Prep baseball: Catching up with other area draft picks

photo by Grant Jefferies

A day after Cord Sandberg played his first professional baseball game in Bradenton as a member of the GCL Phillies, here is a list of how some of the area's other draft picks are faring.

J.R. Murphy - The IMG product and Bradenton native is playing well after being promoted to the New York Yankees' Triple-A team in Scranton-Wilkes Barre. Murphy, 21, is batting .308 in 12 games with the RailRiders, with two home runs and six RBIs. A catcher, Murphy has thrown out of five of 16 runners trying to steal (31 percent), and was the Yankees' second-round pick in 2009.

Correlle Prime - Prime is back with the Colorado Rockies' Rookie League team in Grand Junction, where he is batting .261. He hit his professional home run on Tuesday, the same day Sandberg hit his, and hasn't made an error in seven games at first base. The Rockies chose Prime, a Manatee alum, in the 12th round of last year's draft.

Zack Larson - The Lakewood Ranch grad is with the Minnesota Twins' Gulf Coast League team, and has shown some power, homering twice in his first 15 plate appearances for a .714 slugging percentage. Larson, a 20th-round pick last year, is batting .286 through his first four games. The GCL Twins aren't scheduled for any games at Pirate City this summer, but do come to Sarasota to play the GCL Orioles on July 2.

Ryan Pope - A Bayshore graduate and the first player ever to be drafted out of the Savannah College of Arts and Design, Pope joins Murphy on the RailRiders' roster. After stumbling during a 2011 Triple-A stint, Pope has pitched better thus far, posting a 2.92 ERA and 1-0 record in five games. Pope has walked just one in 12 1/3 innings while striking out seven.

Sean McAdams - Another area player drafted in 2012, McAdams is back in Sarasota with the GCL Orioles. He has a 8.10 ERA in two appearances, but does have one save and four strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings.

Granden Goetzman - The Palmetto native is healthy after missing most of last year with a stress fracture in his back, but is off to a slow start. Goetzman began the year with the Tampa Bay Rays high Single-A team in Bowling Green, but is now with low Single-A team in Hudson Valley after hitting .153 in 21 games at Bowling Green. Goetzman is batting .200 in six games with the Renegades.

Michael Ohlman - A Lakewood Ranch product, Ohlman is at high Single-A for the first time and making the most of it. Drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 2009, Ohlman is hitting .306 with five home runs and 21 RBIs and four triples in 41 games with the Frederick Keys. Ohlman has been a designated hitter for 27 games and a catcher for 14, during which he has thrown out six of 27 runners trying to steal (22 percent).