Arizona Baseball dominates first few rounds of the MLB Draft

SECAUCUS, NJ- Already two days down in the 2019 MLB Draft, and the Arizona Baseball team has dominated the first couple days of action.

How much of a tough year was it to be an Arizona Baseball fan? Extremely tough! Despite the Wildcats missing the Tournament again this year, the team had talent… and I mean lots of talent.

As many had anticipated heading in, that Arizona would likely have a few players drafted, I don’t think we anticipated quite the results we’ve got so far!

Arizona Wildcats

First off the board for Arizona was Cameron Cannon, the big hitting, junior infielder from Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, AZ.

Despite the ups and downs he faced fielding this year, Cannon would be drafted in the second round with the 43rd overall pick by the Boston Red Sox. It was ultimately his bat that helped him climb so high in the draft.

This past season, Cannon batted an impressive .397 from the plate with eight home runs, 29 doubles and 56 RBI’s! Ever since coming to Tucson, Cannon has done nothing but rake!

This season just barely surpassed his production from last season, where as a sophomore, he went .321 from the plate with eight home runs and 50 RBI’s! He will now head to ‘Bean Town’ with big expectations!

The next Wildcat drafted would only be a few picks later, and shouldn’t have been all that surprising either. Arizona’s next player drafted was Nick Quintana, when he would be selected 47th overall by the Detroit Tigers.

Apparently they know all about the ‘Flow’ too! This past year, Quintana was Arizona’s heart and soul offensively, as the junior had a dominating year, finishing the season with a .342 batting average with 15 home runs, 77 RBI’s and 18 doubles!

He’ll even finish his career at Arizona with some of the best numbers the school has ever seen! In 170 games played for the Wildcats, Nick will finish with a career .317 batting average, 35 home runs, 170 RBI’s, 52 doubles and a triple.

I think it’s safe to say the Tigers probably got one of the biggest steals in the class!

However, Arizona’s draft dominance wouldn’t stop there! Moving onto day two of the draft, the Wildcats would see a few more guys picked fairly high.

The next to go was Matt Fraizer. The junior outfielder who missed a lot of time this year due to injury, was on pace to have his best season yet as a Wildcat.

Appearing in just 19 games for the Cats, Fraizer would end the year with an impressive .412 batting average, a home run, with 28 RBI’s, six doubles and two triples.

For his production and upside, the Pittsburgh Pirates would select Fraizer at No. 95 overall in third round, making him the fifth player selected by their organization in the last five years!

Arizona’s Avery Weems would be the next player drafted. Lasting to just the sixth round, the Chicago White Sox would select the lefty hurler with the No. 170 overall pick!

This past year, the senior would go through some ups and downs, but was ultimately one of Arizona’s staples on the mound, as he would finish the year with 4-5 record and 7.15 ERA in 61 and two-thirds innings pitched.

Weems would throw for an impressive 47 strikeouts this season. Despite the state line, the White Sox certainly see something in him that could potentially develop into a starter. And with a 6-feet-2-inch 205 pound frame, it’ll be interesting to watch how he continues to develop!

While that’s all the action so far, we also must highlight that three current commits have been drafted quite high, and will make for an interesting few weeks as to whether they make it to Arizona.

The commits selected so far have been;

• Andrew Dalquist (Redondo Union HS- Redondo Beach, CA) – 3rd round, 81st pick by the Chicago White Sox
• Jose Dicochea (Sahuarita HS – Sahuarita, AZ) – 8th round, 254th pick by the Oakland A’s
• Will Bartlett (IMG Academy – Bradenton, FL) – 9th round, 280th pick by the Cleveland Indians

At Zona Zealots, we’re happy for our Cats and wish them the best as they pursue their pro careers! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!