MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily
Oliver Jaskie was drafted in the sixth round of the MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners.
Michigan baseball draft update
Before the 2017 season began,
Michigan baseball coach Erik Bakich
pointed to the five Wolverines
selected in the previous year’s MLB
Draft as emblematic of the long-term
success and culture he has aimed to
create.
“That’s the nature of the beast
in quality programs, (you) try to
build the best program you can,”
Bakich said in February. “One of the
impacts of that is that the players are
going to develop and get drafted to
professional baseball.”
After Michigan’s first 40-win
season since 2008 and its second
NCAA
Tournament
bid
under
Bakich, the 2017 MLB Draft served
as an even stronger representation of
Bakich’s efforts to build the quality
program he has envisioned. The
Wolverines had a school-record 11
players selected in the MLB Draft last
week, which also tied for the most of
any college program.
It’s also significantly more than the
five that were drafted last season, and
also includes seven underclassmen,
who have the option to forego signing
a professional contract and return
to school. Depending on how many
of those 11 players actually sign with
major league teams, the 2018 season
could be the greatest test for Bakich’s
potential dynasty, in terms of the
rebuilding necessary for sustained
success.
The Daily looks at Michigan’s 2017
draftees and breaks down which
players have signed professional
contracts, which players have not
and what these decisions, along with
the departure of the Wolverines’
seniors, mean for next season.
Junior
left-hander
Oliver
Jaskie (Seattle Mariners, sixth
round), junior right-hander Bryan
Pall (Mariners, 25th round) and
senior centerfielder Johnny Slater
(Mariners, 28th round):
The News Tribune in Tacoma,
Wash. reported last Sunday that the
Mariners had agreed to terms with
26 of their 40 draft picks, including
all three Wolverines. As Michigan’s
No. 1 starter, Jaskie went 8-3 with a
3.77 earned-run average while tying
a school record with 119 strikeouts,
and Slater hit .299 with five home
runs and 47 RBIs in a breakout
senior season. Pall missed most of
the 2017 season due to injury, but
recorded seven saves and a 3.18 ERA
in his college career.
Junior third baseman/catcher
Drew Lugbauer (Atlanta Braves,
11th round):
Lugbauer
had
been
drafted
out of high school in Arlington,
N.Y. — by the Toronto Blue Jays
in the 21st round — but elected to
attend Michigan instead. This time,
however, he signed with the Braves
after a junior season in which he hit
.290 with 11 home runs and slugged
.518.
“It’s a dream come true,” Lugbauer
told the Poughkeepsie Journal. “This
is something you’ve fantasized about
since you were a little kid, and now
you’re seeing it start to become real.”
Junior right-hander Ryan Nutof
(Cincinnati Reds, 16th round):
Nutof told the Elgin Courier-News
in his hometown of South Elgin, Ill.
that he planned to visit the Reds’
Goodyear, Ariz. training facility
and sign with the organization
while there. In his final season as a
Wolverine, Nutof was 6-2 with a 4.27
ERA.
Junior
first
baseman
Jake
Bivens
(Detroit
Tigers,
27th
round):
Bivens officially signed with the
Tigers organization last week. The
Big Ten Freshman of the Year in
2015, he hit .273 with a .436 on-base
percentage this season, and finished
his Michigan career with a .318
batting average and 46 stolen bases.
“I just talked it over with my family
and decided this is the right decision
for me and my baseball career,”
Bivens told the Battle Creek Enquirer.
Senior
catcher
Harrison
Wenson (Los Angeles Angels,
24th
round),
senior
right-
hander Mac Lozer (New York
Mets, 33rd round) and senior
shortstop Michael Brdar (St. Louis
Cardinals, 36th round):
Wenson and Brdar have both
signed
with
their
respective
teams. Wenson was a focal point
of Michigan’s success on defense
this season and helped guide the
Wolverines’ pitching staff to a 3.46
ERA as a team, which ranked 18th
in the country. He struggled to make
contact at the plate, hitting just .191,
but provided power with nine home
runs. Brdar contributed in every
facet of the game this season, with
a .310 average, 37 RBIs, 19 stolen
bases and a .988 fielding percentage
at shortstop.
Lozer, who compiled a 1.00 ERA
and averaged almost 1.4 strikeouts
per inning as a senior, has not signed
yet, but intends to do so.
Junior
left-hander
Michael
Hendrickson (Cleveland Indians,
28th
round)
and
redshirt
sophomore
left-hander
Grant
Reuss
(Detroit
Tigers,
29th
round):
The two left-handers are the
only two who have yet to decide
whether
they
will
return
to
Michigan or turn professional.
Hendrickson broke out as part
of the Wolverines’ rotation this
season, posting a 6-3 record and
4.06 ERA while holding opponents
to a .236 average. Reuss struck
out 11 batters in six innings in his
redshirt sophomore season.
How do these decisions impact
Michigan’s outlook for 2018?
With the departures of Bivens and
Lugbauer made official as well as that
of Brdar, the Wolverines’ defensive
infield — one of the best units in the
nation this season — is now down
to only one returning starter —
sophomore second baseman Ako
Thomas. Sophomore Jimmy Kerr, who
filled in for Thomas after he suffered
an injury against Indiana, has shown
the ability to play all across the infield,
and likely will have a permanent role
in 2018. Redshirt freshman Joe Pace
and freshman Dominic Clementi
should see expanded roles as well, and
sophomore Nick Poirier, who spent
most of the season as the designated
hitter, is also capable of playing third
base. But replacing three-fourths of
Michigan’s defensive bedrock won’t
be an easy task.
Neither will it be easy to rebuild
the Wolverines’ starting rotation,
which will be without a proven
ace for the first time since 2014.
Hendrickson, if he returns, and
junior right-hander Alec Rennard
were both capable last season,
and it’s possible that soon-to-be
sophomores Karl Kauffman and
Tommy Henry, both of whom
showed flashes of their immense
potential out of the bullpen last
season, could claim starting spots as
well. Henry recorded a 3.18 ERA and
struck out 39 batters in 31 innings
last season, while Kauffman had an
ERA of 2.08 in 10 innings.
Overall, this will be a very
different team next season, at least
relative to the limited turnover
between the 2016 and 2017 squads,
where Michigan returned seven
regular starters. Another factor
to keep an eye on is the role of the
Wolverines’
incoming
freshman
class, which is again ranked as
the best class in the Big Ten. Last
season’s freshman found it hard to
obtain regular playing time on such
an experienced team, with Henry
being the main exception. But with a
wide-open infield and pitching staff,
that may not be the case this season.
JACOB SHAMES
Summer Managing Sports Editor
12
Thursday, June 22, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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