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
SPORTS

