Tigers draft wrap-up: Day 3

The third and final day of the 2010 MLB draft concluded Wednesday with rounds 31 through 50.  With the exception of the college seniors, most of the players selected in that range will not sign.

Matt Little/Photo courtesy of ukathletics.com

The Tigers drafted two senior relief pitchers on day three in Kentucky’s Matt Little and Southern’s Cody Hall.  Little is a 5-foot-11 right-hander who throws a high 80s two-seam fastball, a loopy slider and a four-seam fastball that occasionally gets into the low 90s according to a blog that follows the Cape Cod League.  Hall is a 6-foot-4 right-hander who throws a fastball that touches 95 miles per hour according to neworleans.com.

The Tigers drafted six senior position players in Alabama first baseman Clay Jones, George Mason shortstop Ryan Soares, Valparaiso outfielder Bo McClendon, Trinity International shortstop Pete Miller, Holy Cross third baseman Matt Perry and Tabor College catcher Tyson Kendrick.  McClendon is the son of Tigers hitting coach Lloyd McClendon and Miller is the son of Tigers area scout Marty Miller.

Ben Verlander, the brother of Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander, and Ricky Knapp, the son of Tigers pitching coach Rick Knapp, were selected by the Tigers Wednesday, but both are expected to attend college.  Verlander has a commitment to Old Dominion and Knapp has signed a letter of intent to play for Florida Gulf Coast.

Three of the more interesting high school players selected by the Tigers Wednesday include outfielder/right-handed pitcher Nolan Sanburn, right-handed pitcher Blake Bell and shortstop Chris Triplett.  Sanburn is a two-way player with a commitment to play both ways at Arkansas.  Bell is a highly regarded football player who has signed a letter if intent to play quarterback at Oklahoma.  Tripplett is the 17th ranked high school player in the state of Georgia according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  While talented, Sanburn, Bell and Triplett are all unlikely to sign.

A final player of note is 33rd round pick Brennan Smith.  A junior right-handed pitcher for Bowling Green, Smith won Mid-American Conference pitcher of the year in 2009, but has struggled this season with an 8.61 ERA in 77.1 innings pitched.  According to ukathletics.com, Smith throws a fastball that touches 94 mph and an above-average splitter.

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Tags: Ben Verlander, Blake Bell, Bo McClendon, Brennan Smith, Chris Triplett, Clay Jones, Cody Hall, Detroit Tigers, Matt Little, Matt Perry, mlb draft, Nolan Sanburn, Pete Miller, Ricky Knapp, Ryan Soares, Tyson Kendrick

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