Cubs Get Well-Armed In Draft

CHICAGO—After waiting out the first day of the draft without a pick, the Cubs wasted little time loading up on pitchers on Day 2.

Having lost their top picks as compensation for signing free agents John Lackey and Jason Heyward, the Cubs didn’t select until third round, when they took well regarded Oklahoma State righthander Thomas Hatch with the 104th overall pick—the first of seven college right-handers taken by the Cubs on the second day.


“That was an emphasis going into the year from our scouting meetings in January,” said Jason McLeod, the Cubs’ top-ranking scouting and player development executive. “Certainly, we did continue to scout the hitters, but we knew exactly what we were going to do. And we spent an inordinate amount of time on (pitchers) we thought would be in the rounds 3-7 range.”

Pitching is a sore spot in the Cubs’ player development department. The Cubs haven’t produced a big league pitcher for their staff from the regime’s four previous drafts.

The 6-foot Hatch, 21, redshirted last year because of a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament, the Tommy John ligament. He didn’t have the surgery but missed 15 months for treatment and rehab.

“We’re pretty confident with the medical information that we’ve received along with his week-to-week performance that he’s had this year,” McLeod said. “It’s something you certainly have to be aware of and know that it’s in his past. But we’re confident in making the selection that he’s going to be healthy going forward.”

Hatch (7-2, 2.16 in 16 starts) can touch 96 and hold good velocity late into the game, with a good slider and command.

“I just saw him at the Big 12 tournament,” said McLeod, whose staff has scouted Hatch since high school. “The stuff coming out of his hand, the way he was commanding everything and more so how this guy competes every week and his performance every week—we felt very good to get him there at our first pick.”

CUBBYHOLE

• In the sixth round, the Cubs drafted Cal State-Fullerton right hander Chad Hockin, a power reliever—and the grandson of Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew. “That’s news to me,” McLeod said when asked about the family connection. “It’s interesting, though.”

• The Cubs waited longer to make their first pick this year than in any other draft. It was only the second time they didn’t have a first-round pick, their first pick in 2004 coming at No. 66 overall in the second round (their lowest first pick before this year).

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