Friday, June 3, 2016

Baseball America Sees Help For Red Sox Bullpen In Draft

(University Of Louisville Athletics Photo)
While it seems unlikely to us, the respected Baseball America website believes that this month's amateur draft could yield immediate dividends for the Red Sox bullpen. According to John Manuel's Mock Draft, Boston (which picks #12 overall) will take Louisville pitcher Zack Burdi. Manuel claims that Burdi could go "straight to Boston to set up Craig Kimbrel for the pennant drive". Say what? Well, that would certainly ease the loss of Carson Smith. This season, the 6'3" Burdi is 1-2 with a 2.00 ERA and 10 saves for the University of Louisville. In 27 innings of work, he's yielded just 13 hits and held opponents to a .144 average. He has walked 7 and struck out 45. Sounds pretty legit. Stay tuned—the MLB Amateur draft happens June 9-11.