Through the first two days of the 2017 MLB Draft, the LSU Tigers saw several signees and current players get selected through the first ten rounds. If there’s one thing that four of these players learned, it’s to be patient and keep working hard at perfecting your craft.
Look at Kramer Robertson, who was drafted in the 32nd round last season by the Cleveland Indians. He made the decision to stay aboard for his senior season and it paid off big time on Tuesday afternoon. The shortstop was picked 124th overall in the fourth round by the St. Louis Cardinals. While his slot value may not end up being the slot value of $424,800, it shows that coming back for your senior season is never a bad thing.
You can say the same for junior Greg Deichmann, who has been on a tear at the dish all season long. He went from the 26th round pick in 2016 to a second round selection by the Oakland A’s. Considering the fact that he had gotten injured before the season started when he took a pitch to the face that fractured his right cheekbone, this was a nice end to his story at LSU.
Rounding out the seniors that were drafted this year, Cole Freeman followed Robertson nine picks later in the fourth by the Washington Nationals while Jared Poche was picked up in the ninth round by the A’s. It wasn’t as big of a leap for these two players, but it was enough to help show that trusting the process is best for business.
Extra Bases:
LSU Signees : The first two days of the MLB Draft have seen a few signees get picked fairly early, which means they may never even put on the purple and gold. The biggest name was Nate Pearson as the JUCO player was picked 28th overall by the Toronto Blue Jays. His slot value is over $2 million so you can expect him to sign on the dotted line. However, he wasn’t the only signee to be picked as Blayne Enlow and Jacob Pearson were drafted in the third round out of high school. These two along with Andrew Bechtold, who was drafted in the fifth by the Twins, could be a little more interesting considering how much more money they could get if they go to college to improve those skills.
-Clint Domingue