Cleveland Indians: Names to watch on Day 2 of the MLB Draft

The MLB Draft continues here on Tuesday with Rounds 3-10. Then it continues on Wednesday with Rounds 11-40. Here are some names to watch for when the Cleveland Indians are on the clock today.

It was a successful first night of the draft for the Cleveland Indians for the most part. They were able to get one of the best power hitters and power throwing arms in the draft when they took Noah Naylor out of Ontario. They also selected a few high upside prep pitchers in Ethan Hankins out of Georgia and Lenny Torres out of New York.

With three high school players going early, they needed to take a college player to save some money to sign those three prep youngsters, and they did just that with Nick Sandlin, who could reach the big leagues quickly.

Now we head into Day 2 of the MLB Draft and there are some very interesting names still on the board.

Tristan Beck, RHP, Stanford

Beck is a well known commodity around scouting circles. He was eligible for the draft last year, but a hairline fracture took him out for his entire college season. He ended up slipping to the late rounds but decided to come back to Stanford and he has continued his dominance.

He has a 2.98 ERA in his 15 starts this year, and he’s been lights out.

Beck is not a hard thrower. He’ll sit in the 91-92 MPH range and relies on his command of his pitches rather than his overall stuff. He won’t strike too many guys out, but he’s effective.

Many had Beck connected to the Indians potentially with the 29th overall pick. We’re now 78 picks in and he is still on the board. Getting another college player can help the Tribe save some money that they can spend on those three early high school picks.

Adam Kloffenstein, RHP, Magnolia, (TX) HS

Kloffenstein was mentioned as a possible pick for the Cleveland Indians in the latest round of draft buzz, and he’s still out there. They reportedly wanted him with a Day 1 pick, but he’s fallen a little bit to Round 3 at least.

The risk here is signability. Now that high school players have made it out of the first day of the draft, they’re going to be much harder to sign away from their college commitments. Coming into the draft, the only thing working against Kloffenstein getting drafted was his college commitment to TCU.

The Indians like him a lot, but if they go with another high school pitcher early here, they may need to go on a run of college players to save some money in the rest of the picks today.

Austin Becker, RHP, Big Walnut (OH) HS

Becker was a guy we profiled heading into the draft. He’s a local kid with big level stuff. As a Vanderbilt commit, he’s going to be difficult to sign away, especially considering what he said he needed to sign.

Becker has said that he needed to go in the first three rounds of the draft and sign for at least $1 million to forego college. We’re coming up on the end of the range here for the first three rounds, and the Indians would need to take him with the first selection today if they were to sign him.

It’s still possible that he goes to college, but the Indians have a good chunk of money to play with this year, so they might as well make the most of it.

Tristan Pompey, OF, Kentucky

The switch hitting, younger brother of Dalton Pompey is still on the board after the first two rounds. Pompey can hit for a high average with a good amount of pop. He’s speedy, but he’s not that great of a defender in the outfield, which is mostly why he’s still on the board here after the first night of the draft.

Despite being a college player, Pompey isn’t as polished as most teams would hope, but that suits the Cleveland Indians perfectly right now. There are a ton of outfielders in this minor league system, more than what the Indians know what to do with. A college player that can sign for cheap and they can take their time with is a good option to have.

The only question is, will Pompey be there for the Indians in the third round?

Gage Canning, OF, Arizona State

After going with pitchers and a catcher on the first night, I can’t help but think the Tribe will hit other middle of the field positions on the second day. Outfielders and shortstops are the two big positions that teams draft and the Tribe have gone heavy on outfielders the past few years and I expect them to do it again.

Canning has continually gotten better over his college career and turned in a masterful 2018 season. He’s more of a line drive guy and doesn’t hit for much power, but he has speed and can play center field in the long run.

Canning does strike out a bunch, but he also draws a ton of walks, so he’s able to balance it out somewhat.

These are some big names still on the board for the Cleveland Indians on the second day of the Draft, we’ll see who they decide to select.

Next: Nick Sandlin could be fast moving reliever

The MLB Draft is a wonderful time where players’ dreams come true. Several players will hear their names called today, and many more tomorrow.

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