As the MLB Network talking heads pointed out in reference to the Chicago Cubs drafting Ryan Jensen out of Fresno State tonight: “from #99 to #27?!?!” The draftniks certainly did not see this coming; at all. It’s a bold move to be sure, only time will tell if it pays off for ’em.
Yes, it’s a reach to say the least, but time will tell if Ryan Jensen falls into the Mike Harkey, Ben Christensen, Lance Dickson, Ty Griffin, Kevin Orie category, or the Kris Bryant, Kerry Wood, Javier Baez classification. Or somewhere in between those two extremities.
“Ryan is an athletic and competitive righthander with a big arm,” said Cubs Senior Vice President of Scouting and Player Development Jason McLeod in a statement tonight.
“He features a heavy sinker along with a swing and miss type fastball, and he closed out his junior season strong. We are excited to get him into a Cubs uniform.”
With this pick, the Cubs did a bit of a play action fake on the MLB Draft tonight, intentionally leaking fake news to the media in order to throw opponents off their scent.
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Here’s what McLeod told the media heading into the draft, further setting up the zig when he had full intentions on zagging.
“We’ve been able to add some depth with (David) Bote helping, but we need to be better,” McLeod, said on a conference call.
“Obviously with where we are and our time frame with the major-league club, we know we need to infuse more talent out of the draft and internationally.”
Pitching is certainly a need for the Cubs, as they just haven’t had a lot of success recently with the several pitcher prospects they have selected in the early rounds in recent years. The assigned bonus value for the 27th pick is $2.5701 million.
Ryan Jensen went 12-1 with a 2.88 ERA in 16 games this season, striking out 107 and walking 27.
He has gone 9-0 with a 2.32 ERA (17 ER/66.0 IP) in his last nine starts, leading FSU to the NCAA regional final tonight vs. Stanford. Over the course of his college career Ryan Jensen has gone 17-7 with a 4.42 ERA, striking out 208 and walking 99, in 211 innings pitched.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, also contributes to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.