For Reds, you can never draft enough pitchers

CINCINNATI -- Another Reds' Draft is in the books after Saturday's final 30 rounds, and once again, Cincinnati loaded up on pitching.
The Reds spent their first three picks on offense, including second overall pick Nick Senzel, a third baseman out of Tennessee. In the next 25 picks, though, Cincinnati took 17 pitchers. With their 41 picks, the Reds took 22 pitchers.
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"The first three players selected were players, position players, so then it got slanted a little bit toward pitching," Reds senior director of amateur scouting Chris Buckley said. "Those were three players we really wanted to get, we got them and then we adjusted after that."
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With pitching, the Reds emphasized right-handed college arms. Of the 22 pitchers taken, 14 were right-handed and 15 came out of college.
"You're in a cap Draft now, so the first 10 rounds are capped," Buckley said. "So you have to do certain things. There's strategy involved in this. You see some seniors picked in seven, eight, nine, 10. So there's strategy throughout the Draft."
Although the Reds spent the majority of the last two days picking arms, they did pick up some offensive help as well. The main focus there was on high school outfielders. Cincinnati took seven outfielders, including Lottery Round A pick Taylor Trammell, and six of those seven came out of high school.
"Some of those guys we probably won't sign. A couple of them are injured presently that have some health problems that we'll get re-evaluated and see," Buckley said of his crop of young outfielders. "A couple of them are long shots, but we wanted to make sure we had them."
The Reds also picked up a handful of second basemen, including eighth-round pick John Sansone out of Florida State. In total, the Reds picked up five second basemen, emphasizing experience, with three of the five being college seniors and another being a second-year junior college player.

The final day of the Draft also saw a handful of players with a baseball pedigree get taken. Walker Whitworth, a JUCO second baseman and relative of Reds vice president and special assistant to the general manager Jerry Walker, was taken for the second time in three years by the Reds in the 35th round. Cincinnati also took Ty Blankmeyer, son of Team USA coach Ed Blankmeyer, and Alec Benavides, son of first-base coach Freddie Benavides, in the 36th and 37th rounds, respectively.
"He's a talented young guy," Buckley said of Alec Benavides. "A lot of times what you like to do is recognize somebody. We think he's going to be a good player."
Now, the Reds' staff turns to signing as many of the weekend's picks as possible.
"Some of the guys that were picked later, we'll follow in the summer and probably won't sign some," Buckley said. "You just want to make sure you have a player selected. Sometimes you can sign them, sometimes you can't, but if you don't have them, then you can't sign them."