ACC Baseball News & Notes: Early look at Some Draft Picks

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It has now been a month since Major League Baseball held their annual draft. The ACC was well represented in the process as several players were taken by MLB teams. Whether you were a first-rounder or taken later in the draft, all players get started at the rookie level. We wanted to give you some idea of how some of these players are doing as they get their first taste of playing pro ball.

Sal Frelick was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers with the 15th overall pick. He was signed by the team on July 20. Then, he was sent off to the Arizona Complex League Gold team on August 3. Six days later, he was on the move again. This time he was sent to the Low-A Carolina Mudcats. Why the sudden jump you asked? Because in eleven games as a professional baseball player, Frelick has already shown he was a good choice by the Brewers. His numbers are impressive getting 22 hits in 53 at-bats with 11 runs scored, 10 RBI, and five extra-base hits ( 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run). He had a .417 batting average, .566 slugging, 1.022 OPS. Sal has stolen four bases in five attempts. His best game as a pro came this past Tuesday night for Carolina when he went 5-for-6 with a double and a run driven in. The Boston College product has indeed gotten off to a great start with Milwaukee.

The number one overall pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates and of the draft, Henry Davis, is also off to a great start as a pro. In his first game as a Pirate on Tuesday, the back stopper from Louisville played game one of a scheduled doubleheader in the Florida Complex League. Davis went 2-for-4 with a double and his first professional home run, a two-run shot the other way to right field. He finished the game with three runs driven in. Then on Wednesday, Baseball America named Davis the number two prospect in the Pirates organization. Pittsburgh is trying to build their team the old-fashioned way with strength up the middle. Davis could be a great first step in that regard.

Ryan Cusick, a right-handed pitcher out of Wake Forest, was selected by the Atlanta Braves with the 24th pick in the first round and made his debut on Tuesday night for Single-A Augusta. In his debut for Augusta, Cusick went three innings allowing one hit, striking out seven, and issued no walks. He would need to throw 48 pitchers to face the ten hitters in his outing. Ryan touched 100 MPH once during his stint on the hill.

Matt Nelson, the 35th pick by the Cincinnati Reds, has been signed by the team but has yet to be assigned to a minor league affiliate. The Florida State catcher was in Cincinnati on Tuesday to accept the Johnny Bench Award as the Nation’s Best College Baseball catcher. He is the highest-drafted Seminole since Buster Posey was selected fifth overall in 2008.