Tag: juco

Red Sox select Santa Rosa Junior College right-hander Austin Ehrlicher with 18th-round pick in 2022 MLB Draft

With the 549th overall pick in the 2022 MLB first-year player draft, the Red Sox selected Santa Rosa Junior College (Calif.) right-hander Austin Ehrlicher.

Ehrlicher, 19, is not ranked by Baseball America as one of the top pitching prospects in this year’s draft class. This past season, the California native posted a 4.26 ERA with 43 strikeouts to 14 walks over 10 appearances (eight starts) spanning 38 innings of work for the Bear Cubs.

He also made five appearances (three starts) for the Healdsburg Packers of the California Collegiate League earlier this summer, pitching to a 4.15 ERA with 12 punchouts to seven walks across 13 innings.

Listed at 6-foot-5 and 185 pounds, Ehrlicher is a two-sport athlete who also plays basketball and averaged 6.4 points per game as a freshman. Since he attends a junior college, Ehrlicher does not need to sign with the Red Sox before the traditional August 1 deadline.

Instead, the Sox can wait up until one week before next year’s draft to sign Ehrlicher for up to $225,000. As Boston’s director of amateur scouting, Paul Toboni, explained to reporters on Tuesday, Ehrlicher is now considered a “draft and follow” player.

(Picture of Austin Ehrlicher: Darryl Bush /For The Press Democrat)

Red Sox host Texas A&M commit Stanley Tucker for pre-draft workout in San Diego

The Red Sox held a pre-draft workout at the University of San Diego’s Fowler Park over the weekend and junior college prospect Stanley Tucker was among those in attendance, per his Twitter account.

Tucker, 20, is currently committed to transfer and play Division I college baseball at Texas A&M University. This past season with New Mexico Junior College, the right-handed hitting infielder batted .407/.487/.785 with 20 doubles, five triples, 17 home runs, 90 RBIs, 82 runs scored, 37 stolen bases, 34 walks, and 36 strikeouts over 58 games (262 plate appearances) en route to being named a 2022 NJCAA First Team All-American.

A native of Richmond, Texas, Tucker is not regarded by industry publications such as Baseball America or MLB Pipeline as one of the top prospects in this year’s draft class. That being said, Baseball America noted back in December that at 5-foot-9 and 155 pounds, Tucker “is a little undersized but has plus speed and makes consistent hard contact.”

Defensively, Tucker is listed an an infielder who has plenty of experience up the middle, but he played some center field this year as well. He also pitched in high school, so his arm strength could be considered a plus tool depending on what evaluators have seen.

In last year’s 20-round amateur draft, the Red Sox selected two junior college products in Reedley College infielder B.J. Vela and Chipola College right-hander Luis Guerrero, who were taken in the the 16th and 17th round, respectively. Boston also signed Western Oklahoma State College righty Jhonny Felix as an undrafted free agent.

The Red Sox do have a connection to Stanley’s alma mater in Nick Pivetta, who is currently the only active major-leaguer who played for the Thunderbirds. The 29-year-old hurler was originally selected by the Nationals in the fourth round of the 2013 draft out of New Mexico Junior College.

(Picture of Stanley Tucker via his Instagram)