Kodi Medeiros was picked by the Milwaukee Brewers in the first round of the Major League Baseball first-year player draft on Thursday, making history for the second time. ADVERTISING Kodi Medeiros was picked by the Milwaukee Brewers in the first
Kodi Medeiros was picked by the Milwaukee Brewers in the first round of the Major League Baseball first-year player draft on Thursday, making history for the second time.
The recent Waiakea graduate and left-handed pitcher, who went 12th overall, became the first player from the Big Island to be drafted in the first round out of high school.
“It’s a dream come true to see all the support from my family and hard work pay off,” Medeiros said on MLB Network from Secaucus, N.J.
Kolten Wong, a 2008 Kamehameha graduate, was drafted in the first round in 2011 by the St. Louis Cardinals out of the University of Hawaii. In 2008, the Minnesota Twins selected him in the 16th round.
Medeiros also was a part of history as a sophomore in 2012 when the Warriors beat Baldwin 5-2 for the Division I state championship, winning the school’s first title. He and Quintin Torres-Costa also put their names in the record books with a combined no-hitter in the finale.
The Brewers had the 12th overall pick, with an assigned value of $2,805,700, and the 41st overall selection, with an assigned value of $1,384,900. In the second round, they owned the 50th overall pick, with an assigned value of $1,100,300.
Milwaukee could have played a game of patience, took a more polished college player at 12th overall, and gambled that Medeiros would have been available later for a discount price.
But it’s no surprise that the Brewers tagged him early. Last week at their workout at Miller Park, Medeiros’ fastball was clocked at 97 mph. Also he measured in at 6 feet, 2 inches and weighed 196 pounds.
MLB Network analyst John Hart, a former general manager of the Texas Rangers, somewhat matched the analysis of USA Perfect Game scouting supervisor Todd Gold, who said Medeiros has the “best raw stuff in the draft.”
“He can’t throw a fastball straight. It dives, runs and jumps,” said Hart, who didn’t mention Medeiros’ slider, which grades out as a MLB-quality plus pitch by scouts.
“Where Milwaukee was picking you couldn’t see more upside talent. Kodi is the kind of player who’s tough to acquire,” said Gold, who writes for perfectgame.org. “You have to take a risk to get that kind of upside and talent. The risk is being in high school. Obviously, that’s the most risky demographic from the standpoint of age, and it’ll take a longer time to develop and there’s more injury risk.
“Because of his low three-quarter arm slot, he doesn’t fit the profile of the typical starter. He’s been seen a lot less than kids on the mainland, and there’s consideration for that.”
It really wasn’t until last summer that Medeiros went from something of an unknown to a first-round prospect. His star went through the roof at the Perfect Game National showcase in Minnesota a year ago.
“Last summer he pitched in front of nearly every scouting director and hundreds of scouts at different events, and fared very well,” Gold said. “He showed the slider that he’s known for, and his fastball had a lot of movement. He really established himself as a legit prospect to be taken seriously, even if it meant flying halfway across the ocean.”
Medeiros has a full-ride scholarship to Pepperdine as leverage. However, Gold expects no curveball thrown into the negotiations.
“Kodi’s got potential and upside,” Gold said. “If a player like Kodi goes to college and has three great years we could possibly be talking about him being the first overall pick. You can’t get that type of upside in the middle of the first round. You have to be willing to take a high school kid with more risk. But you’d have to lose a lot of games to have that opportunity.”
1. Houston, Brady Aiken, lhp, Cathedral Catholic HS, San Diego.
2. Miami, Tyler Kolek, rhp, Shepherd (Texas) HS.
3. Chicago White Sox, Carlos Rodon, lhp, N.C. State.
4. Chicago Cubs, Kyle Schwarber, c, Indiana.
5. Minnesota, Nick Gordon, ss, Olympia HS, Orlando, Fla.
6. Seattle, Alex Jackson, of, Rancho Bernardo HS, San Diego.
7. Philadelphia, Aaron Nola, rhp, LSU.
8. Colorado, Kyle Freeland, lhp, Evansville.
9. Toronto, Jeff Hoffman, rhp, East Carolina.
10. N.Y. Mets, Michael Conforto, of, Oregon State.
11. Toronto (Phillip Bickford-unsigned), Max Pentecost, c, Kennesaw State.
12. Milwaukee, Kodi Medeiros, lhp, Waiakea HS, Hilo, Hawaii.
13. San Diego, Trea Turner, ss, N.C. State.
14. San Francisco, Tyler Beede, rhp, Vanderbilt.
15. L.A. Angels, Sean Newcomb, lhp, Hartford.
16. Arizona, Touki Toussaint, rhp, Coral Springs (Fla.) Christian Academy.
17. Kansas City, Brandon Finnegan, lhp, TCU.
18. Washington, Erick Fedde, rhp, UNLV.
19. Cincinnati, Nick Howard, rhp, Virginia.
20. Tampa Bay, Casey Gillaspie, 1b, Wichita State.
21. Cleveland, Bradley Zimmer, of, San Francisco.
22. L.A. Dodgers, Grant Holmes, rhp, Conway (S.C.) HS.
23. Detroit, Derek Hill, of, Elk Grove (Calif.) HS.
24. Pittsburgh, Cole Tucker, ss, Mountain Pointe HS, Phoenix.
25. Oakland, Matt Chapman, 3b, Cal State-Fullerton.
26. Boston, Michael Chavis, ss, Sprayberry HS, Marietta, Ga.
27. St. Louis, Luke Weaver, rhp, Florida St.
28. Kansas City (Santana-Atlanta), Foster Griffin, lhp, The First Academy, Orlando, Fla.
29. Cincinnati (Choo-Texas), Alex Blandino, ss, Stanford.
30. Texas (Cruz-Baltimore), Luis Ortiz, rhp, Sanger (Calif.) HS.
31. Cleveland (Jimenez-Baltimore), Justus Sheffield, lhp, Tullahoma (Tenn.) HS.
32. Atlanta (McCann-NY Yankees), Braxton Davidson, of, T.C. Roberson HS, Asheville, N.C.
33. Boston (Ellsbury-NY Yankees), Michael Kopech, rhp, Mount Pleasant (Texas) HS.
34. St. Louis (Beltran-NY Yankees), Jack Flaherty, rhp, Harvard-Westlake HS, Studio City, Calif.
| COMPETITIVE BALANCE ROUND A |
35. Colorado, Forrest Wall, 2b, Orangewood Christian HS, Orlando, Fla.
36. Miami (Matt Krook-unsigned), Blake Anderson, c, West Lauderdale HS, Collinsville, Miss.
37. Houston (from Baltimore), Derek Fisher, of, Virginia.
38. Cleveland, Mike Papi, of, Virginia.
39. Pittsburgh (from Miami), Connor Joe, of, San Diego.
40. Kansas City, Chase Vallot, c, St. Thomas More Catholic HS, Lafayette, La.
41. Milwaukee, Jacob Gatewood, ss, Clovis (Calif.) HS.
42. Houston, A.J. Reed, 1b, Kentucky.
43. Miami, Justin Twine, ss, Falls City (Texas) HS.
44. Chicago White Sox, Spencer Adams, rhp, White County HS, Cleveland, Ga.
45. Chicago Cubs, Jake Stinnett, rhp, Maryland.
46. Minnesota, Nick Burdi, rhp, Louisville.
47. Philadelphia, Matt Imhof, lhp, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.
48. Colorado, Ryan Castellani, rhp, Brophy Prep, Phoenix, Ariz.
49. Toronto, Sean Reid-Foley, rhp, Sandalwood HS, Jacksonville, Fla.
50. Milwaukee, Monte Harrison, of, Lees Summit West HS, Lees Summit, Mo.
51. San Diego, Michael Gettys, of, Gainesville (Ga.) HS.
52. San Francisco, Aramis Garcia, c, Florida International.
53. L.A. Angels, Joe Gatto, rhp, St. Augustine Prep HS, Hammonton, N.J.
54. Arizona, Cody Reed, lhp, Ardmore (Ala.) HS.
55. N.Y. Yankees, Jacob Lindgren, lhp, Mississippi State.
56. Kansas City, Scott Blewett, rhp, Bakers HS, Baldwinsville, N.Y.
57. Washington, Andrew Suarez, lhp, Miami.
58. Cincinnati, Taylor Sparks, 3b, UC Irvine.
59. Texas Rangers, Ti’quan Forbes, ss, Columbia (Miss.) HS.
60. Tampa Bay, Cameron Varga, rhp, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, Cincinnati, Ohio.
61. Cleveland, Grant Hockin, rhp, Damien HS, LaVerne, Calif.
62. L.A. Dodgers, Alex Verdugo, of, Sahuaro HS, Tucson, Ariz.
63. Detroit, Spencer Turnbull, rhp, Alabama.
64. Pittsburgh, Mitch Keller, rhp, Xavier HS, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
65. Oakland, Daniel Gossett, rhp, Clemson.
66. Atlanta, Garrett Fulenchek, rhp, Howe (Texas) HS.
67. Boston, Sam Travis, 1b, Indiana.
68. St. Louis, Ronnie Williams, rhp, American Senior HS, Hialeah, Fla.
| COMPETITIVE BALANCE ROUND B |
69. Arizona (from San Diego), Marcus Wilson, of, Junipero Serra HS, Gardenia, Calif.
70. Arizona, Isan Diaz, ss, Springfield Central HS, Springfield, Mass.
71. St. Louis, Andrew Morales, rhp, UC Irvine.
72. Tampa Bay, Brent Honeywell, rhp, Walters State CC, Morristown, Tenn.
73. Pittsburgh, Tey Supak, rhp, La Grange (Texas) HS.
74. Seattle, Gareth Morgan, of, Blyth Academy, Toronto.
