2012 MLB Draft Prospects: Potential Yankees Selection Austin Maddox
May 29, 2012 · Kenny DeJohn · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
With the 2012 MLB first-year player draft just around the corner, it’s time to start taking a look at some names we should start to familiarize ourselves with.
One such player is Austin Maddox, who Matt Garrioch of MinorLeagueBall.com predicts will get drafted by the Yankees with the No. 30 pick in the first round.
Maddox, a junior at the University of Florida, is a right-handed pitcher and catcher that stands at 6’3″ and weight 235 pounds.
As a catcher out of Eagle’s View Academy High School in Jacksonville, Florida, he was selected to the Rawlings First Team All-American Florida – All Region First Team.
The Tampa Bay Rays then selected him in the 37th round of the 2009 draft.
Needless to say, Maddox instead chose to become a Florida Gator.
In his two-year career with the Gators, Maddox has hit .308 with 23 home runs and 107 RBI. He is a catcher with big power and a cannon for an arm, but some scouts project him as more of a pitcher in the long run.
Maddox only began his collegiate pitching career in 2011, but he definitely impressed the scouts. In 21 appearances out of the bullpen, he compiled a 3-0 record to go along with an 0.67 ERA.
He saved five games and struck out 21 batters in 27 innings.
It’s likely that the Yankees would only select Maddox as a pitcher, as their farm system is stocked full of young, talented catchers—i.e. Gary Sanchez and J.R. Murphy.
We’ll find out the Yankees’ first-round selection next week, but we’ll keep speculating potential picks until the official selection is made.
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