position quicker than expected given his lack of previous playing time there. He has gap-to-gap power, but isn’t a home-run hitter at all. A tick above-average on the bases. Kline called Martinson an interesting player to watch and cautiously said he’s a pick who could move through the system quickly.
No. 9 Aaron Barrett, RHP, Ole Miss
Could move through the system quicker than most because he had success in junior college – though Barrett did have to shake off a rough junior season at Ole Miss. He did that and became a solid No. 2 on that staff behind No. 5 overall pick Drew Pomeranz (Cleveland). Good size at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds. Kline said the Nats tried to get away from drafting smaller pitchers without much projectability. He and his staff wanted to stay with players who have the size and strength – and, more importantly, the velocity – to bring some needed power to the organization’s minor-league pitching staffs.
No. 10 Blake Kelso, SS, Houston
Kline says Kelso is a tick above-average runner with a tick above-average arm at shortstop. He’s a high-energy kid with good makeup. Kline hesitated and then compared Kelso in size and skillset to Cubs second baseman Ryan Theriot. A good contact hitter who didn’t strike out much at the college level. Just a player who finds a way to get on base. Typical overachiever, according to Kline.
No. 11 Neil Holland, RHP, Louisville
A reliever in the Cla Meredith-mold. Throws from a 3/4 submarine slot and can still get his pitches up to 90 or 91 miles-per-hour. A sweeping breaking ball that makes batters uncomfortable. “You always have to draft at least one of those guys,” Kline cracked.
No. 16 Mark Herrera, RHP, San Jacinto College North
A strong, physical presence on the mound – again, something the Nats wanted to emphasize in this year’s draft – Can hit 92-to-94 miles-per-hour with a plus slider, according to Kline.
No. 17 Tyler Hanks, RHP, College of Southern Nevada
A teammate of Bryce Harper at CSN, Hanks hit as high as 97 in the fall. Another big body with a good slider. One of five junior-college pitchers signed and 12 overall so far. Doesn’t feature much variety with his pitches so Hanks figures to be a reliever in the minors.
NATIONALS 2010 MLB FIRST-YEAR PLAYER DRAFT
RD PICK PLAYER POS B/T HT WT DOB SCHOOL
1 1 Bryce Harper OF L/R 6-3 205 10/16/92 College of Southern Nevada
2 51 Sammy Solis LHP R/L 6-5 225 8/10/88 University of San Diego
3 83 Rick Hague SS R/R 6-2 190 9/18/88 Rice University
4 116 A.J. Cole RHP R/R 6-4 181 1/5/92 Oviedo HS (FL)
5 146 Jason Martinson SS R/R 6-1 190 10/15/88 Texas State University
6 176 Cole Leonida C R/R 6-2 220 12/25/88 Georgia Tech University
7 206 Kevin Keyes RF R/R 6-4 245 3/15/89 University of Texas
8 236 Matthew Grace LHP L/L 6-3 190 12/14/88 University of California-Los Angeles
9 266 Aaron Barrett RHP R/R 6-4 200 1/2/88 University of Mississippi
10 296 Blake Kelso SS R/R 5-10 170 3/28/89 University of Houston
11 326 Neil Holland RHP R/R 6-0 180 8/14/88 University of Louisville
12 356 Robbie Ray LHP L/L 6-2 169 10/1/91 Brentwood HS (TN)
13 386 Chris McKenzie RHP R/R 6-3 190 12/06/89 San Jacinto College North
14 416 Timothy Smalling SS R/R 6-3 200 10/14/87 Virginia Tech University
15 446 David Freitas C R/R 6-3 225 3/18/89 University of Hawaii
16 476 Mark Herrera RHP R/R 6-3 230 3/11/90 San Jacinto College North
17 506 Tyler Hanks RHP R/R 6-2 205 3/19/90 College of Southern Nevada
18 536 Justin Miller 2B R/R 6-0 180 11/28/88 Middle Tennessee State
19 566 Wade Moore CF L/R 6-1 215 12/27/87 Catawba College (NC)
20 596 Chad Mozingo RF L/L 5-11 190 9/3/88 Rice University (TX)
21 626 Connor Rowe CF R/R 6-0 175 8/16/88 University of Texas
22 656 Cameron Selik RHP R/R 6-2 245 8/25/87 University of Kansas
23 686 Colin Bates RHP R/R 6-1 175 3/10/88 University of North Carolina
24 716 Russell Moldenhauer 1B L/R 5-11 220 924/87 University of Texas-Austin
25 746 Christian Meza LHP L/L 6-0 185 8/3/90 Santa Ana JC (CA)
26 776 Christopher Manno LHP L/L 6-0 170 11/4/88 Duke University
27 806 Sean Hoellscher RHP R/R 6-3 210 11/15/88 Texas A &M-Corpus Christi
28 836 Joseph Rapp RF R/R 6-3 225 11/27/89 Chipola JC (FL)
29 866 Rick Hughes RF R/R 6-3 225 5/25/90 Marin CC (CA)
30 896 Timothy Kiene 1B L/R 6-3 232 9/10/91 Avon Old Farms HS (CT)
31 926 Jeremy Mayo C R/R 5-10 194 6/17/88 Texas Tech University
32 956 Randolph Oduber LF R/L 6-3 210 3/18/89 Western OK State University
33 986 Ryan Sherriff LHP L/L 6-1 185 5/25/90 Western Los Angeles JC (CA)
34 1016 Rolando Botello RHP R/R 6-3 225 5/23/92 John Jay HS (TX)
35 1046 Robert Oliver 1B R/R 6-0 230 11/3/88 Wabash Valley CC (IL)
36 1076 Wander Nunez RF R/R 5-11 174 6/27/90 Western OK State University
37 1106 Nicholas Serino LHP R/L 5-10 205 10/25/88 UMASS-Amherst
38 1136 Nick Lee LHP L/L 6-0 180 1/13/91 Weatherford College (TX)
39 1166 John Simms RHP R/R 6-3 195 1/17/92 The Woodlands College Park HS (TX)
40 1196 Alex Diaz SS R/R 6-2 180 7/12/92 John A. Ferguson HS (FL)
41 1226 Kevin Cahill RHP R/R 6-2 205 10/20/87 Purdue University
42 1256 Taylor Stark 2B R/R 5-11 165 10/17/91 NW Rankin HS (MS)
43 1286 Corey Littrell LHP L/L 6-3 185 3/21/92 Trinity HS (KY)
44 1316 Bryce Hines RHP R/R 6-1 180 3/19/92 Hanahan HS (SC)
45 1346 Jeffrey Bouton RF R/R 6-1 205 11/21/91 John T. Hoggard HS (NC)
46 1376 Erick Fernandez C R/R 5-11 190 11/30/88 Georgetown University (DC)
47 1406 David Jarreld CF R/R 6-1 190 9/9/91 Goodpasture Christian School (TN)
48 1436 Brandon Miller C R/R 6-2 215 10/8/89 NW Florida State JC
49 1466 Dimetrius Hatcher OF R/R 6-2 190 6/17/90 Patrick Henry CC (VA)
50 1496 Harris Fanaroff LHP L/L 6-2 185 4/3/92 Winston Churchill HS (MD)
