Fresno State's Taylor Ward is First Round Pick in Draft
The Mountain West has had few reasons to brag the past few weeks (Do you agree Nevada fans?) but yesterday was time for a few shout outs. The Bulldogs catcher was the overall 26th pick (Angels) in the first round which has been previously reported by Matthew Kenerly. He also stated that the draft was a rather thin one this year and that is also true.
Let's look at Ward a bit. He was the pre-season pick as POY for the Bulldogs but never quite lived up to that even though he was a solid player. Why, then, did he make it to the first round? I believe (based on nothing as usual) that there are three positions that are top priority in the draft; pitching, shortstop, and catching. If a catcher has all the tools, and I mean those that don't show in the offensive stats, then he's a valuable commodity indeed. I also noticed that players that I thought were the best in the MWC didn't sniff the first round. That just tells me the MWC just doesn't have much high level talent this year. Sophomores and frosh? We'll see. Don't feel too badly, fans, as the Big West had only one as did the WCC. The WAC was shut out which was no surprise.
I also believe there is no question that Ward will sign. First round? What else does he have left to prove. His agent might tell him to play hard to get but I believe the Angels will offer him plenty and he'll take it. Yeah, Batesole always gets talent.