Latest news with #JoshuaFlores
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Draft Notebook: Brewers Load Up on More Pitching On Day 2 of MLB Draft
Draft Notebook: Brewers Load Up on More Pitching On Day 2 of MLB Draft originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Milwaukee Brewers have added a ton of talent to their organization once again as the 2025 MLB Draft concluded, and they did in their own unique style. Advertisement After making five selections on the first night of the Draft, the Brewers followed up with 17 picks on Day 2, rounding out their class. Eleven of those 17 picks were pitchers. Eight of those 11 were high school pitchers. There's some intriguing hitters among this group as well. Here are some notes on each of the Brewers Day 2 selections. The deadline to sign all their Draft picks is July 28th at 5 PM ET. Jul 13, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Bats displaying the names of draft picks on display at the MLB Draft at The Coca-Cola Roxy. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images Round 4 - Joshua Flores, RHP, Lake Central (IN) HS For the third straight year, the Brewers draft a player from Lake Central HS in Indiana. First it was Josh Adamczewski in the 15th round in 2023, then it was Griffin Tobias in the 9th round in 2024, and now Joshua Flores in the 4th round in 2025. Advertisement We try to break some sort of draft record, we took the oldest guy ever the one this now we were probably the first team ever to take a high school player from the same high school three years in a row" Brewers scouting director Tod Johnson said. Flores is up to the mid-90s with his fastball, he has a 12-6 curveball that looks to be a plus pitch as well as a slider and changeup. He's a projectable righty with plenty of room to grow. "A lot of really good ingredients there. So we're excited that was who fit there for us. You know, the normal things about high school righties all apply there. He's got to learn a little more on how to pitch and the pitchability. But it's got a really good foundation for us to start with." Johnson said. Flores will have to be signed away from a commitment to Kentucky. Advertisement Round 5 - Sean Episcope, RHP, Princeton Episcope has already undergone two major elbow surgeries, having Tommy John in high school and then undergoing an internal brace elbow procedure back in May. "That's why he was available in the 5th round with the kind of stuff he was showing before he got hurt. So it's really good stuff, good strike throwing when he's healthy" Tod Johnson said. The stuff was around 97 MPH on the fastball, a gyro slider, and a 12-6 curve, and he's able to hit 3.000 RPMs on the spin rates for both. The Brewers love high spin rates. Round 6 - Daniel Dickinson, SS, LSU Daniel Dickinson was the starting second baseman for the National Champion LSU Tigers. He put up great numbers, hitting .315/.458/.525 with 12 homers and nine stolen bases. Advertisement He was ranked well within the Top 100 for this Draft, but ended up falling and the Brewers grabbed him with the 185th overall pick. "I think at that spot where we got him could end up being a really good pick. At points during the year, his name was floating up way higher in the draft than that. So the fact that he was still on the board in the sixth round was a little surprising" Johnson said. The Brewers like his offensive profile, he won't hit for a ton of power, but very good contact skills, solid speed, and they'll find a defensive home for him, likely second or third base. Round 7 - Josiah Ragsdale, OF, Boston College The Brewers drafting a left handed hitting centerfielder from Boston College worked out pretty well before when they took Sal Frelick in 2021. Now they go back to that well this year with Josiah Ragsdale. Advertisement Ragsdale is a really good athlete with speed to burn, swiping 30 bases this year while hitting .319/.418/.498. He's not as good of a pure hitter as Frelick is, but there's a lot to like with his speed and defense. "We think there's some upside to the way the swing works and he does all the other things we like with contact and swing decisions pretty well." Tod Johnson said. Round 8 - Hayden Vucinovich, RHP, Bloomington Jefferson (MN) HS Vucinovich runs his fastball up to 96 MPH. He's committed to the University of Minnesota. Since the Brewers took him in the top 10 rounds, they must feel he's signable away from that commitment. The spin rates on his breaking stuff is also quite high, which is nearly a prerequisite for a Brewers prep pitching target. Advertisement Round 9 - Andrew Healy, LHP, Duke A big, tall college lefty is generally always a solid pick to get. Healy did not have great surface numbers this year with a 7.29 ERA for Duke. But the stuff is good. "We like the stuff, we like the way he moves, we like the arm. We feel like there's some pitch design stuff that he can do as well with some options there." Johnson said. Sounds like Healy is going to be put into the Brewers pitching lab to sharpen his stuff up and he's going to be looking a lot different when we see him on the mound next than how he looked out there for Duke this season. Round 10 - Braylon Owens, RHP, UTSA A senior sign out of UT-San Antonio, Owens will save the Brewers some money on their final pick that counts against the bonus pool. They'll use that money for some of these picks in rounds 11-20. Advertisement His fastball touches 96 MPH and he has a good slider to go with it. He's likely a reliever as he goes through the system. Round 11 - CJ Hughes, SS, Junipero Serra (CA) HS Hughes is committed to UC-Santa Barbara and is a switch-hitting shortstop with an elite glove. He'll be able to stick at the position defensively, but there's projection still with the bat. He's just 17 years old, so there's a lot of physical growth yet to come if the Brewers are able to sign him. Round 12 - Cooper Underwood, LHP, Allatoona (GA) HS This is is the big swing for the Brewers in these late rounds. Underwood ranked highly on public draft boards and projected as a very early Day 2 selection. He's a typical Brewers projectable prep pitcher with elite spin rates and athleticism. Advertisement "We certainly love Cooper Underwood. He's got incredibly high upside. He's a great kid" Tod Johnson said. He's committed to Georgia Tech, which won't be easy to sign him away from as he was a highly ranked prospect and could get more money in a few years if he goes to school. "He's indicated before that he would be interested in signing, obviously for a specific amount of money. So we'll see how that negotiation works out but year, we felt like he was a really good opportunity there." Johnson added. Underwood has two high spin breaking balls, his fastball reaches 93 MPH, but there's likely room for more velocity gains as he matures. Advertisement Round 13 - Gavin Lauridsen, RHP, Foothill (CA) HS Gavin Lauridsen is another projectable prep pitcher with big size at 6-foot-4. His stuff sits in the low 90s but can reach 95 and there's room for added growth there as he matures. He extends down the mound well and is very athletic. His fastball generates 18+ inches of Induced Vertical Break. He's committed to USC, which will make him a tough sign but taking him in the 13th means he's likely a higher priority signing for the Brewers. He was also on the Brewers Area Code Games roster last year. Round 14 - Brendan Brock, C, Southwestern Illinois College The Brewers dip into the JuCo ranks for one of the best hitters in all of junior college ball this year. Brendan Brock put up video game numbers, hitting .462 with 20 homers and 27 stolen bases. It's elite speed and is comes from the catching position. Advertisement "We would love to develop an athletic catcher who can run. Those kinds of guys are pretty rare." Tod Johnson said. Brock is a third-year JuCo player and is committed to Oklahoma next year for his senior season unless the Brewers can sign him away from that. Round 15 - Dominic Cadiz, 3B, Notre Dame (CA) HS Cadiz was a late helium prospect coming out of California. As a prepster, he was playing for the Walla Walla Sweets, a college summer ball team this year and just torching the competition. There's good raw power here, and he's a corner profile only, likely ending up at first base, but the bat is legit. Advertisement Cadiz is committed to UCLA, which will be a tough sign, but Cadiz also probably wasn't playing summer league ball like that to boost his stock heading into his freshman season at UCLA, so this will be one to watch. Round 16 - Parker Coil, LHP, Arkansas The only four year college player the Brewers took in the 11-20 range, Parker Coil was a reliever for the Razorbacks this season and put up some really good numbers. He had a 1.27 ERA in 14 appearances with 24 strikeouts to just two walks. He could move quickly as a polished college reliever. Round 17 - Luke Roupe, RHP, Grace Christian (NC) HS Roupe is committed to South Carolina, which will make him a tough sign. He's likely a fallback option if some of these earlier 11-20 picks don't end up signing and there's bonus pool money left to spend. Advertisement He's another projection right-hander with room to fill out and polish up his stuff. He gets strong spin rates on his pitches, no surprise there, and put up big numbers for his high school team en route to a state title, striking out 100 batters in 62.2 IP. Round 18 - Rylan Mills, C, Oran (MO) HS Committed to Southeast Missouri State, Rylan Mills is a left handed hitter with some pretty good raw power. He's not going to a powerhouse college, so it's possible the Brewers are able to sign him even though he's later in the Draft. He could also be a fallback option if 14th round catcher Brendan Brock doesn't sign. Round 19 - Chase Bentley, RHP, IMG Academy (FL) There are few powerhouse high schools that can match IMG Academy. Chase Bentley is committed to Texas A&M, another powerhouse program that will make Bentley a very tough sign for Milwaukee. Advertisement If they do get him, Bentley is another projectable right handed pitcher with good size and a really good changeup. He posted a 10-0 record with a 0.94 ERA this year for IMG. Round 20 - Ma'Kale Holden, RHP, Thompson (AL) HS Another prep pitcher, another guy with big time spin rates and big velocity. Holden can run his fastball up to 97 MPH and has three secondaries that he can go to, including a 2,900 RPM curveball. He'd be a highly intriguing addition to the Brewers pitching development system if they can get him to sign. He's committed to Alabama, so that won't be easy to get him away from. Related: More Brewers Draft This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 15, 2025, where it first appeared.
Indianapolis Star
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Five storylines to watch entering 2025 IHSAA baseball state tournament
The road to Victory Field for the IHSAA baseball state championship begins Wednesday. Here are five storylines to watch for once postseason play begins. You could make an argument that every team in Sectional 8 (Hamilton Southeastern, Fishers, Zionsville, Noblesville, Westfield and Carmel) has a legitimate shot at playing for a Class 4A title. Unfortunately, two title contenders won't make it out of the first day of the tournament. I'm not from Indiana. Maybe baseball fans prefer the current tournament format. My first job covering high school sports was in Massachusetts. Massachusetts uses power rankings that weighs average margin of victory, opponent ratings, team's overall rating (avg. margin + opponent rating) and the team's rating are adjusted for forfeits. The results are entered into a formula, and a power ranking is produced, allowing each team in a division to be seeded. I think it would be great for the regular season to have added meaning. Yes, baseball can be very random. A hot pitcher or a hot team can string together wins and get all the way to the state championship game. But I think rewarding teams with tough schedules, and teams with great regular seasons would be great too. Lake Central won a thrilling Class 4A state title over Mooresville in the longest championship game ever last season. Lake Central entered the season as the team to beat, and the Indians once again appear poised for a deep title run. Kentucky commit Joshua Flores is one of the top pitchers in the state. The righty is 7-0 with a 1.69 ERA and 57 strikeouts over 29 innings. Sophomore shortstop Parker Robinson is a top-120 prospect nationally per Prep Baseball Report. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound righty is batting .338 with 15 RBI, 10 doubles and seven stolen bases. Senior Drew Kosteba leads Lake Central with a .407 batting average, 36 RBIs, eight doubles, three triples and three home runs. Five of Lake Central's top seven batters are seniors. LC has three senior pitchers with ERAs under 2.20. The reigning champs are as deep as ever and the road to the 4A championship will likely go through the Indians. Cathedral won its first baseball state championship in 2001 playing in Class 3A. The Fighting Irish won state titles in 2007 and 2017 in Class 4A. Now the Irish are back in Class 3A and have a great chance at making a deep tournament run. Cathedral enters the tournament 17-9, but its daunting schedule should have the squad ready for the postseason. Cathedral has quality wins over Franklin, Mooresville and Carmel. The Irish lost by one to 4A title contender Center Grove and led reigning 4A champion Lake Central 2-0. Shortstop Army commit Eli Sinsabaugh is an elite table setter at the top of the lineup. IU commit Eli Bennett is a smooth-swinging lefty slugger. Senior Bo Cooper is a plus defender behind the plate, and Landon Hughes and Ethan Dorsey combine for a strong 1-2 punch on the mound. A dominant pitcher can carry a team through the postseason. These pitchers may be on teams without great records, but when they take the mound, their teams can hang with anyone in the state. The junior is 1-3 with 4.08 ERA and 63 strikeouts over 46⅓ innings. Carnes notched double-digits strikeouts twice, striking out 10 against Connersville and 11 against Warren Central. The DePauw commit has a 1-2 record with a 2.62 ERA and 48 strikeouts over 21⅓ innings. The South Florida commit has a 4-2 record with a 2.57 ERA and 53 strikeouts over 30 innings. The Dayton commit is 1-1 with a 3.43 ERA and 48 strikeouts over 32⅔ innings. The Mississippi State commit has a 3-2 record with a 1.56 ERA and 63 strikeouts over 31⅓ innings. The Kentucky commit has a 5-1 record with 51 strikeouts over 37⅔ innings. There may not be a hotter hitter in the state than Mooresville junior Tyler Denny. Over his last 10 games, Denny is 17-for-32 (.531) with 15 runs scored, 13 RBIs, seven doubles, one triple, three home runs and three stolen bases. He has six multi-hit games, a two-home run game against Plainfield, two five-RBI games and two games with three hits over that span.
